Biologically constrained action selection improves cognitive control in a model of the Stroop task

2011 ◽  
pp. 363-389
Author(s):  
Tom Stafford ◽  
Kevin N. Gurney
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Action Selection

scholarly journals Biologically constrained action selection improves cognitive control in a model of the Stroop task

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1485) ◽  
pp. 1671-1684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Stafford ◽  
Kevin N Gurney
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Diffusion Model ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Action Selection ◽  
Selection Mechanism ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Adaptive Action ◽  
Final Response ◽  
Constrained Solutions

The Stroop task is a paradigmatic psychological task for investigating stimulus conflict and the effect this has on response selection. The model of Cohen et al. (Cohen et al . 1990 Psychol. Rev. 97 , 332–361) has hitherto provided the best account of performance in the Stroop task, but there remains certain key data that it fails to match. We show that this failure is due to the mechanism used to perform final response selection—one based on the diffusion model of choice behaviour (Ratcliff 1978 Psychol. Rev. 85 , 59–108). We adapt the model to use a selection mechanism which is based on the putative human locus of final response selection, the basal ganglia/thalamo-cortical complex (Redgrave et al. 1999 Neuroscience 89 , 1009–1023). This improves the match to the core human data and, additionally, makes it possible for the model to accommodate, in a principled way, additional mechanisms of cognitive control that enable better fits to the data. This work prompts a critique of the diffusion model as a mechanism of response selection, and the features that any response mechanism must possess to provide adaptive action selection. We conclude that the consideration of biologically constrained solutions to the action selection problem is vital to the understanding and improvement of cognitive models of response selection.

scholarly journals Modulation of Conflict Processing by Theta-Range tACS over the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Lehr ◽  
Niklas Henneberg ◽  
Tarana Nigam ◽  
Walter Paulus ◽  
Andrea Antal
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Control Network ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

Behavioral response conflict arises in the color-word Stroop task and triggers the cognitive control network. Midfrontal theta-band oscillations correlate with adaptive control mechanisms during and after conflict resolution. In order to prove causality, in two experiments, we applied transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 6 Hz to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during Stroop task performance. Sham stimulation served as a control in both experiments; 9.7 Hz tACS served as a nonharmonic alpha band control in the second experiment. We employed generalized linear mixed models for analysis of behavioral data. Accuracy remained unchanged by any type of active stimulation. Over both experiments, the Stroop effect (response time difference between congruent and incongruent trials) was reduced by 6 Hz stimulation as compared to sham, mainly in trials without prior conflict adaptation. Alpha tACS did not modify the Stroop effect. Theta tACS can both reduce the Stroop effect and modulate adaptive mechanisms of the cognitive control network, suggesting midfrontal theta oscillations as causally involved in cognitive control.

scholarly journals The influence of emotional interference on cognitive control: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies using the emotional Stroop task

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sensen Song ◽  
Anna Zilverstand ◽  
Hongwen Song ◽  
Federico d’Oleire Uquillas ◽  
Yongming Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Emotional Stroop ◽  
Emotional Stroop Task ◽  
Emotional Interference

Cognitive control and schizophrenia: The greatest reliability of the Stroop task

2015 ◽  
Vol 227 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Laurenson ◽  
Philip Gorwood ◽  
Manuel Orsat ◽  
Jean-Paul Lhuillier ◽  
Didier Le Gall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task

scholarly journals Cognitive control in bilinguals: Advantages in Stimulus–Stimulus inhibition

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 610-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
HENRIKE K. BLUMENFELD ◽  
VIORICA MARIAN
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Language Profiles

Bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals at suppressing task-irrelevant information and on overall speed during cognitive control tasks. Here, monolinguals’ and bilinguals’ performance was compared on two nonlinguistic tasks: a Stroop task (with perceptualStimulus–Stimulus conflictamong stimulus features) and a Simon task (withStimulus–Response conflict). Across two experiments testing bilinguals with different language profiles, bilinguals showed more efficient Stroop than Simon performance, relative to monolinguals, who showed fewer differences across the two tasks. Findings suggest that bilingualism may engage Stroop-type cognitive control mechanisms more than Simon-type mechanisms, likely due to increased Stimulus–Stimulus conflict during bilingual language processing. Findings are discussed in light of previous research on bilingual Stroop and Simon performance.

scholarly journals Increased engagement of the cognitive control network associated with music training in children during an fMRI Stroop task

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. e0187254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Sachs ◽  
Jonas Kaplan ◽  
Alissa Der Sarkissian ◽  
Assal Habibi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Cognitive Control Network

List-level control in the flanker task

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 1444-1459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M Bugg ◽  
Corentin Gonthier
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Design Experiment ◽  
Potential Solution ◽  
Level Control ◽  
Established Method ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
First Time

Current theories posit multiple levels of cognitive control for resolving conflict, including list-level control: the global or proactive biasing of attention across a list of trials. However, to date, evidence for pure list-level control has largely been confined to the Stroop task. Our goals were twofold: (a) test the generality of theoretical accounts by seeking evidence for list-level control in the letter flanker task, using an established method involving diagnostic items, and investigating the conditions under which list-level control may and may not be observed and (b) develop and test a potential solution to the challenge of isolating list-level control in tasks with a relatively limited set of stimuli and responses such as arrow flanker. Our key findings were that list-level control was observed for the first time in a letter flanker task on diagnostic items (Experiment 1), and it was not observed when the design was altered to encourage learning and use of simple stimulus–response associations (Experiment 2). These findings support the generalisability of current theoretical accounts positing dual-mechanisms or multiple levels of control, and the associations as antagonists to control account positing that list-level control may be a last resort, to conflict tasks besides Stroop. List-level control was also observed in the arrow flanker task using a modified design (Experiment 3), which could be extended to other conflict tasks with limited sets of stimuli (four or fewer), although this solution is not entirely free of confounds.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document