The accessory Simon effect within and across visual dimensions

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 981-993
Author(s):  
Hagit Magen
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Simon Effect ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Action Model ◽  
Feature Information ◽  
Spatial Locations

The Dimension-Action model maintains that response selection in the visual system is modular, such that response selection based on a target’s feature occurs within modules. This study suggests that response selection processes based on a target’s spatial location occur within modules as well, where spatial locations are coded along with the feature information. From this perspective, the typical Simon effect, in which interference occurs between a target’s feature and its spatial location, occurs within modules. This study explored whether the unique characteristic of the spatial Simon, namely, its reduction with increased reaction time is typical of spatial intra-dimension but not of spatial cross-dimension Simon effects, using the accessory Simon task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that intra-dimension Simon effects were reduced with increased reaction time, a reduction that was modulated by the task relevance of the distractor. In contrast, cross-dimension accessory Simon effects were positive and increased with reaction time. Experiment 2 demonstrated that intra-dimension Simon effects were not reduced when space was conveyed symbolically by arrows. Overall, the study suggests that interference in the accessory Simon task is influenced not only by the nature of the irrelevant spatial information but also by the modular locus of the targets and distractors.

Evidence for Abstract Response Codes: Ear-Hand Correspondence Effects in a Three-Choice Reaction-Time Task

1978 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Hammond ◽  
Paul Barber
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Choice Reaction Time ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Stimulus Location ◽  
Choice Reaction Time Task ◽  
Time Task ◽  
Tonal Frequency ◽  
Spatial Locations

A three-choice reaction-time task was used to investigate the source-of-stimulation effect, that is, the tendency for subjects to react faster and more accurately to a stimulus if the spatial locations of the stimulus and the response correspond than if they do not. Auditory stimuli varied on dimensions of tonal frequency and spatial location, although only the former was relevant for response selection. Responses were found to be faster for the conditions in which stimulus location and response location corresponded than for those in which they did not, but stimulus location had no effect on differences between the two hands with bimanual responses. These results support the hypothesis that the source-of-stimulation effect is due to response plans which interact at a level prior to the programming of the motor response.

Functional Locus of Intensity Effects in Choice Reaction Time Tasks

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Jaśkowski ◽  
Izabela Szumska ◽  
Edyta Sasin
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Response Choice ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Functional Locus ◽  
Readiness Potentials

Long reaction times (RT) paradoxically occur with extremely loud auditory stimuli ( Van der Molen & Keuss, 1979 , 1981 ) or with ultrabright and large visual stimuli ( Jaśkowski & Włodarczyk, 2006 ) when the task requires a response choice. Van der Molen and Keuss (1981 ) hypothesized that this effect results from an arousal-driven elongation of response-selection processes. We tested this hypothesis using visual stimuli and chronopsychophysiological markers. The results showed that the latency of both early (P1 recorded at Oz) and late (P300) evoked potentials decreased monotonically with intensity. In contrast, the latency of stimulus-locked lateralized readiness potentials (LRP) abruptly increased for the most intense stimuli, thus mirroring the reaction time–intensity relationship. Response-locked LRPs revealed no dependency on intensity. These findings suggest that the processes responsible for the van der Molen-Keuss effect influence processing stages that are completed before the onset of LRP. The van der Molen-Keuss effect likely occurs later than those represented by early sensory potentials. This is in keeping with the hypothesis of van der Molen-Keuss.

Accessory Stimuli Affect the Emergence of Conflict, Not Conflict Control

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Böckler ◽  
Gamze Alpay ◽  
Birgit Stürmer
Keyword(s):  
Response Selection ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Conflict Adaptation ◽  
Executive Attention ◽  
Response Preparation ◽  
Direct Response ◽  
Indirect Response ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Dual Route ◽  
Stimulus Classification

Accessory signals that precede stimuli in interference tasks lead to faster overall responses while conflict increases. Two opposing accounts exist for the latter finding: one is based on dual-route frameworks of response preparation and proposes amplification of both direct response activation and indirect response selection processes; the other refers to attentional networks and suggests inhibition of executive attention, thereby hampering conflict control. The present study replicated previous behavioral findings in a Simon task and extended them by electrophysiological evidence. Accessory tones facilitated stimulus classification and attentional allocation in the Simon task as reflected by an increased N1 amplitude and an overall decrease of the N2 amplitude, respectively. The conflict-related N2 amplitude, which is larger in conflict trials compared with nonconflict trials, was not modulated by accessory tones. Moreover, accessory tones did not affect sequence-dependent conflict adaptation. In terms of a dual-route framework present results suggest amplification of both response preparation routes by accessory stimuli. An executive attention approach proposing accessory stimuli to hamper control of conflict is not supported.

scholarly journals Psychophysiological Studies of Unattended Information Processing

2000 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 76-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Valle-Inclán ◽  
Carmen de Labra ◽  
Milagros Redondo
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Simon Effect ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Response Interference ◽  
Invaluable Tool ◽  
The University ◽  
The Way

The article describes the general methods and some of the results obtained in the Psychophysiology Laboratory of the University of La Coruña. The paper covers our research on the Simon effect and accessory effect, although it is not a review of the literature. The research strategy we followed is built around the use of lateralized motor potentials recorded from scalp. These measures allow observing the way responses are selected and when they are selected, providing an invaluable tool to study response interference and to split reaction time into two halves. The research on the Simon effect concludes that interference during response selection is critical in the Simon effect but it is dubious whether this process should be considered as automatic and stimulus-driven, as is widely accepted. The experiments with the accessory effect indicate that facilitation is produced before response selection is over, which ends a long controversy about the locus of the accessory effect.

scholarly journals Pushing to the Limits: What Processes during Cognitive Control Are Enhanced by Reaction-Time Feedback?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Prochnow ◽  
Moritz Mückschel ◽  
Christian Beste
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Statistical Effect ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Eeg Data

Abstract To respond as quickly as possible in a given task is a widely used instruction in cognitive neuroscience, however, the neural processes modulated by this common experimental procedure remain largely elusive. We investigated the underlying neurophysiological processes combining EEG signal decomposition (residue iteration decomposition, RIDE) and source localization. We show that trial-based response speed instructions enhance behavioral performance in conflicting trials, but slightly impair performance in non-conflicting trials. The modulation seen in conflicting trials was found at several coding levels in EEG data using RIDE. In the S-cluster N2 time window, this modulation was associated with modulated activation in the posterior cingulate cortex and the superior frontal gyrus. Further, in the C-cluster P3 time window, this modulation was associated with modulated activation in the middle frontal gyrus. Interestingly, in the R-cluster P3 time window this modulation was strongest according to statistical effect sizes, associated with modulated activity in the primary motor cortex. Reaction-time feedback mainly modulates response motor execution processes, while attentional and response selection processes are less affected. The study underlines the importance of being aware of how experimental instructions influence the behavior and neurophysiological processes.

Trial-by-trial modulations in the orienting of attention elicited by gaze and arrow cues

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 543-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Ciardo ◽  
Paola Ricciardelli ◽  
Cristina Iani
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Preceding Trial ◽  
Gaze Direction ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Gaze Cueing ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
Cueing Task ◽  
Gaze Cuing

Recent findings suggested that the orienting of attention towards gazed at locations (i.e., the gaze cueing effect) could result from the conflict emerging in incongruent trials between the spatial information conveyed by gaze direction and the target spatial position. In two experiments, we assessed this hypothesis by investigating whether this effect is influenced by the same trial-by-trial modulations that are reported in a spatial conflict task, i.e., the Simon task. In Experiment 1, we compared the trial-by-trial modulations emerging in the Simon task with those emerging in a gaze cueing task, while in Experiment 2, we compared gaze and arrows cues. Trial-by-trial modulations were evident in both tasks. In the Simon task, correspondence sequence affected both corresponding and noncorresponding responses, this resulting in a larger Simon effect when the preceding trial was corresponding and an absent effect when the preceding trial was noncorresponding. Differently, in the gaze cueing task, congruence sequence affected only congruent responses with faster responses when the preceding trial was congruent compared to when it was incongruent, resulting in a larger gaze cuing effect when the preceding trial was congruent. Same results were evident with nonpredictive arrow cues. These findings speak against a spatial conflict account.

Effects of Expectancy and Attention in Vibrotactile Choice Reaction Time Tasks

1992 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Bradshaw ◽  
Michelle J. Howard ◽  
Jane M. Pierson ◽  
Jim Phillips ◽  
Judy A. Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Choice Reaction Time ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Stimulus Location ◽  
The Body ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Time Required ◽  
The Right ◽  
Spatial Locations ◽  
Unexpected Stimulus

The orienting of attention in space has not been considered in the tactile domain. This issue is examined using a modified version of a visual paradigm initially adopted by Posner, Snyder, and Davidson (1980), which manipulates the probability of a stimulus occurring at different spatial locations. Slower RTs at an unexpected stimulus location are thought to reflect the time required to shift attention from the expected to the unexpected location. In two experiments involving vibrotactile choice RT between left and right hands, the two hands were either crossed or uncrossed, and the hands were held both on the left side of the body, both on the right, or one on either side of the midline. There was no evidence to suggest that spatial location (left or right) affected the orienting of attention in the tactual modality. As predicted, RTs were slower when the arms were crossed compared with uncrossed, though this effect was smaller for the expected trials. A coding conflict hypothesis may explain both these findings, but the smaller effect in the expected trials may also reflect attentional factors. Both the relative and absolute location of the hands affected the magnitude of the crossed-arm effect and indicated that attention may play a role in the perceptual division of space into left and right sides. Possible reasons for hand or hemispace asymmetries in different simple and choice RT paradigms were discussed.

Response-Selection Processes in Paranoid and Nonparanoid Schizophrenia

1977 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. J. Neufeld
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Choice Reaction Time ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Choice Reaction Time Task ◽  
Time Task ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Crt Response

Previous research (Marshall, 1973) has shown that the most pronounced component of deficit on a choice reaction time task among a mixed schizophrenic sample involved response-selection processes. Other evidence has indicated that paranoids may be more deficient in this respect than nonparanoids. Hence, it was hypothesized that the former subgroup of schizophrenics would display response-selection deficit while the latter subgroup would display either less or no deficit. Response-selection processes were re-examined using the CRT paradigm with comparisons carried out among paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics and a group of nonschizophrenic controls. Results indicated that only the paranoid schizophrenics displayed abnormally retarded response-selection operations, the nonparanoid schizophrenics being nonsignificantly discriminable from the controls. It was suggested that past evidence of CRT response-selection deficit among mixed schizophrenics might have been attributable primarily to the performance of the paranoids, whose performance appears to be adversely affected by an increase in the number of dimensions relevant to response selection.

TMS of the FEF Interferes with Spatial Conflict

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1305-1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Bardi ◽  
Ryota Kanai ◽  
Daniela Mapelli ◽  
Vincent Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Oculomotor Control ◽  
Visual Hemifield

In the Simon task, a conflict arises because irrelevant spatial information competes for response selection either facilitating or interfering with performance. Responses are faster when stimulus and response position correspond than when they do not. The FEFs, which have long been characterized for their role in oculomotor control, are also involved in the control of visuospatial attention when eye movements are not required. This study was aimed at investigating whether the FEFs contribute to spatial conflict. Double-pulse TMS was applied to the FEF of either left or right hemisphere during the execution of a Simon task at different time windows after the onset of the visual stimulus. A suppression of the Simon effect was observed after stimulation of the FEF for stimuli appearing in the contralateral hemifield when TMS was applied to the left hemisphere after stimulus onset (0–40 and 40–80 msec). A reduction of the correspondence effect was observed after right FEF TMS for stimuli presented in the left visual hemifield when stimulation was delivered in the 80–120 msec range after stimulus onset. These outcomes indicate that the FEF play a critical role in encoding spatial attribute of a stimulus for response priming, which is the prerequisite for response conflict in the Simon task. Moreover, our finding that the left FEF have a dominant role during spatial conflict extends the idea of the left-hemisphere lateralization of the motor network in action selection by suggesting that the FEF may constitute part of this network.

Dynamic Visual Noise Affects Visual Short-Term Memory for Surface Color, but not Spatial Location

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dent
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Visual Noise ◽  
Dynamic Visual Noise ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Surface Color ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Experimental Tool ◽  
Spatial Locations

In two experiments participants retained a single color or a set of four spatial locations in memory. During a 5 s retention interval participants viewed either flickering dynamic visual noise or a static matrix pattern. In Experiment 1 memory was assessed using a recognition procedure, in which participants indicated if a particular test stimulus matched the memorized stimulus or not. In Experiment 2 participants attempted to either reproduce the locations or they picked the color from a whole range of possibilities. Both experiments revealed effects of dynamic visual noise (DVN) on memory for colors but not for locations. The implications of the results for theories of working memory and the methodological prospects for DVN as an experimental tool are discussed.

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