scholarly journals Deciphering the nature of the joint Simon effect through electromyographic analyses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Davranche ◽  
Clément Belletier ◽  
thibault gajdos ◽  
Carbonnell Laurence ◽  
Franck Vidal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Simon Effect ◽  
Joint Action ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Motor Time ◽  
Automatic Response ◽  
Correspondence Effect ◽  
The Individual

This study aimed to apply electromyographic techniques and distributional analyses to test whether an increase in the strength of stimulus-response mapping could explain the mechanisms underlying the joint Simon effect. Within a single protocol, participants performed a Simon task and a Go/NoGo task in isolation, and a joint Go/NoGo task with a co-actor (joint Simon task). Results showed that joint-action impairs cognitive control and shortened reaction time by impacting both pre-motor time and motor time. Joint-action induced a larger facilitation on pre-motor time of ipsilateral than contralateral associations. This potentiation of the spatial correspondence effect plausibly explains the larger Simon-like effect usually observed in the joint Go/NoGo task compared to that observed in the isolated Go/NoGo task. The propensity of making incorrect activations and their concentration among fast responses also increased when working co-actively. Together, these findings indicate that joint-action increases the strength of automatic response capture induced by the stimulus location, promotes the delivery of the stronger association in the behavioral repertoire of the individual, and reduces cognitive control.

In Touch With the Simon Effect *The first two authors contributed equally.

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Salzer ◽  
Daniela Aisenberg ◽  
Tal Oron-Gilad ◽  
Avishai Henik
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Simon Effect ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
New Information ◽  
Time Gap ◽  
Test Control

Cognitive control has been extensively studied using the auditory and visual modalities. In the current study, a tactile version of the Simon task was created in order to test control mechanisms in a modality that was less studied, to provide comparative and new information. A significant Simon effect – reaction time gap between congruent (i.e., stimulus and response in the same relative location) and incongruent (i.e., stimulus and response in opposite locations) stimuli – provided grounds to further examine both general and tactile-specific aspects of cognitive control in three experiments. By implementing a neutral condition and conducting sequential and distributional analysis, the present study: (a) supports two different independent mechanisms of cognitive control – reactive control and proactive control; (b) reveals facilitation and interference within the tactile Simon effect; and (c) proposes modality differences in activation and processing of the spatially driven stimulus-response association.

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.

Transfer of orthogonal stimulus–response mappings to an orthogonal Simon task

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 746-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gi Yeul Bae ◽  
Yang Seok Cho ◽  
Robert W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Stimulus Location ◽  
Response Compatibility ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Response Code ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Stimulus Response Compatibility ◽  
Alternative Mapping

When up–down stimulus locations are mapped to left–right keypresses, an overall advantage for the up–right/down–left mapping is often obtained that varies as a function of response eccentricity. This orthogonal stimulus–response compatibility (SRC) effect also occurs when stimulus location is irrelevant, a phenomenon called the orthogonal Simon effect, and has been attributed to correspondence of stimulus and response code polarities. The Simon effect for horizontal stimulus–response (S–R) arrangements has been shown to be affected by short-term S–R associations established through the mapping used for a prior SRC task in which stimulus location was relevant. We examined whether such associations also transfer between orthogonal SRC and Simon tasks and whether correspondence of code polarities continues to contribute to performance in the Simon task. In Experiment 1, the orthogonal Simon effect was larger after practising with an up–right/down–left mapping of visual stimuli to responses than with the alternative mapping, for which the orthogonal Simon effect tended to reverse. Experiment 2 showed similar results when practice was with high (up) and low (down) pitch tones, though the influence of practice mapping was not as large as that in Experiment 1, implying that the short-term S–R associations acquired in practice are at least in part not modality specific. In Experiment 3, response eccentricity and practice mapping were shown to have separate influences on the orthogonal Simon effect, as expected if both code polarity and acquired S–R associations contribute to performance.

scholarly journals Joint Simon effect in movement trajectories

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261735
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sangati ◽  
Marc Slors ◽  
Barbara C. N. Müller ◽  
Iris van Rooij
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Automatic Process ◽  
Mouse Tracking ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Movement Trajectories ◽  
Greater Curvature ◽  
The Individual

In joint action literature it is often assumed that acting together is driven by pervasive and automatic process of co-representation, that is, representing the co-actor’s part of the task in addition to one’s own. Much of this research employs joint stimulus-response compatibility tasks varying the stimuli employed or the physical and social relations between participants. In this study we test the robustness of co-representation effects by focusing instead on variation in response modality. Specifically, we implement a mouse-tracking version of a Joint Simon Task in which participants respond by producing continuous movements with a computer mouse rather than pushing discrete buttons. We have three key findings. First, in a replication of an earlier study we show that in a classical individual Simon Task movement trajectories show greater curvature on incongruent trials, paralleling longer response times. Second, this effect largely disappears in a Go-NoGo Simon Task, in which participants respond to only one of the cues and refrain from responding to the other. Third, contrary to previous studies that use button pressing responses, we observe no overall effect in the joint variants of the task. However, we also detect a notable diversity in movement strategies adopted by the participants, with some participants showing the effect on the individual level. Our study casts doubt on the pervasiveness of co-representation, highlights the usefulness of mouse-tracking methodology and emphasizes the need for looking at individual variation in task performance.

scholarly journals Metacontrol and joint action: how shared goals transfer from one task to another?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Liepelt ◽  
Markus Raab
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Joint Action ◽  
Cooperative Control ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Team Sports ◽  
State Theory ◽  
Processing Modes ◽  
Cooperative Processing ◽  
Group Experience ◽  
Control State

AbstractIn most of our daily activities and in team sports, we interact with other individuals and do not act in isolation. Using a social variant of the standard two-choice Simon task, this study aims to test if competitive/cooperative processing modes (i.e., metacontrol states) change the degree of bodily self-other integration between two persons in joint action. In addition, and more exploratory the study tested if this effect depends on a shared group experience with the partner. Two participants shared a visual Simon task, so that each person basically performed complementary parts of the task, which transfers the paradigm into a go/no-go Simon task for each person. Before running this joint Simon task, we set both participants either in a competitive or a cooperative control state by means of a dyadic game, a manipulation aimed at testing possible goal transfer across tasks. We found significant joint Simon effects for participants who were in a competitive state and for participants who were in a cooperative state. The joint Simon effect for participants being in a competitive state was significantly smaller than for participants being in a cooperative state. When experiencing the goal induction together with the partner, the joint Simon effect was significantly decreased as when the induction was performed alone. Both effects (metacontrol state induction and shared experience) seem to be statistically independent of each other. In line with predictions of metacontrol state theory, our study indicated that abstract cognitive goal states can be transferred from one task to another task, able to affect the degree of bodily self-other integration across different task situations.

scholarly journals Corepresentation During Joint Action in Marmoset Monkeys (Callithrix jacchus)

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabia M. Miss ◽  
Judith M. Burkart
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Joint Action ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Joint Control ◽  
Common Marmosets ◽  
Monkey Species ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Marmoset Monkeys

Behavioral coordination is a fundamental element of human cooperation. It is facilitated when individuals represent not only their own actions but also those of their partner. Identifying whether action corepresentation is unique to humans or also present in other species is therefore necessary to fully understand the evolution of human cooperation. We used the auditory joint Simon task to assess whether action corepresentation occurs in common marmosets, a monkey species that engages extensively in coordinated action during cooperative infant care. We found that marmosets indeed show a joint Simon effect. Furthermore, when coordinating their behavior in the joint task, they were more likely to look at their partner than in a joint control condition. Corepresentation is thus not unique to humans but also present in the cooperatively breeding marmosets. Since marmosets are small-brained monkeys, our results suggest that routine coordination in space and time, rather than complex cognitive abilities, plays a role in the evolution of corepresentation.

scholarly journals Expectancy to Eat Modulates Cognitive Control and Attention Toward Irrelevant Food and Non-food Images in Healthy Starving Individuals. A Behavioral Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Schiff ◽  
Giulia Testa ◽  
Maria Luisa Rusconi ◽  
Paolo Angeli ◽  
Daniela Mapelli
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Affective Priming ◽  
Spatial Compatibility ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Behavioral Study ◽  
Attention Orienting ◽  
Correspondence Effect ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

It is thought that just as hunger itself, the expectancy to eat impacts attention and cognitive control toward food stimuli, but this theory has not been extensively explored at a behavioral level. In order to study the effect of expectancy to eat on attentional and cognitive control mechanisms, 63 healthy fasting participants were presented with an affective priming spatial compatibility Simon task that included both food and object (non-food) distracters. The participants (N = 63) were randomly assigned to two groups: an “immediate expectancy” group made up of participants who expected to eat immediately after the task (N = 31; females = 21; age = 26.8 ± 9.6) and a “delayed expectancy” cohort made up of individuals who expected to eat a few hours later (N = 32; females = 21; age = 25.0 ± 8.0). Slower reaction times (RTs) toward the food and non-food distracters and a more pronounced effect on the RTs in the incompatible condition [i.e., the Simon effect (SE)] were noted in both groups. The effect of the food and non-food distracters on the RTs was more pronounced in the immediate with respect to the delayed expectancy group. The magnitude of the SE for the food and the non-food distracters was also greater in the immediate with respect to the delayed expectancy group. These results seem to indicate that when the expectancy to eat is short, the RTs are delayed, and the SE is more pronounced when food and non-food distracters are presented. Instead, when the expectancy to eat is more distant, the distracters have less of an effect on the RTs and the correspondence effect is smaller. Our results suggest that the expectancy to eat can modulate both attention orienting and cognitive control mechanisms in healthy fasting individuals when distracting details are competing with information processing during goal directed behavior.

The Role of Visual Distractors in the Simon Effect

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 387-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Lugli ◽  
Stefania D’Ascenzo ◽  
Roberto Nicoletti ◽  
Carlo Umiltà
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Automatic Generation ◽  
Spatial Code ◽  
Attentional Model ◽  
Previous Evidence ◽  
Spatial Stimulus ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Code Changes

Abstract. The Simon effect lies on the automatic generation of a stimulus spatial code, which, however, is not relevant for performing the task. Results typically show faster performance when stimulus and response locations correspond, rather than when they do not. Considering reaction time distributions, two types of Simon effect have been individuated, which are thought to depend on different mechanisms: visuomotor activation versus cognitive translation of spatial codes. The present study aimed to investigate whether the presence of a distractor, which affects the allocation of attentional resources and, thus, the time needed to generate the spatial code, changes the nature of the Simon effect. In four experiments, we manipulated the presence and the characteristics of the distractor. Findings extend previous evidence regarding the distinction between visuomotor activation and cognitive translation of spatial stimulus codes in a Simon task. They are discussed with reference to the attentional model of the Simon effect.

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