Uncertainty Tolerance & Cognitive Control

Cognitive control refers to the ability to make correct decisions concurrent to distracting information, and to adapt to conflicting stimulus configurations, eventually promoting goal-directed behavior. Previous research has linked individual differences in cognitive control to psychopathological conditions such as anxiety. However, a link with uncertainty tolerance (UT) has not been tested so far, although both constructs describe cognitive and behavioral performance in ambiguous situations, thus they share some similarities. We probed cognitive control in web-based experimentation (jsPsych) with a simple flanker task (N = 111) and a version without confounds in episodic memory (N = 116). Both experiments revealed two well-established behavioral indices: congruency effects (CEs) and congruency-sequence effects (CSEs). Only small-to-zero correlations emerged between CEs, UT, and need for cognitive closure (NCC), a personality trait inversely related to UT. A subtle correlation (r = .18) was noted in Experiment 2 between NCC and CSE. Throughout, Bayesian analyses provided anecdotal-to-moderate evidence for the null-hypotheses.

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Individual Differences in Uncertainty Tolerance Are not Associated With Cognitive Control Functions in the Flanker Task

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000408 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 245-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Philipp Alexander Schroeder ◽

David Dignath ◽

Markus Janczyk

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Bayesian Analyses ◽

Web Based ◽

Control Functions ◽

Need For Cognitive Closure ◽

Sequence Effects ◽

Conflicting Stimulus ◽

Goal Directed Behavior

Abstract. Cognitive control refers to the ability to make correct decisions concurrent to distracting information, and to adapt to conflicting stimulus configurations, eventually promoting goal-directed behavior. Previous research has linked individual differences in cognitive control to psychopathological conditions such as anxiety. However, a link with uncertainty tolerance (UT) has not been tested so far, although both constructs describe cognitive and behavioral performance in ambiguous situations, thus they share some similarities. We probed cognitive control in web-based experimentation (jsPsych) with a simple flanker task (N = 111) and a version without confounds in episodic memory (N = 116). Both experiments revealed two well-established behavioral indices: congruency effects (CEs) and congruency-sequence effects (CSEs). Only small-to-zero correlations emerged between CEs, UT, and need for cognitive closure (NCC), a personality trait inversely related to UT. A subtle correlation (r = .18) was noted in Experiment 2 between NCC and CSE. Throughout, Bayesian analyses provided anecdotal-to-moderate evidence for the null-hypotheses.

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Registered Replication Report of Weissman, D. H., Jiang, J., & Egner, T. (2014). Determinants of congruency sequence effects without learning and memory confounds

Attention Perception & Psychophysics ◽

10.3758/s13414-020-02021-2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 82 (8) ◽

pp. 3777-3787

Author(s):

Mate Gyurkovics ◽

Marton Kovacs ◽

Matt Jaquiery ◽

Bence Palfi ◽

Filip Dechterenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Learning And Memory ◽

Cognitive Conflict ◽

Online Data ◽

Bayesian Analyses ◽

Sequence Effects ◽

Control Research ◽

Irrelevant Distractors ◽

The Difference ◽

Task Irrelevant

Abstract The congruency sequence effect (CSE) refers to the finding that the effect of cognitive conflict is smaller following conflicting, incongruent trials than after non-conflicting, congruent trials in conflict tasks, such as the Stroop, Simon, and flanker tasks. This is typically interpreted as an upregulation of cognitive control in response to conflict. Weissman, Jiang, & Egner (2014) investigated whether the CSE appears in these three tasks and a further variant where task-irrelevant distractors precede the target (prime-probe task), in the absence of learning and memory confounds in samples collected online. They found significant CSEs only in the prime-probe and Simon tasks, suggesting that the effect is more robust in tasks where the distractor can be translated into a response faster than the target. In this Registered Replication Report we collected data online from samples approx. 2.5 times larger than in the original study for each of the four tasks to investigate whether the task-related differences in the magnitude of the CSE are replicable (Nmin = 115, Nmax = 130). Our findings extend but do not contradict the original results: Bayesian analyses suggested that the CSE was present in all four tasks in RT but only in the Simon task in accuracy. The size of the effect did not differ between tasks, and the size of the congruency effect was not correlated with the size of the CSE across participants. These findings suggest it might be premature to conclude that the difference in the speed of distractor- vs target-related response activation is a determinant of the size of cross-trial modulations of control. The practical implications of our results for online data collection in cognitive control research are also discussed.

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Adolescent Cognitive Control, Theta Oscillations, and Social Motivation

10.1101/366831 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

George A. Buzzell ◽

Tyson V. Barker ◽

Sonya V. Troller-Renfree ◽

Edward M. Bernat ◽

Maureen E. Bowers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Frontal Cortex ◽

Behavioral Control ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Social Motivation ◽

Theta Oscillations ◽

Error Monitoring ◽

Motor Responses ◽

Human Adults ◽

Goal Directed Behavior

SummaryTheta oscillations (4-8 Hz) provide an organizing principle of cognitive control, allowing goal-directed behavior that is conserved across species. In human adults, theta power over medial-frontal cortex (MFC) underlies monitoring, whereas theta synchrony between MFC and lateral-frontal regions reflects control recruitment. Prior work has not separated theta before/after motor responses, nor explained how medial-lateral synchrony drives different kinds of control behaviors. Theta’s role during adolescence, a developmental window characterized by a motivation-control mismatch also remains unclear, preventing possible cross-species work. Here, adolescents performed a flanker task alone or under observation to increase social motivation. We separated theta dynamics immediately before/after motor responses, identifying functional dissociations. We also dissociate MFC connectivity with rostral/caudal frontal cortex and distinct forms of behavioral control, which further differed before/after response. Finally, social motivation was found to exclusively upregulate post-response error monitoring and changes in control to prevent future errors, as opposed to pre-response theta dynamics.

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Registered Replication Report of Weissman, D. H., Jiang, J., & Egner, T. (2014). Determinants of congruency sequence effects without learning and memory confounds

10.31219/osf.io/fd6k8 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mate Gyurkovics ◽

Marton Kovacs ◽

Matt Jaquiery ◽

Bence Palfi ◽

Filip Dechterenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Learning And Memory ◽

Cognitive Conflict ◽

Online Data ◽

Bayesian Analyses ◽

Sequence Effects ◽

Control Research ◽

Irrelevant Distractors ◽

The Difference ◽

Task Irrelevant

The congruency sequence effect (CSE) refers to the finding that the effect of cognitive conflict is smaller following conflicting, incongruent trials than after non-conflicting, congruent trials in conflict tasks, such as the Stroop, Simon, and flanker tasks. This is typically interpreted as an upregulation of cognitive control in response to conflict. Weissman, Jiang, & Egner (2014) investigated whether the CSE appears in these three tasks and a further variant where task-irrelevant distractors precede the target (prime-probe task), in the absence of learning and memory confounds in samples collected online. They found significant CSEs only in the prime-probe and Simon tasks, suggesting that the effect is more robust in tasks where the distractor can be translated into a response faster than the target. In this Registered Replication Report we collected data online from samples approx. 2.5 times larger than in the original study for each of the four tasks to investigate whether the task-related differences in the magnitude of the CSE are replicable (Nmin = 115, Nmax = 130). Our findings extend but do not contradict the original results: Bayesian analyses suggested that the CSE was present in all four tasks in RT but only in the Simon task in accuracy. The size of the effect did not differ between tasks, and the size of the congruency effect was not correlated with the size of the CSE across participants. These findings suggest it might be premature to conclude that the difference in the speed of distractor- vs target-related response activation is a determinant of the size of cross-trial modulations of control. The practical implications of our results for online data collection in cognitive control research are also discussed.

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Rapid Modulation of Sensory Processing Induced by Stimulus Conflict

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21575 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (9) ◽

pp. 2620-2628 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Lawrence G. Appelbaum ◽

David V. Smith ◽

Carsten N. Boehler ◽

Wen D. Chen ◽

Marty G. Woldorff

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Sensory Processing ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Neural Activation ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Stimulus Input ◽

Activation Patterns ◽

Rapid Modulation ◽

Conflicting Stimulus ◽

Task Goals

Humans are constantly confronted with environmental stimuli that conflict with task goals and can interfere with successful behavior. Prevailing theories propose the existence of cognitive control mechanisms that can suppress the processing of conflicting input and enhance that of the relevant input. However, the temporal cascade of brain processes invoked in response to conflicting stimuli remains poorly understood. By examining evoked electrical brain responses in a novel, hemifield-specific, visual-flanker task, we demonstrate that task-irrelevant conflicting stimulus input is quickly detected in higher level executive regions while simultaneously inducing rapid, recurrent modulation of sensory processing in the visual cortex. Importantly, however, both of these effects are larger for individuals with greater incongruency-related RT slowing. The combination of neural activation patterns and behavioral interference effects suggest that this initial sensory modulation induced by conflicting stimulus inputs reflects performance-degrading attentional distraction because of their incompatibility rather than any rapid task-enhancing cognitive control mechanisms. The present findings thus provide neural evidence for a model in which attentional distraction is the key initial trigger for the temporal cascade of processes by which the human brain responds to conflicting stimulus input in the environment.

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Multifaceted effects of need for cognitive closure on effort: A cardiovascular response study.

Motivation Science ◽

10.1037/mot0000053 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 369-382 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ewa Szumowska ◽

Paulina Szwed ◽

Małgorzata Kossowska ◽

Rex Wright

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Response ◽

Cognitive Closure ◽

Need For Cognitive Closure

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Exploring an Emotional Basis of Cognitive Control in the Flanker Task

10.31234/osf.io/nkjy6 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Motonori Yamaguchi ◽

Jack Dylan Moore ◽

Sarah Hendry ◽

Felicity Wolohan

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Mood Induction ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Flanker Effect ◽

Sequential Modulation ◽

Emotional Basis ◽

Negative Stimuli

The emotional basis of cognitive control has been investigated in the flanker task with various procedures and materials across different studies. The present study examined the issue with the same flanker task but with different types of emotional stimuli and design. In seven experiments, the flanker effect and its sequential modulation according to the preceding trial type were assessed. Experiments 1 and 2 used affective pictures and emotional facial expressions as emotional stimuli, and positive and negative stimuli were intermixed. There was little evidence that emotional stimuli influenced cognitive control. Experiments 3 and 4 used the same affective pictures and facial expressions, but positive and negative stimuli were separated between different participant groups. Emotional stimuli reduced the flanker effect as well as its sequential modulation regardless of valence. Experiments 5 and 6 used affective pictures but manipulated arousal and valence of stimuli orthogonally The results did not replicate the reduced flanker effect or sequential modulation by valence, nor did they show consistent effects of arousal. Experiment 7 used a mood induction technique and showed that sequential modulation was positively correlated with valence rating (the higher the more positive) but was negatively correlated with arousal rating. These results are inconsistent with several previous findings and are difficult to reconcile within a single theoretical framework, confirming an elusive nature of the emotional basis of cognitive control in the flanker task.

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