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Abstract
Small and large numbers are typically associated with the left and right side of space, respectively. We conducted an online version of the classical Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) paradigm in 604 subjects in order to analyse how previous trials and responses affect SNARC. Our results point to a strong inversion of number-space associations (left/large and right/small) when the last trial was incoherent - i.e. when a response with the left hand was made to a large number or vice-versa. In addition, we demonstrate that the congruency of trials beyond just the last two can influence SNARC, providing empirical support for an important assumption of a working memory account of spatial-numerical associations. Finally, we show that sequential effects in SNARC can be captured by a simple exponential filter, known to underpin sequential effects across a range of stimuli detection and perceptual two-alternative forced choice decision tasks. Our findings point to universal mechanisms responsible for the processing of sequences from perception to cognition.
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Automaticity in fast lexical decision sequential effects: much like telling left from right. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2016; 80:685-701. [DOI: 10.1007/s00426-015-0671-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 05/06/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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3
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van de Laar MC, van den Wildenberg WPM, van Boxtel GJM, van der Molen MW. Lifespan changes in global and selective stopping and performance adjustments. Front Psychol 2011; 2:357. [PMID: 22180746 PMCID: PMC3238363 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2011] [Accepted: 11/12/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examined stopping and performance adjustments in four age groups (M ages: 8, 12, 21, and 76 years). All participants performed on three tasks, a standard two-choice task and the same task in which stop-signal trials were inserted requiring either the suppression of the response activated by the choice stimulus (global stop task) or the suppression of the response when one stop-signal was presented but not when the other stop-signal occurred (selective stop task). The results showed that global stopping was faster than selective stopping in all age groups. Global stopping matured more rapidly than selective stopping. The developmental gain in stopping was considerably more pronounced compared to the loss observed during senescence. All age groups slowed the response on trials without a stop-signal in the stop task compared to trials in the choice task, the elderly in particular. In addition, all age groups slowed on trials following stop-signal trials, except the elderly who did not slow following successful inhibits. By contrast, the slowing following failed inhibits was disproportionally larger in the elderly compared to young adults. Finally, sequential effects did not alter the pattern of performance adjustments. The results were interpreted in terms of developmental change in the balance between proactive and reactive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria C van de Laar
- Amsterdam Center for the Study of Adaptive Control in Brain and Behavior, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands
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4
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Abstract
Fundamental knowledge of motor cognition is an important component in a human factors repertoire, and this chapter serves as a guide to the history, theory, and application of motor cognition research.“From intention to input” captures the scope of this chapter in that cognitive theories of motor control, neural control of movement, and the effects of feedback on movement are all discussed. The chapter progresses from an overview and history of motor cognition theories down to the neural basis for movement, then to an application of these theories via the study of specific actions. From there, rooted in the scientist-practitioner paradigm of human factors, the chapter covers applied considerations for designing control tasks and their associated inputs, taking into account individual differences in motor cognition and control and identifying critical issues in designing for input. General, applied guidelines are provided for use with current and future systems that have a motor cognition component.
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Gao J, Wong-Lin K, Holmes P, Simen P, Cohen JD. Sequential effects in two-choice reaction time tasks: decomposition and synthesis of mechanisms. Neural Comput 2009; 21:2407-36. [PMID: 19548803 DOI: 10.1162/neco.2009.09-08-866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Performance on serial tasks is influenced by first- and higher-order sequential effects, respectively, due to the immediately previous and earlier trials. As response-to-stimulus interval (RSI) increases, the pattern of reaction times transits from a benefit-only mode, traditionally ascribed to automatic facilitation (AF), to a cost-benefit mode, due to strategic expectancy (SE). To illuminate the sources of such effects, we develop a connectionist network of two mutually inhibiting neural decision units subject to feedback from previous trials. A study of separate biasing mechanisms shows that residual decision unit activity can lead to only first-order AF, but higher-order AF can result from strategic priming mediated by conflict monitoring, which we instantiate in two distinct versions. A further mechanism mediates expectation-related biases that grow during RSI toward saturation levels determined by weighted repetition (or alternation) sequence lengths. Equipped with these mechanisms, the network, consistent with known neurophysiology, accounts for several sets of behavioral data over a wide range of RSIs. The results also suggest that practice speeds up all the mechanisms rather than adjusting their relative strengths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Gao
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
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6
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Dudschig C, Jentzsch I. Locus of response slowing resulting from alternation-based processing interference. Psychophysiology 2008; 45:751-8. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00686.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Smulders SFA, Notebaert W, Meijer M, Crone EA, van der Molen MW, Soetens E. Sequential effects on speeded information processing: A developmental study. J Exp Child Psychol 2005; 90:208-34. [PMID: 15707860 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2004.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2004] [Revised: 10/19/2004] [Accepted: 10/22/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Two experiments were performed to assess age-related changes in sequential effects on choice reaction time (RT). Sequential effects portray the influence of previous trials on the RT to the current stimulus. In Experiment 1, three age groups (7-9, 10-12, and 18-25 years) performed a spatially compatible choice task, with response-to-stimulus intervals (RSIs) of 50 and 500 ms varied between trial blocks. In Experiment 2, three age groups (7-9, 15-16, and 18-25 years) performed the task with spatial stimulus-response (S-R) mappings (compatible versus incompatible) varied between participants. For adults, the experiments yielded a pattern of sequential effects suggestive of "automatic facilitation" (i.e., a first-order repetition effect and a higher order benefit-only pattern for short RSIs) and "subjective expectancy" (i.e., a first-order alternation effect and a higher order cost-benefit pattern for long RSIs). Automatic facilitation was more pronounced for incompatible responses than for compatible responses. Both experiments showed the anticipated decrease in automatic facilitation with advancing age. Finally, the first-order alternation effect showed the predicted age-related increase, but the cost-benefit pattern revealed an opposite trend, suggesting that the first-order and higher order indexes of subjective expectancy may relate to dissociable mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvan F A Smulders
- Developmental Psychology Section, Graduate School of Experimental Psychology (EPOS), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018 WB, The Netherlands.
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Jentzsch I, Leuthold H. Response Conflict Determines Sequential Effects in Serial Response Time Tasks With Short Response-Stimulus Intervals. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 31:731-48. [PMID: 16131246 DOI: 10.1037/0096-1523.31.4.731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In serial choice reaction time (RT) tasks, performance in each trial critically depends on the sequence of preceding events. In this study, the authors specifically examined the mechanism underlying RT sequence effects at short response-stimulus intervals (RSIs), in which performance is impaired in the current trial N if events alternate rather than repeat from trial N-2 to trial N-1. Different accounts of this RT pattern in terms of perceptual noise, response-selection monitoring, and response conflict were tested in 4 experiments. Second-order RT costs were caused by the response sequence rather than the stimulus sequence. Manipulation of stimulus contrast, stimulus classification difficulty, and set-level compatibility did not modulate the response-related second-order RT effect, whereas this effect increased when spatially incompatible responses were demanded. These findings support a response conflict account of higher order sequential effects in short-RSI situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ines Jentzsch
- School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom.
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9
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Abstract
Factors that make response selection more difficult, most notably incompatibility between displays and controls, degrade performance. The cost of incompatibility on performance is often much greater for older than for younger adults. To design products that accommodate decreased response selection capabilities of older adults, designers need to understand the specific ways in which response selection processes change with age. The purpose of the present paper is to review research on age-related changes in stimulus-response compatibility and response precuing effects, the two effects that are most directly linked to basic response selection processes. Several specific aspects of response selection that are particularly harmful for older adults' performance are identified. Potential applications of this research include initial guidelines for minimizing the effects of those aspects when designing for older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W Proctor
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third St., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2081, USA.
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Fossella J, Sommer T, Fan J, Wu Y, Swanson JM, Pfaff DW, Posner MI. Assessing the molecular genetics of attention networks. BMC Neurosci 2002; 3:14. [PMID: 12366871 PMCID: PMC130047 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-3-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 232] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2002] [Accepted: 10/04/2002] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Current efforts to study the genetic underpinnings of higher brain functions have been lacking appropriate phenotypes to describe cognition. One of the problems is that many cognitive concepts for which there is a single word (e.g. attention) have been shown to be related to several anatomical networks. Recently, we have developed an Attention Network Test (ANT) that provides a separate measure for each of three anatomically defined attention networks. RESULTS In this study we have measured the efficiency of neural networks related to aspects of attention using the ANT in a population of 200 adult subjects. We then examined genetic polymorphisms in four candidate genes (DRD4, DAT, COMT and MAOA) that have been shown to contribute to the risk of developing various psychiatric disorders where attention is disrupted. We find modest associations of several polymorphisms with the efficiency of executive attention but not with overall performance measures such as reaction time. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that genetic variation may underlie inter-subject variation in the efficiency of executive attention. This study also shows that genetic influences on executive attention may be specific to certain anatomical networks rather than affecting performance in a global or non-specific manner. Lastly, this study further validates the ANT as an endophenotypic assay suitable for assessing how genes influence certain anatomical networks that may be disrupted in various psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Fossella
- Sackler Institute of Developmental Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA
| | - Tobias Sommer
- Sackler Institute of Developmental Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA
| | - Jin Fan
- Sackler Institute of Developmental Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA
| | - Yanhong Wu
- Department of Psychology, Peking University, China
| | - James M Swanson
- Sackler Institute of Developmental Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA
| | - Donald W Pfaff
- Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA
| | - Michael I Posner
- Sackler Institute of Developmental Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA
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Jentzsch I, Sommer W. Functional localization and mechanisms of sequential effects in serial reaction time tasks. PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS 2002; 64:1169-88. [PMID: 12489670 DOI: 10.3758/bf03194765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Reaction times (RTs) to randomly ordered stimuli are influenced in various ways by the sequence of preceding events. Depending on the response-stimulus interval and stimulus-response compatibility, cost-only or cost-benefit patterns can be observed. In order to localize these effects within the information-processing system, different sequential patterns were induced in overt performance. RTs and amplitude developments of the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) across several trials indicated the accumulation of residual traces as a possible mechanism underlying sequential effects. Analysis of LRP onsets indicated two possible loci of action of such traces. Whereas in motoric stages trace accumulation appeared to produce processing advantages only for continued event repetitions, without corresponding costs for discontinuations, cost-benefit patterns were consistently observed in premotoric stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ines Jentzsch
- University of Glasgow, Department of Psychology, Glasgow, Scotland.
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Abstract
As an introduction to the special issue on neurocognitive factors underlying age effects, we discuss a number of recent developments in the literature on aging. The classic distinction between generalized and process-specific cognitive changes with old age has reappeared in the distinctions between the frontal lobe hypothesis and more differentiated views of neurocognitive aging. We argue that neurological decay in the frontal cortex has important implications for cognitive control, but that the frontal lobe hypothesis does not capture the plethora of changes that characterize aging and incorrectly suggests a unitary effect.
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