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Wong MKY, Bazhydai M, Hartley C, Wang JJ. Does implicit mentalizing involve the representation of others' mental state content? Examining domain-specificity with an adapted Joint Simon task. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:230239. [PMID: 39144490 PMCID: PMC11321851 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
Implicit mentalizing involves the automatic awareness of others' perspectives, but its domain-specificity is debated. The Joint Simon task demonstrates implicit mentalizing as a Joint Simon effect (JSE), proposed to stem from spontaneous action co-representation of a social partner's frame of reference in the Joint (but not Individual) task. However, evidence also shows that any sufficiently salient entity (not necessarily social) can induce the JSE. Here, we investigated the content of co-representation through a novel Joint Simon task where participants viewed a set of distinct images assigned to either themselves or their partner. Critically, a surprise image recognition task allowed us to identify partner-driven effects exclusive to the Joint task-sharing condition, versus the Individual condition. We did not observe a significant JSE, preventing us from drawing confident conclusions about the effect's domain-specificity. However, the recognition task results revealed that participants in the Joint task did not recognize their partner's stimuli more accurately than participants in the Individual task. This implies that participants were no more likely to encode content from their partner's perspective during the Joint task. Overall, this study pushes methodological boundaries regarding the elicitation of co-representation in the Joint Simon task and demonstrates the potential utility of a surprise recognition task.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marina Bazhydai
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Calum Hartley
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - J. Jessica Wang
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
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2
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Finotti G, Menicagli D, Migliorati D, Costantini M, Ferri F. Beyond peripersonal boundaries: insights from crossmodal interactions. Cogn Process 2024; 25:121-132. [PMID: 37656270 PMCID: PMC10827818 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-023-01154-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
We experience our self as a body located in space. However, how information about self-location is integrated into multisensory processes underlying the representation of the peripersonal space (PPS), is still unclear. Prior studies showed that the presence of visual information related to oneself modulates the multisensory processes underlying PPS. Here, we used the crossmodal congruency effect (CCE) to test whether this top-down modulation depends on the spatial location of the body-related visual information. Participants responded to tactile events on their bodies while trying to ignore a visual distractor presented on the mirror reflection of their body (Self) either in the peripersonal space (Near) or in the extrapersonal space (Far). We found larger CCE when visual events were presented on the mirror reflection in the peripersonal space, as compared to the extrapersonal space. These results suggest that top-down modulation of the multisensory bodily self is only possible within the PPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Finotti
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Via Rasi e Spinelli 176, 47521, Cesena (FC), Italy.
| | - Dario Menicagli
- MOMILab, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Lucca, Italy
| | - Daniele Migliorati
- Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicoterapia Cognitiva e Comportamentale, Associazione di Psicologia Cognitiva, Rome, Italy
| | - Marcello Costantini
- TEAM Lab, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- TEAM Lab, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
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3
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Bouquet CA, Belletier C, Monceau S, Chausse P, Croizet JC, Huguet P, Ferrand L. Joint action with human and robotic co-actors: Self-other integration is immune to the perceived humanness of the interacting partner. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:70-89. [PMID: 36803063 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231158481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/20/2023]
Abstract
When performing a joint action task, we automatically represent the action and/or task constraints of the co-actor with whom we are interacting. Current models suggest that, not only physical similarity, but also abstract, conceptual features shared between self and the interacting partner play a key role in the emergence of joint action effects. Across two experiments, we investigated the influence of the perceived humanness of a robotic agent on the extent to which we integrate the action of that agent into our own action/task representation, as indexed by the Joint Simon Effect (JSE). The presence (vs. absence) of a prior verbal interaction was used to manipulate robot's perceived humanness. In Experiment 1, using a within-participant design, we had participants perform the joint Go/No-go Simon task with two different robots. Before performing the joint task, one robot engaged in a verbal interaction with the participant and the other robot did not. In Experiment 2, we employed a between-participants design to contrast these two robot conditions as well as a human partner condition. In both experiments, a significant Simon effect emerged during joint action and its amplitude was not modulated by the humanness of the interacting partner. Experiment 2 further showed that the JSE obtained in robot conditions did not differ from that measured in the human partner condition. These findings contradict current theories of joint action mechanisms according to which perceived self-other similarity is a crucial determinant of self-other integration in shared task settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric A Bouquet
- CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
- CNRS, CeRCA, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Clément Belletier
- CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Sophie Monceau
- CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Pierre Chausse
- CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | | | - Pascal Huguet
- CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Ludovic Ferrand
- CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
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4
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Fabbri M, Martoni M, Beracci A, Tonetti L, Natale V. Gender composition of pairs influences joint action effect. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1122427. [PMID: 36910794 PMCID: PMC9996039 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1122427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Research on joint action has demonstrated that individuals are sensitive to a coactor's attentional relation to jointly attend stimuli. It has also been suggested that some features are necessary to resolve the discrimination problem (i.e., self-own and other-own actions). In the present study, we aimed to test whether the gender composition of interacting pairs modulated the joint action effect. Same- (female-female or male-male) and mixed- (female-male) gender pairs performed a joint version of flanker tasks in Experiment 1 (90 participants, 50% males), while in Experiment 2 (154 participants, 50% males) Navon tasks were performed. In Experiment 1, a higher joint flanker effect in same-gender pairs than in mixed-gender pairs, and this joint effect was similar to the classical flanker effect reported by males and females in a classical procedure of the task (70 participants, 50% males). In Experiment 2, the same-gender pairs reported a joint Navon effect, which was reversed in mixed-gender pairs. In conclusion, our findings support how the gender composition of interacting pairs plays a role in joint attentional tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Fabbri
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Monica Martoni
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessia Beracci
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy.,Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Tonetti
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Natale
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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5
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Barutchu A, Spence C. An Experimenter's Influence on Motor Enhancements: The Effects of Letter Congruency and Sensory Switch-Costs on Multisensory Integration. Front Psychol 2020; 11:588343. [PMID: 33335500 PMCID: PMC7736551 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Multisensory integration can alter information processing, and previous research has shown that such processes are modulated by sensory switch costs and prior experience (e.g., semantic or letter congruence). Here we report an incidental finding demonstrating, for the first time, the interplay between these processes and experimental factors, specifically the presence (vs. absence) of the experimenter in the testing room. Experiment 1 demonstrates that multisensory motor facilitation in response to audiovisual stimuli (circle and tone with no prior learnt associations) is higher in those trials in which the sensory modality switches than when it repeats. Those participants who completed the study while alone exhibited increased RT variability. Experiment 2 replicated these findings using the letters “b” and “d” presented as unisensory stimuli or congruent and incongruent multisensory stimuli (i.e., grapheme-phoneme pairs). Multisensory enhancements were inflated following a sensory switch; that is, congruent and incongruent multisensory stimuli resulted in significant gains following a sensory switch in the monitored condition. However, when the participants were left alone, multisensory enhancements were only observed for repeating incongruent multisensory stimuli. These incidental findings therefore suggest that the effects of letter congruence and sensory switching on multisensory integration are partly modulated by the presence of an experimenter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayla Barutchu
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Charles Spence
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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6
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Nafcha O, Shamay-Tsoory S, Gabay S. The sociality of social inhibition of return. Cognition 2020; 195:104108. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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7
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Iani C, Ciardo F, Panajoli S, Lugli L, Rubichi S. The role of the co-actor's response reachability in the joint Simon effect: remapping of working space by tool use. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 85:521-532. [PMID: 31768627 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01271-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The Simon effect, that is the advantage of the spatial correspondence between stimulus and response locations when stimulus location is task irrelevant, occurs even when the task is performed by two participants, each performing a go/no-go task. This effect, known as the joint Simon effect, does not emerge when participants sit outside each other's peripersonal space, thus suggesting that the presence of an active confederate in peripersonal space might provide a reference for response coding. The present study investigated whether this finding is due to the distance separating the participants and/or to the distance separating each participant and the other agent's response. In two experiments, pairs of participants performed a social detection task sitting outside each other's arm reach, with response keys located close to the participants or outside arm reach. When the response key was located outside the participant's arm reach, he/she could reach it by means of a tool. In Experiment 1, by means of a tool, participants could reach their response key only, while in Experiment 2, they could reach also their co-agent's response key. The joint Simon effect did not emerge when participants could not reach the co-actor's response, while it emerged when they could potentially reach the other participant's response using the tool, but only when turn taking was required. These results may be taken as evidence that the possibility to reach and act upon the co-actor's response key may be at the bases of compatibility effects observed in joint action contexts requiring complementary responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Iani
- Department of Communication and Economics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Viale A. Allegri 9, 42121, Reggio Emilia, Italy. .,Center for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125, Modena, Italy.
| | - Francesca Ciardo
- Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction Unit, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Melen 83, 16152, Genoa, Italy
| | - Simone Panajoli
- Department of Communication and Economics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Viale A. Allegri 9, 42121, Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Luisa Lugli
- Department of Philosophy and Communication, University of Bologna, Via A. Gardino 23, 40122, Bologna, Italy
| | - Sandro Rubichi
- Center for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125, Modena, Italy.,Department of Education and Human Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Viale A. Allegri 9, 42121, Reggio Emilia, Italy
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8
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Pérusseau-Lambert A, Anastassova M, Boukallel M, Chetouani M, Grynszpan O. The social Simon effect in the tactile sensory modality: a negative finding. Cogn Process 2019; 20:299-307. [PMID: 30993409 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-019-00911-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
This study seeks to investigate whether users activate cognitive representations of their partner's action when they are involved in tactile collaborative tasks. The social Simon effect is a spatial stimulus-response interference induced by the mere presence of a partner in a go/nogo task. It has been extensively studied in the visual and auditory sensory modalities, but never before in the tactile modality. We compared the performances of 28 participants in three tasks: (1) a standard Simon task where participants responded to two different tactile stimuli applied to their fingertips with either their left or right foot, (2) an individual go/nogo task where participants responded to only one stimulus and (3) a social go/nogo task where they again responded to only one stimulus, but were partnered with another person who responded to the complementary stimulus. The interference effect due to spatial incongruence between the side where participants received the stimulus and the foot used to answer increased significantly in the standard Simon task compared to the social go/nogo task. Such a difference was not observed between the social and individual go/nogo tasks. Performances were nevertheless enhanced in the social go/nogo task, but irrespectively of the stimulus-response congruency. This study is the first to report a negative result for the social Simon effect in the tactile modality. Results suggest that cognitive representation of the co-actor is weaker in this modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alix Pérusseau-Lambert
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, 75252, Paris CEDEX 05, France.,CEA, LIST, Sensorial and Ambient Interfaces Laboratory, 91191, Gif-Sur-Yvette CEDEX, France
| | - Margarita Anastassova
- CEA, LIST, Sensorial and Ambient Interfaces Laboratory, 91191, Gif-Sur-Yvette CEDEX, France
| | - Mehdi Boukallel
- CEA, LIST, Sensorial and Ambient Interfaces Laboratory, 91191, Gif-Sur-Yvette CEDEX, France
| | - Mohamed Chetouani
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, 75252, Paris CEDEX 05, France
| | - Ouriel Grynszpan
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, 75252, Paris CEDEX 05, France.
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9
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10
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Ciardo F, Wykowska A. Response Coordination Emerges in Cooperative but Not Competitive Joint Task. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1919. [PMID: 30356763 PMCID: PMC6189413 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Effective social interactions rely on humans' ability to attune to others within social contexts. Recently, it has been proposed that the emergence of shared representations, as indexed by the Joint Simon effect (JSE), might result from interpersonal coordination (Malone et al., 2014). The present study aimed at examining interpersonal coordination in cooperative and competitive joint tasks. To this end, in two experiments we investigated response coordination, as reflected in instantaneous cross-correlation, when co-agents cooperate (Experiment 1) or compete against each other (Experiment 2). In both experiments, participants performed a go/no-go Simon task alone and together with another agent in two consecutive sessions. In line with previous studies, we found that social presence differently affected the JSE under cooperative and competitive instructions. Similarly, cooperation and competition were reflected in co-agents response coordination. For the cooperative session (Experiment 1), results showed higher percentage of interpersonal coordination for the joint condition, relative to when participants performed the task alone. No difference in the coordination of responses occurred between the individual and the joint conditions when co-agents were in competition (Experiment 2). Finally, results showed that interpersonal coordination between co-agents implies the emergence of the JSE. Taken together, our results suggest that shared representations seem to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for interpersonal coordination.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Agnieszka Wykowska
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy
- Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
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11
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Theory of mind and joint action in Parkinson’s disease. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2018; 18:1320-1337. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0642-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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12
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Constable MD, Pratt J, Welsh TN. "Two Minds Don't Blink Alike": The Attentional Blink Does Not Occur in a Joint Context. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1714. [PMID: 30258390 PMCID: PMC6143683 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2018] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Typically, when two individuals perform a task together, each partner monitors the other partners' responses and goals to ensure that the task is completed efficiently. This monitoring is thought to involve a co-representation of the joint goals and task, as well as a simulation of the partners' performance. Evidence for such "co-representation" of goals and task, and "simulation" of responses has come from numerous visual attention studies in which two participants complete different components of the same task. In the present research, an adaptation of the attentional blink task was used to determine if co-representation could exert an influence over the associated attentional mechanisms. Participants completed a rapid serial visual presentation task in which they first identified a target letter (T1) and then detected the presence of the letter X (T2) presented one to seven letters after T1. In the individual condition, the participant identified T1 and then detected T2. In the joint condition, one participant identified T1 and the other participant detected T2. Across two experiments, an attentional blink (decreased accuracy in detecting T2 when presented three letters after T1) was observed in the individual condition, but not in joint conditions. A joint attentional blink may not emerge because the co-representation mechanisms that enable joint action exert a stronger influence at information processing stages that do not overlap with those that lead to the attentional blink.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merryn D Constable
- Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jay Pratt
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Centre for Motor Control, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Timothy N Welsh
- Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Centre for Motor Control, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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13
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Mendl J, Fröber K, Dolk T. Are You Keeping an Eye on Me? The Influence of Competition and Cooperation on Joint Simon Task Performance. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1361. [PMID: 30123165 PMCID: PMC6085593 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Social interaction plays an important role in human life. While there are instances that require cooperation, there are others that force people to compete rather than to cooperate, in order to achieve certain goals. A key question is how the deployment of attention differs between cooperative and competitive situation; however, empirical investigations have yielded inconsistent results. By manipulating the (in-)dependence of individuals via performance-contingent incentives, in a visual go–nogo Simon task the current study aimed at improving our understanding of complementary task performance in a joint action context. In the independent condition each participant received what s/he achieves; in the cooperative condition each participant received the half of what both achieved, and in the competitive condition participants were instructed that the winner takes it all. Extending previous findings, we found sequential processing adjustments of the Simon effect as a function of the interdependency (i.e., competition, cooperation) and transition between (i.e., go–nogo requirements) interacting individuals. While sequential processing adjustments of the Simon effect in both the competition and cooperation condition were unaffected when alternating between responsible actors (i.e., nogo–go transition), sequential processing adjustments were enlarged under competition for repeating responsibilities of one and the same actor (i.e., go–go transitions). In other words, the prospect of performance-contingent reward in a competitive context exclusively impacts flexible behavioral adjustments of one’s own actions. Rather than fostering the consideration and differentiation of the other actor, pushing one’s own performance to the limit appears to be the suitable strategy in competitive instances of complementary tasks. Therefore, people keep their eyes on themselves when aiming at beating a co-actor and emerging as the winner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Mendl
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Kerstin Fröber
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Dolk
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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14
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Sellaro R, Treccani B, Cubelli R. When task sharing reduces interference: evidence for division-of-labour in Stroop-like tasks. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 84:327-342. [PMID: 29971545 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1044-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Performing a task with another person may either enhance or reduce the interference produced by task-irrelevant information. In three experiments, we employed the joint version of a Stroop-like task (i.e., the picture-word interference-PWI-task) to investigate some of the task features that seem to be critical in determining the effect of task-irrelevant information when the task is shared between two individuals. Participants were asked to perform a PWI task, which required to name a picture while ignoring a distractor word, first individually (in a baseline block of trials) and then co-acting with an alleged partner. Results showed that, compared to the baseline and to a condition in which participants continued to perform the PWI task individually, the belief of co-acting with another individual who was thought to be in charge of the distractor words suppressed the semantic interference effect when these words were in case alternation letters (e.g., "mOuSe"). Conversely, the semantic interference effect persisted when the co-actor was thought to be in charge of the same task as the participant, that is, the co-actor was thought to respond to the pictures. These results are accounted for by assuming that, when the participant knows that another person is in charge of the task-irrelevant information, a division-of-labour between participant and co-actor can be established. Such a division-of-labour may provide the participant with a strategy to oppose the semantic interference effect. Our findings, therefore, suggest that sharing a task with another person in charge of potentially interfering information can enable people to filter out this information from their own task representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Sellaro
- Cognitive Psychology Unit and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Barbara Treccani
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
| | - Roberto Cubelli
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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15
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Michel R, Bölte J, Liepelt R. When a Social Experimenter Overwrites Effects of Salient Objects in an Individual Go/No-Go Simon Task - An ERP Study. Front Psychol 2018; 9:674. [PMID: 29867651 PMCID: PMC5966559 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
When two persons share a Simon task, a joint Simon effect occurs. The task co-representation account assumes that the joint Simon effect is the product of a vicarious representation of the co-actor's task. In contrast, recent studies show that even (non-human) event-producing objects could elicit a Simon effect in an individual go/no-go Simon task arguing in favor of the referential coding account. For the human-induced Simon effect, a modulation of the P300 component in Electroencephalography (EEG) is typically considered as a neural indicator of the joint Simon effect and task co-representation. Showing that the object-induced Simon effects also modulates the P300 would lead to a re-evaluation of the interpretation of the P300 in individual go/no-go and joint Simon task contexts. To do so, the present study conceptually replicated Experiment 1 from Dolk et al. (2013a) adding EEG recordings and an experimenter controlling the EEG computer to test whether a modulation of the P300 can also be elicited by adding a Japanese waving cat to the task context. Subjects performed an individual go/no-go Simon task with or without a cat placed next to them. Results show an overall Simon effect regardless of the cat's presence and no modulatory influence of the cat on the P300 (Experiment 1), even when conceivably interfering context factors are diminished (Experiment 2). These findings may suggest that the presence of a spatially aligned experimenter in the laboratory may produce an overall Simon effect overwriting a possible modulation of the Japanese waving cat.
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Affiliation(s)
- René Michel
- Institute of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Jens Bölte
- Institute of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Roman Liepelt
- Institute of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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16
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Abstract
In the social Simon task, two participants perform a spatial compatibility task together, each of them responding to only one stimulus (e.g., one participant reacts to red, the other to green stimuli). Participants show joint spatial compatibility effects (SCEs), that is, they respond faster when their go-stimulus appears on their half of the screen. Effects are absent when the same go/no-go task is performed without a coactor. Joint SCEs were originally explained in terms of shared task representations, but recent research suggests that effects result from spatial response coding: in joint go/no-go tasks, participants perceive themselves as the right/left participant operating a right/left response key. While previous research showed that the spatial alignment of keys and seats influences the effect, the present research demonstrates that merely instructing participants to be the right/left participant operating a right/left response key instead of labeling participants and keys with arbitrary numbers substantially increases joint SCEs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerstin Dittrich
- 1 Institut für Psychologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany
| | - Lydia Puffe
- 1 Institut für Psychologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany
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17
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No evidence of task co-representation in a joint Stroop task. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 83:852-862. [PMID: 28852867 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0909-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 08/19/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
People working together on a task must often represent the goals and salient items of their partner. The aim of the present study was to study the influence of joint task representations in an interference task in which the congruency relies on semantic identity. If task representations are shared between partners in a joint Stroop task (co-representation account), we hypothesized that items in the response set of one partner might influence performance of the other. In Experiment 1, pairs of participants sat side by side. Each participant was instructed to press one of two buttons to indicate which of two colors assigned to them was present, ignoring the text and responding only to the pixel color. There were three types of incongruent distractor words: names of colors from their own response set, names of colors from the other partner's response set, and neutral words for colors not used as font colors. The results of Experiment 1 showed that when people were doing this task together, distractor words from the partner's response set interfered more than neutral words and just as much as the words from their own response color set. However, in three follow-up experiments (Experiments 2a, 2b, and 2c), we found an elevated interference for the other response-set words even though no co-actor was present. The overall pattern of results across our study suggests that an alternative response set, regardless of whether it belonged to a co-actor or to a non-social no-go condition, evoked equal amounts of interference comparable to those of the own response set. Our findings are in line with a theory of common coding, in which all events-irrespective of their social nature-are represented and can influence behavior.
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18
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Karlinsky A, Lam MY, Chua R, Hodges NJ. Whose turn is it anyway? The moderating role of response-execution certainty on the joint Simon effect. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 83:833-841. [PMID: 28795222 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0901-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
When a two-choice "Simon task" is distributed between two people, performance in the shared go/no-go task resembles performance in the whole task alone. This finding has been described as the joint Simon effect (JSE). Unlike the individual go/no-go task, not only is the typical joint Simon task shared with another person, but also the imperative stimuli dictate whose turn it is to respond. Therefore, in the current study, we asked whether removing the agent discrimination component of the joint Simon task influences co-representation. Participants performed the typical joint Simon task, which was compared to two turn-taking versions of the task. For these turn-taking tasks, pairs predictably alternated turns on consecutive trials, with their respective imperative stimulus presented either on 100% of their turns (fully predictable group) or on 83% of their turns (response-uncertainty group, 17% no-go catch trials). The JSE was absent in the fully predictable, turn-taking task, but emerged similarly under the response-uncertainty condition and the typical joint Simon task condition where there is both turn and response-execution-related uncertainty. These results demonstrate that conflict related to agent discrimination is likely not a critical factor driving the JSE, whereas conflict surrounding the need to execute a response (and hence the degree of preparation) appears fundamental to co-representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- April Karlinsky
- School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, 210-6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Melanie Y Lam
- Department of Human Kinetics, St. Francis Xavier University, Courier 1 West St., PO Box 5000, Antigonish, NS, B2G 2W5, Canada
| | - Romeo Chua
- School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, 210-6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Nicola J Hodges
- School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, 210-6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada.
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19
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Klempova B, Liepelt R. Barriers to success: physical separation optimizes event-file retrieval in shared workspaces. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 82:1158-1176. [PMID: 28689319 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0886-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Sharing tasks with other persons can simplify our work and life, but seeing and hearing other people's actions may also be very distracting. The joint Simon effect (JSE) is a standard measure of referential response coding when two persons share a Simon task. Sequential modulations of the joint Simon effect (smJSE) are interpreted as a measure of event-file processing containing stimulus information, response information and information about the just relevant control-state active in a given social situation. This study tested effects of physical (Experiment 1) and virtual (Experiment 2) separation of shared workspaces on referential coding and event-file processing using a joint Simon task. In Experiment 1, participants performed this task in individual (go-nogo), joint and standard Simon task conditions with and without a transparent curtain (physical separation) placed along the imagined vertical midline of the monitor. In Experiment 2, participants performed the same tasks with and without receiving background music (virtual separation). For response times, physical separation enhanced event-file retrieval indicated by an enlarged smJSE in the joint Simon task with curtain than without curtain (Experiment1), but did not change referential response coding. In line with this, we also found evidence for enhanced event-file processing through physical separation in the joint Simon task for error rates. Virtual separation did neither impact event-file processing, nor referential coding, but generally slowed down response times in the joint Simon task. For errors, virtual separation hampered event-file processing in the joint Simon task. For the cognitively more demanding standard two-choice Simon task, we found music to have a degrading effect on event-file retrieval for response times. Our findings suggest that adding a physical separation optimizes event-file processing in shared workspaces, while music seems to lead to a more relaxed task processing mode under shared task conditions. In addition, music had an interfering impact on joint error processing and more generally when dealing with a more complex task in isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bibiana Klempova
- Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Fliednerstraße 21, 48149, Muenster, Germany.
| | - Roman Liepelt
- Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Fliednerstraße 21, 48149, Muenster, Germany. .,Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
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Della Gatta F, Garbarini F, Rabuffetti M, Viganò L, Butterfill SA, Sinigaglia C. Drawn together: When motor representations ground joint actions. Cognition 2017; 165:53-60. [PMID: 28501547 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Revised: 04/14/2017] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
What enables individuals to act together? Recent discoveries suggest that a variety of mechanisms are involved. But something fundamental is yet to be investigated. In joint action, agents represent a collective goal, or so it is often assumed. But how, if at all, are collective goals represented in joint action and how do such representations impact performance? To investigate this question we adapted a bimanual paradigm, the circle-line drawing paradigm, to contrast two agents acting in parallel with two agents performing a joint action. Participants were required to draw lines or circles while observing circles or lines being drawn. The findings indicate that interpersonal motor coupling may occur in joint but not parallel action. This suggests that participants in joint actions can represent collective goals motorically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Della Gatta
- Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy
| | - Francesca Garbarini
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, via Po 14, I-10123 Milano, Italy
| | - Marco Rabuffetti
- Department of Biomedical Technology, IRCCS Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Viganò
- Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy
| | | | - Corrado Sinigaglia
- Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy; Center for the Study of Social Action, University of Milan, Italy.
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