The influence of observers' sex on attention-demanding performance depends on performers' sex

Post-error adjustments depend causally on executive attention: Evidence from an intervention study

Detecting and correcting execution errors is crucial for safe and efficient goal-directed behavior. Despite intensive investigations on error processing, the cognitive foundations of this process remain unclear. Based on the presumed relation between executive attention (EA) and error processing, we implemented a seven-day EA intervention by adopting the Posner cueing paradigm to test the potential causal link from EA to error processing in healthy adults. The experimental group (high EA, HEA) was trained on the Posner cueing paradigm, with a ratio of invalid cue (IC) trials to valid cue (VC) trials of 5:1 and a corresponding ratio of 1:1 in the active control group (low EA, LEA). We found that the EA intervention improved EA across intervention sessions. Critically, after the EA intervention, the HEA group showed that post-error accuracy (PEA) was restored to the same level as the post-correct accuracy (in comparison with the LEA group). However, post-error slowing and the flanker effect were not modulated by the EA intervention. Furthermore, we observed that the changes in the accuracy of VC trials positively predicted the changes in PEA and that the two groups were classified according to the changes in PEA with a 61.3% accuracy. Based on these results, we propose that EA causally drives error processing. And the capabilities of the “actively catch” more attention resources and the automatic mismatch processing developed after EA intervention is transferable to error processing, thereby directly resulting in the gains in post-error adjustments. Our work informs the potential cognitive mechanisms underlying this causal link.

Influence of musical preferences and intraoperative questions on suturing speed

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of music and surgeon-directed questions on suturing speed.

STUDY DESIGN

Randomized observational study.

SAMPLE POPULATION

Fifty-five faculty veterinarians, residents, interns, and fourth-year veterinary students.

METHODS

Experience, gender, and favorable and unfavorable music choices were self-declared by participants. Each person performed four timed suture trials, which required them to complete a simple 10 cm continuous suture pattern on a model. The initial trial served as practice and did not include music or questions. The order of the three remaining trials was randomized, and consisted of one trial each with favorable music, unfavorable music, and required the participant to answer 2 questions. Trial duration was compared using a mixed effects linear model. Influence of gender and experience on participants' categorical responses to 2 different questions was evaluated using a Pearson χ2 test and Fisher's exact test, respectively. Stratified analysis was used to evaluate further the effect of experience and gender.

RESULTS

Question trials were on average 8.1 s longer than favorable music trials (P = .008), with no notable difference found between unfavorable and favorable music or unfavorable music and question trials. Experience (P = .021) and gender (P = .033) influenced participants' response to question 1 but not question 2 (P = .267 and P = .839, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Listening to favorable music, rather than answering questions, may result in decreased closure times. This influence was greater for less experienced individuals and less experienced male veterinarians and veterinary students.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The absence of questions may increase suturing speed, particularly for minimally experienced surgeons or when instruction is taking place in a surgical laboratory setting.

N-Back Task Training Helps to Improve Post-error Performance

Improved performance on working memory (WM) through training has been widely expected to transfer to other domains. Recent studies have proposed that WM training could enhance the autonomous coordination of WM processes. Based on the shared processes between WM and error processing, our present study explored the transfer effect of 15 days of training on post-error performance, during the n-back task, compared to a simple visual search task. Participants were randomly assigned to either the training (N = 22) or control (N = 18) group. We found that WM training successfully improved WM performance. After training, compared with the control group, the training group showed a significant reduction in post-error slowing (PES); however, post-error accuracy and the flanker effect were not modulated by WM training. Moreover, we observed a significant, negative correlation between the changes in PES and WM from pretest to posttest and classified two groups based on these changes in PES with 70% accuracy. Thus, in our present sample, WM training improved post-error performance. We propose that the skill of controlling information flow, developed during WM training, is transferable to other tasks and discuss the implications of current findings for understanding the generation of PES.

Error-related negativity and error awareness in a Go/No-go task

Error monitoring is crucial for the conscious error perception, however, the role of early error monitoring in error awareness remains unclear. Here, we investigated the relation between the ERN and error-related theta oscillations and the emergence of error awareness by conducting time- and phase-locked averaging analysis based on 4-8 Hz filtered data and phase-locked time frequency analysis. Results showed that while the ERN did not differ significantly between aware and unaware errors, theta power was stronger for aware errors than for unaware errors. Further, when continuous EEG was filtered outside the theta band, the ERN results confirmed this pattern. Additionally, when the non-phase-locked component was removed from continuous EEG, stronger theta power was still observed in aware errors compared to unaware errors. Collectively, these findings may suggest that (1) the ERN emerges from phase-locked component of theta band EEG activities; (2) the ERN engages in conscious error perception and serves the emerging error awareness through the activity of theta oscillations. Thus, early error monitoring is a precursor to error awareness, but this relationship is masked by high-frequency activity in aware errors when the ERN is not filtered outside the theta band in the Go/No-go task.

Slowing after Observed Error Transfers across Tasks

After committing an error, participants tend to perform more slowly. This phenomenon is called post-error slowing (PES). Although previous studies have explored the PES effect in the context of observed errors, the issue as to whether the slowing effect generalizes across tasksets remains unclear. Further, the generation mechanisms of PES following observed errors must be examined. To address the above issues, we employed an observation-execution task in three experiments. During each trial, participants were required to mentally observe the outcomes of their partners in the observation task and then to perform their own key-press according to the mapping rules in the execution task. In Experiment 1, the same tasksets were utilized in the observation task and the execution task, and three error rate conditions (20%, 50% and 80%) were established in the observation task. The results revealed that the PES effect after observed errors was obtained in all three error rate conditions, replicating and extending previous studies. In Experiment 2, distinct stimuli and response rules were utilized in the observation task and the execution task. The result pattern was the same as that in Experiment 1, suggesting that the PES effect after observed errors was a generic adjustment process. In Experiment 3, the response deadline was shortened in the execution task to rule out the ceiling effect, and two error rate conditions (50% and 80%) were established in the observation task. The PES effect after observed errors was still obtained in the 50% and 80% error rate conditions. However, the accuracy in the post-observed error trials was comparable to that in the post-observed correct trials, suggesting that the slowing effect and improved accuracy did not rely on the same underlying mechanism. Current findings indicate that the occurrence of PES after observed errors is not dependent on the probability of observed errors, consistent with the assumption of cognitive control account. Moreover, the PES effect appears across tasksets with distinct stimuli and response rules in the context of observed errors, reflecting a generic process. Additionally, the slowing effect and improved accuracy in the post-observed error trial do not occur together, suggesting that they are independent behavioral adjustments in the context of observed errors.