Correction to Kornblum et al.

Reports an error in "Dimensional overlap: Cognitive basis for stimulus-response compatibility--A model and taxonomy" by Sylvan Kornblum, Thierry Hasbroucq and Allen Osman (Psychological Review, 1990[Apr], Vol 97[2], 253-270). In this article, erroneous data were included in Figure 2. The figure and original caption are corrected in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1990-18942-001.) The classic problem of stimulus–response (S-R) compatibility (SRC) is addressed. A cognitive model is proposed that views the stimulus and response sets in S-R ensembles as categories with dimensions that may or may not overlap. If they do overlap, the task may be compatible or incompatible, depending on the assigned S-R mapping. If they do not overlap, the task is noncompatible regardless of the assigned mapping. The overlapping dimensions may be relevant or not. The model provides a systematic account of SRC effects, a taxonomy of simple performance tasks that were hitherto thought to be unrelated, and suggestive parallels between these tasks and the experimental paradigms that have traditionally been used to study attentional, controlled, and automatic processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing of an irrelevant location dimension as a function of the relevant stimulus dimension.

The effect of an irrelevant location dimension on choice reactions to the relevant stimulus dimension was examined. Exp 1 used variations of the spatial Stroop task and the Simon task that differed in whether the relevant dimension (location name or color) was similar to the irrelevant location dimension. Congruity of the stimulus dimensions and stimulus–response (S–R) mapping had additive effects in the Simon task but overadditive effects in the Stroop task. Exps 2–4 showed that each pattern could be obtained for both tasks, suggesting that dimensional similarity is not crucial; overadditivity occurred only when stimulus identification was prolonged. Results can be interpreted in terms of the relative timing of activation for the relevant and irrelevant information, if it is assumed that the activation function for irrelevant location varies across different S–R mappings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of the single-channel bottleneck in dual-task interference.

Two experiments used the locus-of-cognitive-slack method to determine whether dual-task interference occurs before or after the response selection stage. The experiments used the overlapping tasks paradigm, in which 2 signals, each requiring a different speeded choice response, are presented in rapid succession. In Exp 1, stimulus–response (S–R) compatibility was manipulated by varying whether Task 2 stimuli were mapped onto their responses by a rule or arbitrarily. Compatibility effects were additive with the effects of degree of task overlap, manipulated by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony between the signals. Exp 2 examined 2 additional forms of S–R compatibility: symbolic compatibility (arrows vs letters) and spatial compatibility (the "Simon" effect). Effects of symbolic compatibility were additive with effects of degree of task overlap, whereas the effects of spatial compatibility and degree of task overlap were underadditive. It is argued that only a central-bottleneck model provides a consistent account of these results. The nature of the central bottleneck is considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence on Simon and SNARC effects of a nonspatial stimulus-response mapping: Between-task logical recoding.

In 4 experiments, we intermixed trials in which the stimulus color was relevant with trials where participants had to judge the stimulus shape or parity and found that the logical-recoding rule (Hedge & Marsh, 1975) applied to the relevant dimension in a task can generalize to the irrelevant dimension of the other task. The mapping assigned to participants in color-relevant trials modulated the Simon and SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effects (Simon & Small, 1969; Dehaene, Bossini, & Giraux, 1993) observed in shape- and parity-relevant trials. Standard effects were obtained when color-relevant trials required participants to respond by pressing a key of the same color as the stimulus, whereas an alternate-color mapping caused either the disappearance or reversal of the effects. The present results demonstrate that for between-task transfer effects to occur the critical dimensions in the two alternative tasks do not have to share the same representation nor need the stimuli of the two tasks have any feature in common. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What matters in implicit task sequence learning: Perceptual stimulus features, task sets, or correlated streams of information?

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 37(4) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2011-13273-005). Two figures appearing on pages 1500 and 1502 contained incorrect labels for the x-axis of the control condition (ranran). The correct versions of Figure 3 and Figure 4 are provided in the erratum.] Implicit task sequence learning may be attributed to learning the order of perceptual stimulus features associated with the task sequence, learning a series of automatic task set activations, or learning an integrated sequence that derives from 2 correlated streams of information. In the present study, our purpose was to distinguish among these 3 possibilities. In 4 separate experiments, we replicated and extended a previous study by Heuer, Schmidtke, and Kleinsorge (2001). The presence or absence of a sequence of tasks, as well as that of a sequence of different task-to-response mappings, was manipulated independently within experiments. Evidence of implicit sequence learning was found only when correlated sequences of tasks and mappings were present. No sequence learning effects were found when only a single task sequence or a single mapping sequence was present, even when the structure of the single sequence was identical to the structure of the integrated sequence of task-mapping combinations. These results suggest that implicit task sequence learning is not dependent on either perceptual learning of stimulus features or automatic task-set activation per se. Rather, it appears to be driven by correlated streams of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of defining features on inhibition in a spatial localization task.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 24(6) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance (see record 2008-09897-001). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) main effects and interactions reported in the article were incorrect owing to an error in programming. Electronic mail requests for a table of corrected ANOVAs may be sent to psimone@scu.edu. Planned comparisons altered by the corrected analyses occur in the results of Experiments 2 and 4. The corrected results are presented in the erratum.] In selective attention tasks, inhibition appears to be limited to the reported feature of a stimulus, suggesting that reported features determine inhibition (S. P. Tipper, B. Weaver, & G. Houghton, see record 1995-20194-001). This article examines whether defining features can also determine inhibition when participants are required to make a cognitive search on the basis of a target feature (color or shape). In 2 spatial localization experiments in which a touch-sensitive monitor was used, results indicated that distractor inhibition depended on both defining and reported stimulus features. Two additional experiments examined the locus of discrepancy between these results and other findings (e.g., B. Milliken, S. R Tipper, & B. Weaver, see record 1994-35938-001). The researchers concluded that defining features can determine inhibition in a selective attention task involving spatial localization. However, defining-feature inhibition may depend on level of analysis of the stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of US devaluation on win–stay and win–shift radial maze performance in rats.

Previous studies have shown double dissociations between win–stay and win–shift radial maze learning in terms of their underlying neural substrates. To examine the content of the associations formed in the two tasks, the authors devalued the food unconditioned stimulus (UCS) by taste aversion to differentiate stimulus–stimulus(CS–UCS) and stimulus–response (CS–CR) learning. UCS devaluation was performed in rats that were over- or undertrained on the win–stay task. Devaluation substantially reduced food consumption on the maze but failed to disrupt choice accuracy, regardless of the amount of training. Devaluation did not affect latency in overtrained rats but did increase latency in undertrained rats. In the win–shift task, devaluation caused rats to reject the reinforcer, yet they continued to accurately win–shift, but with significantly longer latencies (Experiment 3). The results suggest that an S–R association may mediate performance after extended win–stay training. In contrast, a UCS representation appears to be recalled during early win–stay and win–shift performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"What matters in implicit task sequence learning: Perceptual stimulus features, task sets, or correlated streams of information?" Correction to Weiermann et al. (2010).

Reports an error in "What matters in implicit task sequence learning: Perceptual stimulus features, task sets, or correlated streams of information" by Brigitte Weiermann, Josephine Cock and Beat Meier (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2010[Nov], Vol 36[6], 1492-1509). Two figures appearing on pages 1500 and 1502 contained incorrect labels for the x-axis of the control condition (ranran). The correct versions of Figure 3 and Figure 4 are provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-22281-001.) Implicit task sequence learning may be attributed to learning the order of perceptual stimulus features associated with the task sequence, learning a series of automatic task set activations, or learning an integrated sequence that derives from 2 correlated streams of information. In the present study, our purpose was to distinguish among these 3 possibilities. In 4 separate experiments, we replicated and extended a previous study by Heuer, Schmidtke, and Kleinsorge (2001). The presence or absence of a sequence of tasks, as well as that of a sequence of different task-to-response mappings, was manipulated independently within experiments. Evidence of implicit sequence learning was found only when correlated sequences of tasks and mappings were present. No sequence learning effects were found when only a single task sequence or a single mapping sequence was present, even when the structure of the single sequence was identical to the structure of the integrated sequence of task-mapping combinations. These results suggest that implicit task sequence learning is not dependent on either perceptual learning of stimulus features or automatic task-set activation per se. Rather, it appears to be driven by correlated streams of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mixing location-relevant and location-irrelevant choice-reaction tasks: Influences of location mapping on the Simon effect.

The Simon effect refers to the finding that reaction times are faster when stimulus and response locations correspond than when they do not in tasks where stimulus location is defined as irrelevant. The authors examined the Simon effect for situations in which location-irrelevant trials were intermixed with trials for which stimulus location was relevant. Compatible mapping of the location-relevant trials enhanced the Simon effect relative to an unmixed condition, whereas incompatible mapping reversed the Simon effect. The reversal with incompatible mapping remained evident when task uncertainty was removed by use of a precue and was larger than the reversed effect produced by making incongruent trials more frequent than congruent trials. This result suggests that both attentional biases and task-defined associations contribute to the reversal of the Simon effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfer of magnitude and spatial mappings to the SNARC effect for parity judgments.

Left–right keypresses to numerals are faster for pairings of small numbers to left response and large numbers to right response than for the opposite pairings. This spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect has been attributed to numbers being represented on a mental number line. We examined this issue in 3 experiments using a transfer paradigm. Participants practiced a number magnitude-judgment task or spatial stimulus–response compatibility task with parallel or orthogonal stimulus–response dimensions prior to performing a parity-judgment task. The SNARC effect was enhanced following a small–left/large–right magnitude mapping but reversed following a small–right/large–left mapping, indicating that associations between magnitude and response defined for the magnitude-judgment task were maintained for the parity-judgment task. The SNARC effect was unaffected by practice with compatible or incompatible spatial mapping for the parallel spatial task but was larger following up–right/down–left mapping than up–left/down–right mapping for the orthogonal spatial task. These results are inconsistent with the SNARC effect being due to a horizontal number line representation but consistent with a view that correspondence of stimulus and response code polarities contributes to the effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus-response compatibility with relevant and irrelevant stimulus dimensions that do and do not overlap with the response.

Five experiments were conducted using 4- and 6-choice stimulus–response compatibility tasks with graphic and alphabetic stimuli, and keypress and verbal responses. A comparison of performance with compatible, incompatible, and neutral conditions shows that when a stimulus set is perceptually, conceptually, or structurally similar to a response set, (a) mean reaction times (RTs) are faster when individual stimuli and responses match than when they do not match, (b) this is true whether the stimulus and response sets are similar on relevant or irrelevant dimensions, (c) this "compatibility effect" is greater when the dimensions are relevant than when they are irrelevant, and (d) whether the dimensions are relevant or irrelevant, the faster RTs are due to a facilitative process and the slower RTs to an interfering process. These results are accounted for by the dimensional overlap model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of stimulus–response mapping and irrelevant stimulus–response and stimulus–stimulus overlap in four-choice Stroop tasks with single-carrier stimuli.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether and how stimulus–stimulus (SS) and stimulus–response (SR) consistency and SR congruence effects combine to produce the Stroop effect. Two experiments were conducted with 4-choice tasks in which SS and SR consistency and SR congruence effects were examined in isolation as well as in the Stroop task. The experiments were so designed as to remove the confound between SS and SR consistency that is ordinarily found in standard Stroop tasks and to pit SS consistency against the logical recoding hypothesis (A. Hedge & N. W. A. Marsh, 1975). The results indicate that SS and SR consistency both contribute to the Stroop effect and that they interact. This finding supports models such as the dimensional overlap model (e.g., S. Kornblum & J. W. Lee, 1995) that distinguish between SS and SR overlap. Simulation results from an interactive activation network, modeled after the dimensional overlap model, provide reasonable fits to the experimental data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Effect of defining features on inhibition in a spatial localization task": Correction to Simone et al (1998).

Reports an error in "Effect of defining features on inhibition in a spatial localization task" by Patricia M. Simone, Elizabeth A. Carlisle and Eileen B. McCormick (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1998[Jun], Vol 24[3], 993-1005). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) main effects and interactions reported in the article were incorrect owing to an error in programming. Electronic mail requests for a table of corrected ANOVAs may be sent to psimone@scu.edu. Planned comparisons altered by the corrected analyses occur in the results of Experiments 2 and 4. The corrected results are presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1998-02354-022.) In selective attention tasks, inhibition appears to be limited to the reported feature of a stimulus, suggesting that reported features determine inhibition (S. P. Tipper, B. Weaver, & G. Houghton, see record 1995-20194-001). This article examines whether defining features can also determine inhibition when participants are required to make a cognitive search on the basis of a target feature (color or shape). In 2 spatial localization experiments in which a touch-sensitive monitor was used, results indicated that distractor inhibition depended on both defining and reported stimulus features. Two additional experiments examined the locus of discrepancy between these results and other findings (e.g., B. Milliken, S. R Tipper, & B. Weaver, see record 1994-35938-001). The researchers concluded that defining features can determine inhibition in a selective attention task involving spatial localization. However, defining-feature inhibition may depend on level of analysis of the stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response Selection Difficulty and Asymmetrical Costs of Switching Between Tasks and Stimuli: No Evidence for an Exogenous Component of Task-Set Reconfiguration.

Four task-switching experiments examined the notion of an exogenous component of task-set reconfiguration (i.e., a process needed to shift task set that is not initiated in the absence of a task-associated figuration stimulus). The authors varied the complexity and familiarity of stimulus-response (SR) mapping rules to produce differentially time-consuming reconfiguration demands. Tasks with more complex or less familiar rules did not display increased switch costs, given that stimulus repetitions were excluded from the analysis. These results do not support the idea of exogenous reconfiguration. Moreover, stimulus repetitions inflated task-switch costs and did so disproportionately for tasks with increased response selection difficulty, thereby demonstrating that insufficient control of the sequence of stimuli may yield results that mimic those predicted by exogenous reconfiguration accounts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is dual-task slowing instruction dependent?

When 2 tasks must be performed concurrently, each requiring a choice of response, dual-task slowing is typically found. However, E. H. Schumacher et al. (1997) reported that dual-task slowing can be eliminated when equal priority is assigned to each task. Experiment 1 largely confirmed this with the same tasks as Schumacher et al. (tasks using stimulus–response combinations of visual–manual and auditory–vocal pairings). Experiment 2 retained the equal-priority instructions but switched the task pairings (to visual–vocal and auditory–manual); substantial dual-task slowing occurred. Experiment 3 used the same two response sets but only a single stimulus; slowing was again obtained despite equal priority instructions. Equalizing task priority was not sufficient to eliminate interference; relatively unusual cases in which dual-task interference is eliminated seem to depend on task-specific features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Age-related deficits in generation and manipulation of mental images: I. The role of sensorimotor speed and working memory": Correction to Briggs et al. (1999).

Reports several errors in the original article by S. Briggs, N. Raz and W. Marks (Psychology & Aging, 1999 (Sep.), Vol.14(3), 427–435). None of the errors alter the conclusions of the article. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1999-11243-006). The authors investigated age-related slowing of information processing in mental imagery tasks. Eighty-five healthy adults (ages 18 to 77) performed a visual, sensorimotor, reaction-time task; a visual-perceptual choice reaction task; and 3 mental imagery tasks that varied in apparent difficulty and involved stimuli at 2 levels of graphic complexity. Age was associated with prolongation of response time across all tasks and both levels of stimulus complexity. Accuracy of response was adversely affected by increase in stimulus complexity in all tasks, whereas it was negatively related to age only on the tasks with substantial mental imagery requirements. Slowing of information processing and reduction in accuracy were mediated by declines in working memory but not by decrease of sensorimotor speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process interference and code overlap in dual-task performance.

Perceptual encoding processes have recently been shown to interfere with response selection in dual tasks (P. Jolicoeur & R. Dell'Acqua, 1998). Spatial cross-task compatibility (CTC) was varied to additionally manipulate code overlap across tasks. A new response-cuing paradigm was devised, in which a stimulus movement was used for later report in a perceptual task and a finger movement was used as response in a logically independent reaction task. Three experiments were conducted showing dual-task process interference, but shorter reaction times with CTC than without were also observed. This CTC priming effect was largest with high temporal overlap between the perception and reaction stimuli. The CTC effect was interpreted as resulting from overlap of code activation across tasks, whereas process interference seems to occur to prevent temporal overlap on the level of perceptual encoding and response retrieval processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intact selective attention in rats with lesions of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle.

Tested S. T. Mason's hypothesis (1980) that lesions of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle (DNB), which induce depletion of forebrain noradrenaline, alter performance of discrimination tasks because they retard habituation to naturally attractive, but instrumentally irrelevant, stimuli. Exp I used 100 male Wistar rats in groups with either vehicle or 6-hydroxydopamine injections into the DNB. Groups were assigned to 5 discrimination tasks in a cross-maze. Lesions of the DNB did not alter performance of any of the tasks. In Exp II, control and noradrenaline-depleted Ss were trained in a task of light–dark discrimination followed by shift to position discrimination in a Y-maze. At the onset of training, Ss of both groups reliably avoided the bright goal arm and responded to the dark arm, thus demonstrating predominant attention for the relevant brightness stimuli rather than the irrelevant position stimuli. DNB lesions impaired acquisition of brightness discrimination only when the positive stimulus was the illuminated goal arm, and they did not alter shift performance. These results do not support Mason's hypothesis; but on the other hand they do indicate that DNB lesions in the rat can impair habituation of light avoidance. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modulating the interference effect in timing with varying stimulus onset asynchrony.

The interference effect on time judgments, when subjects are also required to perform a concurrent nontemporal task, is one of the most reliable findings in the time perception literature. In the present study, the interference between a time discrimination task (short or long tone) and a digit classification task (even or odd digit) was analysed using the overlapping tasks paradigm. Reaction times in the digit task were shorter at longer values of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) in Experiment 1, showing a clear modulation of interference with varying the relative position of the tasks. Using longer tone durations in Experiment 2, reaction times in the digit task were affected not only by the overlap between the tasks but also by the temporal proximity of responses in the timing and digit tasks. In Experiment 3, the effect of varying the SOA on performance on the digit task was abolished when the auditory tone was irrelevant, thus eliminating an interpretation in terms of distraction from the tone offset. We conclude that the interference effect in concurrent time discrimination and digit classification may be modulated by the degree of overlap between the tasks as well as by the overlap between late processing stages related to decision and response components in the 2 tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rat behavior in go/no-go and two-alternative choice odor discrimination: Differences and similarities.

To elucidate the cognitive structures of animals, neuroscientists use several behavioral tasks. Therefore, it is imperative to have a firm understanding of each task's behavioral parameters in order to parse out possible task effects. We compare two operant discrimination tasks (Go/No-Go: GNG; Two-Alternative Choice: TAC) that are commonly used in olfactory research. Past research has suggested that solving the two tasks requires divergent cognitive strategies. One hypothesis is that the two tasks differ in how an animal optimizes reward rate by means of a speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT). If this is true, then changing tasks could give researchers an additional tool to understand animal cognition. However, no study has systematically analyzed the two tasks in parallel using odor stimuli. Using standardized training protocols, we test GNG and TAC in parallel. Our protocols allow us to isolate the stimulus sampling period from a general reaction time period. We find that the two tasks do not differ with regard to the stimulus sampling period and conclude that the two tasks do not differ in the amount of time it takes an animal to perform a discrimination. Instead, tasks differ in the time it takes to make an overt behavioral response, with GNG showing shorter periods than TAC. We also find no evidence of rats using either task-specific or intertrial interval-dependent SAT schema in order to optimize reward rate. We show that similarities between dependent variables, with the possible exception of response delay, appear to be under experimenter control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)