Core Mechanisms in Action Control: Binding and Retrieval

Abstract

This special collection focuses on action control and its two postulated core processes, namely feature binding and retrieval. Action control is an important topic as humans interact with their environment by means of goal-directed behavior, i.e. by means of actions. Cognitive processes were developed and shaped to enhance preparation, execution, and regulation of action. Therefore, it is the current consensus that cognition serves action.To date, research on human action control is comprised mainly of an abundance of paradigm-specific results and models. To gain a better understanding of action control, an integrative framework was proposed (the BRAC framework -for Binding and Retrieval in Action Control, Frings et al., 2020) that can explain a wide range of findings across different experimental paradigms by assuming two core processes as key functions in action control: feature binding and feature retrieval. In this special collection, 20 articles present and discuss different types of sequential paradigms in terms of this integrative account. This editorial explains the major assumptions of the BRAC framework and provides an integrative overview of the articles that are included in this special collection.

The oscillatory fingerprints of self‐prioritization: Novel markers in spectral EEG for self‐relevant processing

“…In detail, participants are instructed to learn that geometric shapes are self-relevant, which fastens the integration of those features into an associative "network of importance" (Schäfer et al, 2020). The rather fast and stable process of binding things together highlights similarities with basic binding and integration processes of stimulus features and action features in actioncontrol research (for the general processes of feature integration and binding, see, e.g., the Binding and Retrieval in Action Control [BRAC] framework; Frings et al, 2020;Kiesel et al, 2023;Verguts & Notebaert, 2009). In this context, the self can be represented as jointly bound features (Hommel, 2019) that are weighted by their relevance for the self (Memelink & Hommel, 2013).…”

Distractor-response binding influences visual search

“…This Binding and Retrieval in Action Control (BRAC) approach has been extensively validated across various settings, stimuli, modalities, and laboratories (for a review, see Frings et al 2020). DRB remains central to current theories in action control, with a general consensus that binding and retrieval processes broadly contribute to action (Hommel 2004; Frings et al 2020; Kiesel et al 2023).…”