Task cue influences on lexical decision performance and masked semantic priming effects: The role of cue-task compatibility

Abstract

Recent research demonstrated that mere presentation of a task cue influences subsequent unconscious semantic priming by attentional sensitization of related processing pathways. The direction of this influence depended on task-set dominance. Dominant task sets with a compatible cue-task mapping were supposed to be rapidly suppressed, while weak task sets showed more sustainable activation. Building on this research, we manipulated cue-task compatibility as instance of task-set dominance in two experiments and tested how masked semantic priming was influenced by actually performing the cued task (induction-task trials) or by mere cue presentation (task cue-only trials). In induction-task trials, the results of earlier research were replicated; semantic priming was larger following a semantic induction task compared to a perceptual induction task. In task cue-only trials, priming effects were reversed compared to induction-task trials in both experiments. Priming was larger for a perceptual compared to a semantic task set in task cue-only trials, indicating suppression of task sets following mere cue presentation in preparation for the upcoming lexical decision task. This notion of an inhibition of task sets after mere cue presentation was further supported by switching-related costs and changes of task-set implementation throughout the experiment. The absence of a moderator role of cue-task compatibility for task cue effects on priming in the present study suggests that the precise time course of task-set activation and inhibition in response to task cues as a function of cue-task compatibility might depend on specific experimental settings.

Electrophysiological correlates of response time outliers: Outlier related potentials

“…In induction tasks 2 Behavioral data suggested that participants always prepare for an induction task after presentation of the cue. If instead the LDT followed (task cue-only trial), participants had to suppress the prepared cognitive state for the cued induction task and first re-activate the required task demands for the LDT (Berger et al, 2022). Accordingly, it is not surprising that pre-stimulus differences between outliers and valid trials were more pronounced in induction tasks, as preparatory processes were qualitative different between both trial types.…”

“…Hence, except of the cues "rund"/"belebt", each cue could indicate each decision category. While this manipulation was of theoretical interest for the work by (Berger et al, 2022), it is of no particular interest concerning the within-subject comparison of valid and outlier trials in the present article. For the purpose of the nature of the task cues as well as information about the stimulus material, practice trials and the prime identification task please refer to (Berger et al, 2022).…”

“…Participants presumably needed to suppress the cued task set if the task was not actually carried out. For more detailed information about the theoretical purpose of these experiments, the interested reader may be referred to Berger et al (2022). Note that for the present study, we collapsed outlier and valid trials across experimental conditions separately for induction tasks and the lexical decision task.…”

“…We analyzed data of two previous experiments, which investigated attentional influences of task cues and induction tasks on unconscious semantic priming (Berger et al, 2022). The paradigm incorporated a picture classification task (i.e., induction task) as well as a primed lexical decision task.…”

“…Data of both experiments will therefore be concatenated for statistical analysis. To briefly summarize the theoretical purpose of these experiments, unconscious semantic priming was shown to be larger following a semantic compared to a perceptual induction task (Berger et al, 2022; Kiefer et al, 2019; Kiefer & Martens, 2010; Martens et al, 2011; Ulrich et al, 2014). This finding is in line with a sensitization of semantic processing pathways required for prime processing by the previously executed semantic induction task (Kiefer & Martens, 2010).…”