The time-course of distractor-based activation modulates effects of speed-accuracy tradeoffs in conflict tasks

Mittelstädt, Victor; Miller, Jeff; Leuthold, Hartmut; Mackenzie, Ian Grant; Ulrich, Rolf

doi:10.3758/s13423-021-02003-x

Cited by 26 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Specifically, analyses assessed whether the slope of the delta function is different depending on order (i.e., RI vs. IR). To do so, we fitted a linear regression model to the delta plot for each participant and condition (see Ellinghaus & Miller, 2018; Mittelstädt et al, 2022, for example). Pratte et al (2010) have shown via computer simulations that estimating the slope via linear regression is more appropriate than other methods.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A much-debated question in the field of cognitive psychology is whether similar or different processing mechanisms are involved when dealing with different types of irrelevant sources of information (e.g., Hübner & Töbel, 2019; Treccani et al, 2009; Verbruggen et al, 2004). Recent studies emphasize the importance of considering the temporal dynamics of conflict processing (e.g., Hübner & Töbel, 2019; Luo & Proctor, 2020b; Miller & Schwarz, 2021; Mittelstädt et al, 2022; Ulrich et al, 2015). One useful approach to identify the underlying dynamics is to combine experimental manipulations with distributional analyses to clarify the underlying causes of the observed mean reaction time (RT) and error-rate (ER) pattern (Hübner & Töbel, 2019; Mittelstädt & Miller, 2020; Pratte, 2021).…”

Section: Delta Plots In Conflict Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the activation suppression (ASR) model by Miller and Schwarz (2021) assumes a race between suppression of irrelevant activation and recognition of relevant information before decision-making and motor processes take place. Fitting results suggest that the average time needed for suppressing distractor-based activation is less in the Eriksen than in the Simon task, leading to increased versus decreased delta plots (Mittelstädt et al, 2022). Thus, the modeling work suggests that the speed of processing different types of distractors (relative to targets) may be sufficient to affect the shape of delta plots.…”

Section: Delta Plots In Conflict Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Mackenzie¹,

Mittelstädt²,

Ulrich³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Conflict tasks are commonly used to investigate control processes under situations of relevant and irrelevant sources of information. In addition to compatibility effects at a mean behavioral level, delta plot analyses of reaction time distributions reveal that the compatibility effect generally increases with time (i.e., positive delta plot slopes) across most conflict-like tasks. Critically, the underlying causes of the increasing delta plot slopes with different types of distractors are still poorly understood. The present study tested whether the relative onset of target-to-distractor processing affects the delta plot slope. Specifically, we manipulated the temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within an Eriksen flanker task (Experiment [Exp.] 1), an Arrow-Simon task (Exp. 2), and a manual Stroop task (Exp. 3a/3b). The results of the Eriksen flanker task and Arrow-Simon task revealed that the delta plots slopes were less increasing (and instead rather decreasing) when the irrelevant dimension appears first (IR condition) compared to the reversed order (RI condition)-consistent with the idea that the underlying mechanism driving the slope of the delta plot is the temporal overlap of activation between the relevant and irrelevant dimensions. In contrast, for the Stroop task, the delta plots in the RI condition were not more increasing than the ones for the IR condition. Overall, these results suggest that the temporal properties strongly influence delta plot shape, but that the temporal dynamics operating in the flanker task and the Arrow-Simon task differs from the Stroop task, at least under conditions where relevant and irrelevant information is presented sequentially. Public Significance StatementIn many real-world situations, people are required to select and process goal-relevant information in environments overloaded with distracting-and potentially conflicting-sources of information. It is important to uncover the mental control mechanisms that prevent interference allowing successful goaldirected behavior for both practical and theoretical reasons. In the present study, we systematically investigated the temporal processing dynamics with different sources of distracting information. The results indicate that some types of distracting information are similarly processed across time whereas others are not, suggesting the existence of distractor-general and distractor-specific control mechanisms.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Delta Plots In Conflict Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Delta Plots In Conflict Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Mackenzie¹,

Mittelstädt²,

Ulrich³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…In fact, the most common type of delta plot is a monotonic increase with increasing reaction time, with congruency effects already present for the fastest responses. Such increase is typical for the Eriksen flanker task ( Burle, Spieser, Servant, & Hasbroucq, 2014 ; Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974 , Mittelstädt, Miller, Leuthold, Mackenzie, & Ulrich, 1921 ) or the Stroop task ( Pratte, Rouder, Morey, & Feng, 2010 ; Stroop, 1935 ). However, the classical Simon task typically exhibits decreasing delta plots ( Burle, Possamaï, Vidal, Bonnet, & Hasbroucq, 2002 ; De Jong et al, 1994 ; Mittelstädt et al, 2021 ; Wiegand & Wascher, 2007 ), though with vertically arranged positions of stimuli and responses delta plots tend to increase (cf.…”

Section: Dynamics Of Congruency Effectsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Staggered Onsets of Processing Relevant and Irrelevant Stimulus Features Produce Different Dynamics of Congruency Effects

Heuer

Seegelke

Wühr

2023

Journal of Cognition

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The dynamics of congruency effects in conflict tasks can be analyzed by means of delta plots which depict the reaction-time differences between incongruent and congruent conditions across the quantiles of the reaction-time distributions. Delta plots exhibit a variety of different shapes. Here we test the hypothesis that staggered onsets of processing task-relevant and task-irrelevant features for response selection (together with a declining influence of the irrelevant feature) produce such variety. For this purpose, staggered onsets were implemented in two extensions of the Leaky, Competing Accumulator model. We show the cardinal capability of these models to produce different shapes of delta plots with different assumptions about temporal offsets between processing relevant and irrelevant stimulus features. Applying the models to experimental data, we first show that they can reproduce the delta plots observed with a conflict task with stimulus size as the irrelevant feature. For this task congruency effects are delayed and appear only at longer reaction times. Second, we fit the models to the results of two new Simon-task experiments with an experimentally controlled temporal offset in addition to the internal one. The experimentally induced variations of the shape of delta plots for this task could be reasonably well fitted by one of the two models that assumed an early start of response selection as soon as either the relevant or the irrelevant stimulus feature becomes available. We conclude that delta plots are crucially shaped by staggered onsets of processing relevant and irrelevant features for response selection.

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“…Иногда темпоральные задачи, которые решает человек, требуют компромисса между краткосрочным и долгосрочным удовлетворением. Решение таких компромиссов отражает психологические конструкции временного предпочтения, включающие когнитивные процессы, лежащие в основе способности оценивать и выбирать между скоростью и точностью [32][33][34].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Psychological Features of the Human <I>Tempoworld</I> as Predictors of Solving a Cognitive Task

Bredun

Shcheglova

2022

Vestn. Kemer. gos. univ.

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The paper reviews such phenomena as time perception, temporal structure of the human world, the so-called tempoworld, and the psychophysiological mechanism of temporal dynamics. The article also covers various ways of assessing the relationship between the characteristic features of solving cognitive tasks and the temporal characteristics and structuraldynamic components of positional strategies of personal cognitive-noetic development. The research results revealed the specificity of the process of solving cognitive tasks in groups of respondents with different typological temporal characteristics. Students who knew their dominant temporal-cognitive features made fewer mistakes when solving cognitive tasks related to spatial perception. The experiment revealed some positional strategies as significant predictors of the process of solving a cognitive task, manifested in the features of the human tempoworld. The speed and accuracy of performing cognitive tasks depended not so much on the specifics of these tasks, but on the temporal characteristics of a person, manifested in the degree of balance of modal assessments of life fulfillment. The list of significant predictors of the solving a cognitive task included such psychological features of the human tempoworld as positional strategies, which were dominated by the value-semantic component and motivational self-determination. The research revealed various features of cognitive involvement in the subjective past, present, and future, as well as the relationship between temporal modality and ready-made action algorithms when solving cognitive tasks.

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The time-course of distractor-based activation modulates effects of speed-accuracy tradeoffs in conflict tasks

Cited by 26 publications

References 86 publications

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Staggered Onsets of Processing Relevant and Irrelevant Stimulus Features Produce Different Dynamics of Congruency Effects

Psychological Features of the Human <I>Tempoworld</I> as Predictors of Solving a Cognitive Task

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