Abstracts 2005 - The Psychonomic Society

Saturday Noon Posters 4079–4085
incompatible targets. Given these ubiquitous flanker effects, many
have concluded that unattended visual objects are routinely identified
without attention. Lachter, Forster, and Ruthruff (2004), however, recently
demonstrated that the effects of flanking words vanish when
care is taken to prevent those words from capturing attention. Here,
we examine whether the same holds true with much simpler stimuli—
individual letters. With flanker and target letters in different cases
(e.g., A vs. a), unattended flankers had no effect. With flanker and target
letters in the same case (A vs. A), however, small flanker effects
emerged. Taken together, these findings suggest that features, but not
letters, are identified without attention.
• COGNITIVE CONTROL •
(4079)
Conflict-Related Processing Adjustment at Short RSIs: The ABI
Effect and Posterror Slowing. INES JENTZSCH, University of St.
Andrews, & HARTMUT LEUTHOLD, University of Glasgow—In short-
RSI situations, participants are usually slower in trial n when the response
alternates in trial n�1. We recently suggested that this alternationbased
interference (ABI) effect results from adjustments following response
conflict in the preceding trial (Jentzsch & Leuthold, 2005).
Here, we investigate whether the ABI effect is modulated by an error
response on trial n�1. We hypothesized that response alternations, as
well as an error on trial n�1, should produce processing conflicts
leading to changes in subsequent performance. Twelve participants
were tested, using the information reduction paradigm, with four
stimuli assigned to two responses. To control for influences of error
corrections, single- or double-keypress responses with either the same
hand or different hands were required. The ABI effect was reversed
in posterror trials, independently of response condition. We therefore
suggest that sequence-related response conflicts at short RSIs can
modify processes underlying top-down adjustments after errors.
(4080)
The Impact of Combined Temporal and Nontemporal Constraints
on the Control of a Dynamic Task. MARIE-EVE JOBIDON &
ROBERT ROUSSEAU, Université Laval, & RICHARD BRETON,
Defence R&D Canada—This study aims to understand the role of
temporal and nontemporal contextual constraints in the control of a
dynamic task. From the contextual control model (Hollnagel, 1993),
two temporal parameters are identified: TA and TR, the time available
and required to achieve control. The objective is to evaluate how variations
in the objective value of TA and TR (through time pressure and
workload, respectively) influence control and the subjective estimation
of both temporal parameters. A dynamic situation including two subtasks,
the pursuit of a target and the avoidance of hostile contacts, was used.
Results suggest that performance and time estimation be affected by
the combination of the two variables: In some cases, the impact of
time pressure and workload are additive; in others, it is not. Findings
demonstrate that changes in the value of TA and TR can impair the
operator’s ability to control the system and can affect time estimation.
(4081)
Repetition Priming and Cognitive Control in Stroop-Like Tasks.
DIEGO FERNANDEZ-DUQUE & MARYBETH KNIGHT, Villanova
University—In Stroop-like tasks, distraction is often reduced by factors
that warn participants about incoming conflict. There is a heated
debate regarding whether this modulation is due to repetition priming
or enhanced cognitive control. We explored this question in a paradigm
in which color and number Stroop tasks alternated every trial.
Dynamic trial-to-trial changes were fully explained by repetition
priming. In contrast, conflict resolution was truly enhanced in blocks
with disproportionate number of incongruent trials. This modulation
was task specific. Finally, we assessed voluntary modulation of cognitive
control: A cue predicted the congruency of the color Stroop, allowing
subjects to establish the correct mindset. Getting prepared for
an incongruent color enhanced conflict resolution in the number task,
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an example of across-task modulation. These experiments reveal the
multifaceted aspects of conflict resolution: Trial-to-trial changes are
due to repetition priming, tonic modulations brought about by task demands
are task specific, and voluntary modulations are task general.
(4082)
Sequential Modulations in the Simon Effect Depend on Task Structure.
CAGLAR AKCAY & ELIOT HAZELTINE, University of Iowa
(sponsored by Eliot Hazeltine)—Spatially defined responses to a nonspatial
attribute of a stimulus are faster when the location of the stimulus
is congruent with the response. This effect, called the Simon effect,
depends on contingencies in trial sequence, since after incongruent
trials the effect of congruency diminishes. One account of these sequential
effects presumes a conflict-monitoring mechanism that adjusts
the use of information on the basis of response conflict on the
previous trial. An alternative hypothesis of feature integration draws
upon the effects of repetition and alternation of stimulus–response
episodes. Using a four-choice Simon-type task, we sought to distinguish
between these two accounts. The results showed that sequential
effects depend on the task structure, operating presumably within a
task representation. The carryover of sequential effects was examined
in further experiments using common stimulus attributes for pairs of
responses or common responses for pairs of stimuli. The results are
discussed in terms of the two competing accounts.
(4083)
Stimulus and Response Conflict Induced Cognitive Control in the
Flanker Task. FREDERICK VERBRUGGEN, WIM NOTEBAERT,
BAPTIST LIEFOOGHE, ANDRÉ VANDIERENDONCK, & TOM
VERGUTS, Ghent University—Recently, several studies investigated
the top-down adjustments made after incongruent trials during conflict
tasks. The present study investigated conflict monitoring with
different types of conflict. In a modified version of the flanker task, a
distinction was made between stimulus–stimulus conflict and stimulus–
response conflict. Six colors were mapped onto three responses in
order to exclude all sequences where a relevant or irrelevant feature
was repeated from trial n�1 to trial n. Analyses as a function of the
congruency of the previous trial demonstrated that conflict adaptation
was present. The stimulus congruency effect was reduced both after
a stimulus-incongruent trial and after a response-incongruent trial.
The mere response congruency effect did not vary as a function of previous
congruency. These findings are discussed in relation to the distinction
between conflict detection and conflict regulation.
(4084)
Influence of Complex Distractors in the Remote Distractor Paradigm.
VALERIE BROWN, JOHN M. FINDLAY, & SIMON P. LIVERSEDGE,
University of Durham (sponsored by Simon P. Liversedge)—Three
experiments examined the influence of complex distractors in the remote
distractor effect (RDE) paradigm (Walker, Deubel, Schneider, &
Findlay, 1997). Experiment 1 examined whether different types of distractors
modulated the RDE in any systematic way. Linguistic distractors
produced prolonged SOLs for central versus peripheral presentation.
Nonlinguistic distractors produced equivalent SOLs for central
and peripheral presentation. This unexpected finding was investigated
in Experiment 2, which showed that repeated presentation of a distractor
results in reduced saccade latencies for centrally presented distractors,
regardless of distractor status (i.e., linguistic or nonlinguistic).
In Experiment 3, this was reproduced for same-category repeated and
changing distractors, and a difference in SOLs was obtained between
two types of linguistic distractors at a parafoveal presentation location.
Latencies for single target trials were influenced by the type of distractor
they were presented with. Although SOLs are modulated by distractor
complexity, RDE magnitudes are not.
(4085)
Age-Related Increase in Intraindividual Variability Points to Decline
in Attentional Control. TARA MCAULEY & DESIREE A. WHITE,