Abstract
The Simon effect, that is the advantage of the spatial correspondence between stimulus and response locations when stimulus location is a task-irrelevant dimension, occurs even when the task is performed together by two participants, each performing a go/no-go task. Previous studies showed that this joint Simon effect, considered by some authors as a measure of self-other integration, does not emerge when during task performance co-actors are required to compete. The present study investigated whether and for how long competition experienced during joint performance of one task can affect performance in a following joint Simon task. In two experiments, we required pairs of participants to perform together a joint Simon task, before and after jointly performing together an unrelated non-spatial task (the Eriksen flanker task). In Experiment 1, participants always performed the joint Simon task under neutral instructions, before and after performing the joint flanker task in which they were explicitly required either to cooperate with (i.e., cooperative condition) or to compete against a co-actor (i.e., competitive condition). In Experiment 2, they were required to compete during the joint flanker task and to cooperate during the subsequent joint Simon task. Competition experienced in one task affected the way the subsequent joint task was performed, as revealed by the lack of the joint Simon effect, even though, during the Simon task participants were not required to compete (Experiment 1). However, prior competition no longer affected subsequent performance if a new goal that created positive interdependence between the two agents was introduced (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the emergence of the joint Simon effect is significantly influenced by how the goals of the co-acting individuals are related, with the effect of competition extending beyond the specific competitive setting and affecting subsequent interactions.
Highlights
In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of how performance on a task might be influenced by the presence of other individuals concurrently performing the same or a different task
Results indicated that competition experienced in one task affected the way the subsequent joint Simon task was performed by eliminating the joint Simon effect
A regular joint Simon effect emerged when in the previous task participants were required to cooperate and it was equivalent in size to the effect observed before the instruction manipulation was introduced
Summary
In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of how performance on a task might be influenced by the presence of other individuals concurrently performing the same or a different task. When the task was performed by a single participant in charge of responding to both colors (twochoice condition), responses were faster and more accurate when the finger pointed in the same direction as the response signaled by the ring’s color than when it pointed in the opposite direction. This difference, known as the Simon effect, is thought to reflect a conflict, emerging at the response selection stage [6] between two alternative response codes, one generated on the basis of task instructions and the other automatically activated by stimulus spatial features (in Sebanz et al’ s study, the finger’s pointing direction). Instead, when the two responses do not correspond, the incorrect response needs to be aborted slowing down response times and increasing the number of errors
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