Abstract
In a joint go/no-go Simon task, each of two participants is to respond to one of two non-spatial stimulus features by means of a spatially lateralized response. Stimulus position varies horizontally and responses are faster and more accurate when response side and stimulus position match (compatible trial) than when they mismatch (incompatible trial), defining the social Simon effect or joint spatial compatibility effect. This effect was originally explained in terms of action/task co-representation, assuming that the co-actor’s action is automatically co-represented. Recent research by Dolk, Hommel, Prinz, and Liepelt (2013) challenged this account by demonstrating joint spatial compatibility effects in a task-setting in which non-social objects like a Japanese waving cat were present, but no real co-actor. They postulated that every sufficiently salient object induces joint spatial compatibility effects. However, what makes an object sufficiently salient is so far not well defined. To scrutinize this open question, the current study manipulated auditory and/or visual attention-attracting cues of a Japanese waving cat within an auditory (Experiment 1) and a visual joint go/no-go Simon task (Experiment 2). Results revealed that joint spatial compatibility effects only occurred in an auditory Simon task when the cat provided auditory cues while no joint spatial compatibility effects were found in a visual Simon task. This demonstrates that it is not the sufficiently salient object alone that leads to joint spatial compatibility effects but instead, a complex interaction between features of the object and the stimulus material of the joint go/no-go Simon task.
Highlights
In daily life, we are constantly requested to perform a variety of tasks in order to reach specific goals and meet our needs
We expected to find a significant spatial compatibility effect (SCE) in the visual and auditory condition (VA) condition, when two attention-attracting cues of the non-social object are presented that match the given stimuli during the joint go/no-go Simon task
If research objectives do not involve issues regulated by law, no ethics approval is required for social science research in Germany
Summary
We are constantly requested to perform a variety of tasks in order to reach specific goals and meet our needs. . .), as long as this spatial reference point (e.g., The influence of the Japanese waving cat the co-actor in a joint go/no-go task setting) is seen as being a part of the task This spatial coding results in an overlap of the spatial response dimension (e.g., key alignment) and the taskirrelevant spatial stimulus dimension (e.g., stimulus position in the Simon task), leading to interference in cases of incompatible trials. We expected to find a significant SCE in the VA condition, when two attention-attracting cues of the non-social object are presented that (partly) match the given stimuli during the joint go/no-go Simon task Note that this would replicate the results of Dolk and colleagues [22]. Note that a missing effect in the control condition would demonstrate that only static social cues of the cat (for example the cat’s face) are not sufficient to produce joint SCEs
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