Distractor Cues Research Articles

Learned relevance of a distracting cue can influence feature interference errors

ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that attention can be guided via past experiences and learned regularities of target and/or distractor location. Here, we ask: could the learned relevance of a distracting cue affect our ability to suppress it and prevent feature interference errors? Participants reported the colour of a target item, while a salient distractor cue appeared on some trials. Critically, the experiment was split into two contexts, which differed based on whether the target and distracting cue could appear at the same location. We used a probabilistic mixture model to estimate feature report errors. We found a significant difference in swap rates (misreporting the colour at the salient distractor location instead of target colour) between the two contexts depending on the order they were experienced. These results suggest that the learned relevance of a distractor cue can affect how likely it is to capture attention and impact target feature perception.

Suppression of distracting inputs by visual-spatial cues is driven by anticipatory alpha activity.

A growing body of research demonstrates that distracting inputs can be proactively suppressed via spatial cues, nonspatial cues, or experience, which are governed by more than one top-down mechanism of attention. However, how the neural mechanisms underlying spatial distractor cues guide proactive suppression of distracting inputs remains unresolved. Here, we recorded electroencephalography signals from 110 participants in 3 experiments to identify the role of alpha activity in proactive distractor suppression induced by spatial cues and its influence on subsequent distractor inhibition. Behaviorally, we found novel changes in the spatial proximity of the distractor: Cueing distractors far away from the target improves search performance for the target, while cueing distractors close to the target hampers performance. Crucially, we found dynamic characteristics of spatial representation for distractor suppression during anticipation. This result was further verified by alpha power increased relatively contralateral to the cued distractor. At both the between- and within-subjects levels, we found that these activities further predicted the decrement of the subsequent PD component, which was indicative of reduced distractor interference. Moreover, anticipatory alpha activity and its link with the subsequent PD component were specific to the high predictive validity of distractor cue. Together, our results reveal the underlying neural mechanisms by which cueing the spatial distractor may contribute to reduced distractor interference. These results also provide evidence supporting the role of alpha activity as gating by proactive suppression.

Distractor ignoring is as effective as target enhancement when incidentally learned but not when explicitly cued.

Explicit knowledge about upcoming target or distractor features can increase performance in tasks like visual search. However, explicit distractor cues generally result in smaller performance benefits than target cues, suggesting that suppressing irrelevant information is less effective than enhancing relevant information. Is this asymmetry a general principle of feature-based attention? Across four experiments (N = 75 each) we compared the efficiency of target selection and distractor ignoring through either incidental experience or explicit instructions. Participants searched for an orientation-defined target amidst seven distractors-three in the target color and four in another color. In Experiment 1, either targets (Exp. 1a) or distractors (Exp. 1b) were presented more often in a specific color than other possible search colors. Response times showed comparable benefits of learned attention towards (Exp. 1a) and away from (Exp. 1b) the frequent color, suggesting that learned target selection and distractor ignoring can be equally effective. In Experiment 2, participants completed a nearly identical task, only with explicit cues to the target (Exp. 2a) or distractor color (Exp. 2b), inducing voluntary attention. Both target and distractor cues were beneficial for search performance, but distractor cues much less so than target cues, consistent with previous results. Cross-experiment analyses verified that the relative inefficiency of distractor ignoring versus target selection is a unique characteristic of voluntary attention that is not shared by incidentally learned attention, pointing to dissociable mechanisms of voluntary and learned attention to support distractor ignoring.

Moving targets in space: Movement distance as a predictor for experiences of movement agency

Previous research indicates that the experience of agency over one's actions and movements is influenced by movement predictability as well as movement distance (Hon, Seow, & Pereira, 2018). Addressing previous limitations, we present a compelling test of the relation between movement distance and movement agency. Participants in two studies moved targets predictably or unpredictably, and for short, medium, or long distances. Following prior research, distractor cues moved in the opposite direction of the targets. Results showed that movement agency scores were higher for predictable compared to unpredictable movements. Results also consistently showed that when movements were predictable, longer distances by either the target or the distractor cues increased agency relative to shorter distances. Our findings replicate and extend previous findings showing that stimulus movement distances influence judgments of movement agency.

Tracking Neural Markers of Template Formation and Implementation in Attentional Inhibition under Different Distractor Consistency.

Performing visual search tasks requires optimal attention deployment to promote targets and inhibit distractors. Rejection templates based on the feature of the distractor can be built to constrain the search process. We measured electroencephalography (EEG) of human participants of both sexes when they performed a visual search task in conditions where the distractor cues were constant within a block (fixed cueing) or changed on a trial-by-trial basis (varied cueing). In the fixed-cueing condition, sustained decoding of the cued colors could be achieved during the retention interval, and participants with higher decoding accuracy showed larger suppression benefits of the distractor cueing in the search period. In the varied-cueing condition, the cued color could only be transiently decoded after its onset, and higher decoding accuracy was observed from the participants who demonstrated lower suppression benefit. The differential neural representations of the to-be-ignored color in the two cueing conditions as well as their reverse associations with behavioral performance implied that rejection templates were formed in the fixed-cueing condition but not in the varied-cueing condition. Additionally, we observed stronger posterior alpha lateralization and midfrontal theta/beta power during the retention interval of the varied-cueing condition, indicating the cognitive costs in template formation caused by the trialwise change of distractor colors. Together, our findings revealed the neural markers associated with the critical roles of distractor consistency in linking template formation to successful inhibition.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How do we strategically build a rejection template based on distractor features to filter out matched items when performing visual search tasks? Previous studies have suggested that the consistency of the to-be-ignored feature may play a significant role in this process. We recorded scalp EEGs when human participants searched for a target among distractors. Capitalized on multivariate decoding technique and time-frequency analysis, we revealed the neural markers of the rejection template under different distractor consistencies. Being able to track these processes in visual search could help us to understand the connection between template formation and successful distractor inhibition. Our findings may also benefit future EEG-based interventions on individuals with deficits in attentional control.

Association of Racial Discrimination With Neural Response to Threat in Black Women in the US Exposed to Trauma

Racial discrimination has a clear impact on health-related outcomes, but little is known about how discriminatory experiences are associated with neural response patterns to emotionally salient cues, which likely mediates these outcomes. To examine associations of discriminatory experiences with brainwide response to threat-relevant cues in trauma-exposed US Black women as they engage in an attentionally demanding task. A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1, 2014, to July 1, 2019, among 55 trauma-exposed US Black women to examine associations of racial discrimination experiences with patterns of neural response and behavior to trauma-relevant images in an affective attentional control task. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and trauma exposure were entered as covariates to isolate variance associated with experiences of racial discrimination. Varying levels of trauma, PTSD symptoms, and experiences of racial discrimination. Experiences of Discrimination Questionnaire (EOD) (range, 0-9) for count of the number of situations for which each participant reported having unfair treatment for a racial reason. Experiences of trauma and PTSD symptoms were assessed with the Traumatic Events Inventory (TEI) (number of times the person was exposed to trauma; score range, 0-112) and PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS) (score range, 0-51). Response to trauma-relevant vs neutral distractor cues were assessed via functional magnetic resonance imaging during performance of an affective Stroop (attentional control) task. Statistical analyses were conducted at a whole-brain, voxelwise level with familywise error correction. In this study of 55 Black women in the US (mean [SD] age, 37.7 [10.7] years; range, 21-61 years), participants reported a mean (SD) TEI frequency of 33.0 (18.8) and showed moderate levels of current PTSD symptoms (mean [SD] PSS score, 15.4 [12.9]). Mean (SD) EOD scores were 2.35 (2.44) and were moderately correlated with current PTSD symptoms (PSS total: r = 0.36; P=.009) but not with age (r = 0.20; P = .15) or TEI frequency (r = -0.02; P = .89). During attention to trauma-relevant vs neutral images, more experiences of racial discrimination were associated with significantly greater response in nodes of emotion regulation and fear inhibition (ventromedial prefrontal cortex) and visual attention (middle occipital cortex) networks, even after accounting for trauma and severity of PTSD symptoms (brainwide familywise error corrected; r = 0.33 for ventromedial prefrontal cortex; P = .02). Racial discrimination was also associated with affective Stroop task performance; errors on trials with threat-relevant stimuli were negatively correlated with experiences of racial discrimination (r = -0.41; P = .003). These findings suggest that experiences of racial discrimination associate with disproportionately greater response in brain regions associated with emotion regulation and fear inhibition and visual attention. Frequent racism experienced by Black individuals may potentiate attentional and regulatory responses to trauma-relevant stressors and lead to heightened modulation of regulatory resources. This may represent an important neurobiological pathway for race-related health disparities.

Gaze dynamics of feature-based distractor inhibition under prior-knowledge and expectations.

Prior information about distractor facilitates selective attention to task-relevant items and helps the optimization of oculomotor planning. In the present study, we capitalized on gaze-position decoding to examine the dynamics of attentional deployment in a feature-based attentional task that involved two groups of dots (target/distractor dots) moving toward different directions. In Experiment 1, participants were provided with target cues indicating the moving direction of target dots. The results showed that participants were biased toward the cued direction and tracked the target dots throughout the task period. In Experiment 2 and Experiment 3, participants were provided with cues that informed the moving direction of distractor dots. When the distractor cue varied on a trial-by-trial basis (Experiment 2), participants continuously monitored the distractor's direction. However, when the to-be-ignored distractor direction remained constant (Experiment 3), participants would strategically bias their attention to the distractor's direction before the cue onset to reduce the cost of redeployment of attention between trials and reactively suppress further attraction evoked by distractors during the stimulus-on stage. This functional dissociation reflected the distinct influence that expectation produced on ocular control. Taken together, these results suggest that monitoring the distractor's feature is a prerequisite for feature-based attentional inhibition, and this process is facilitated by the predictability of the distractor's feature.

Contextual victimization is associated with slower inhibition control: A pictorial violence-Stroop study carried out in Juárez, Mexico.

Contextual victims are those individuals who are indirectly traumatized by the physical and sociocultural conditions of their violent communities through second-hand information. The purpose of this study was to examine the inhibitory control to violent stimuli in contextual victims from the city of Juárez, Mexico. A pictorial violence-Stroop was constructed with violent, positive, and neutral images. Forty-six university students with low (n = 22) and high (n = 24) scores on the Community Victimization by Community Violence Questionnaire participated. The study adopted a 2 (group = high contextual victims and low contextual victims) × 3 (stimulus type = violent, positive, and neutral) factorial design with repeated measures on the second factor. There were two significant effects which favored the low-context compared with the high-context victimization group, notably faster reaction times in the violent stimulus condition (968.93 vs. 1136.26 ms; H = 5.031; p = .024) and the neutral stimulus condition (899.68 vs. 1013 ms; H = 5.130; p = .025). Results suggest that individuals who are highly exposed to contextual violence may be more sensitive towards violent stimuli, and that their performance on inhibitory tasks that include violence as a distractor cue may be more cognitively demanding.

Distinct neural substrates underlying target facilitation and distractor suppression: A combined voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity study

Selective attention, the ability to filter relevant from a sea of sensory information, relies on the prioritization of goal-relevant information (target facilitation) and the suppression of goal-irrelevant information (distractor suppression). Although several lines of evidence have shown that target facilitation and distractor suppression were mediated by distinct mechanisms, the underlying neural substrates remain unclear. To address this question, we acquired structural and resting-state magnetic resonance imaging scans, as well as behavioral data from a modified Posner cueing task. Specifically, the location of a target (Target Cue, TC) and a distractor (Distractor Cue, DC) was either cued in advance to separately trigger target facilitation and distractor suppression, or no predictive information was provided, serving as a baseline. We combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses to explore the neural correlates of behavioral benefits, yielding the following results. First, behavioral data showed faster responses to TC and DC conditions compared to baseline, the benefits of which were named TC-benefit and DC-benefit. Second, the VBM analysis revealed that the gray matter volume (GMV) in the superior frontal (SFG) and postcentral gyrus inversely correlated with individual TC-benefit, while the GMV in the superior parietal lobe, middle frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus inversely correlated with individual DC-benefit, indicating that target facilitation and distractor suppression was associated with the GMV of distinct and distributed regions in the frontoparietal cortex. Third, the rsFC analysis with the SFG as a seed region further found distinct patterns of rsFC for target facilitation and distractor suppression. Specifically, individual TC-benefit were positively correlated with distributed connections between the SFG and brain regions, mainly within the ventral attention and somato-motor network; but individual DC-benefit were positively correlated with centralized connections between the SFG and brain regions, mainly within the frontoparietal, dorsal attention and ventral attention network. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis showed that the GMV and rsFC could jointly explain individual differences in TC- and DC-benefit. Taken together, these results provided neural evidence for different structural and functional substrates underlying target facilitation and distractor suppression.

Probability cueing of singleton-distractor locations in visual search: Priority-map- versus dimension-based inhibition?

Observers can learn the likely locations of salient distractors in visual search, reducing their potential to cause interference. Although there is agreement that this involves positional suppression of the likely distractor location(s), it is contentious at which stage the suppression operates: the search-guiding priority map, which integrates feature-contrast signals (e.g., generated by a red among green or a diamond among circular items) across dimensions, or the distractor-defining dimension. On the latter, dimension-based account (Sauter, Liesefeld, Zehetleitner, & Müller, 2018), processing of, say, a shape-defined target should be unaffected by distractor suppression when the distractor is defined by color, because in this case only color signals would be suppressed. At odds with this, Wang and Theeuwes (2018a) found slowed processing of the target when it appeared at the likely (vs. an unlikely) distractor location, consistent with priority-map-based suppression. Adopting their paradigm, the present study replicated this target location effect. Crucially, however, changing the paradigm by making the target appear as likely at the frequent as at any of the rare distractor locations and making the distractor/nondistractor color assignment consistent abolished the target location effect, without impacting the reduced interference for distractors at the frequent location. These findings support a flexible locus of spatial distractor suppression-priority-map- or dimension-based-depending on the prominence of distractor cues provided by the paradigm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Let your fingers do the walking: Finger force distinguishes competing accounts of the congruency sequence effect.

The ability to remain flexible while engaging in goal-directed behavior is a critical aspect of cognitive control. A classic example of such flexibility is the congruency sequence effect (CSE) in distractor-interference tasks. In such tasks, participants respond more slowly when a distractor cues a different response than a target (incongruent trials) than when it cues the same response (congruent trials). However, this congruency effect is smaller after incongruent trials than after congruent trials. Interestingly, recent data from the prime-probe task indicate that this CSE is largest when participants treat the distractor, or prime, as the first of two temporally separated targets. It remains unclear, however, whether the CSE in this task indexes (1) control processes that modulate response activation before the second target (i.e., probe) appears or (2) congruency switch costs that delay responses after the probe appears. To distinguish between these accounts, participants' responses were recorded with force-sensitive keys. After responding to the prime, but before the probe appeared, participants exerted greater force on (1) the key cued by the prime after congruent trials, but on (2) the opposite key after incongruent trials. These findings indicate that the ability to remain flexible while engaging in goal-directed behavior relies on control processes that modulate response activation prior to the appearance of a goal-relevant stimulus.

Cueing distraction: electrophysiological evidence for anticipatory active suppression of distractor location.

It is well known that processing at upcoming target locations can be facilitated, but mixed results have been obtained regarding the inhibition of irrelevant locations when advance information about distractors is available on a trial-to-trial basis. Here, we provide electrophysiological evidence that distractor locations can be anticipatorily suppressed. In an additional singleton search task, distractor cues were presented before the search display, which were either fully predictive or non-predictive of the location of the upcoming salient colour distractor. The PD component of the event-related potential, a marker of active suppression, was elicited by lateral singletons and smaller following predictive than non-predictive cues, indicating that less suppression was required upon presentation of the distractor when its location was known in advance. Presumably, excitability of regions processing the predictively cued locations was anticipatorily reduced to prevent distraction. This idea was further supported by the finding that larger individual cueing benefits in reaction time were associated with stronger reductions of the PD. There was no behavioural benefit at the group level, however, and implications for the role of individual differences and for the measurement of inhibition in distractor cueing tasks are discussed. The enhancement of target locations, reflected by the NT component, was not modulated by the predictiveness of the cues. Overall, our findings add to a growing literature highlighting the importance of inhibitory mechanisms for the guidance of spatial attention by showing that irrelevant locations can be anticipatorily suppressed in a top-down fashion, reducing the impact of even salient stimuli.

Acute stress – but not aversive scene content – impairs spatial configuration learning

ABSTRACTContextual learning pervades our perception and cognition and plays a critical role in adjusting to aversive and stressful events. Our ability to memorise spatial context has been studied extensively with the contextual cueing paradigm, in which participants search for targets among simple distractor cues and show search advantages for distractor configurations that repeat across trials. Mixed evidence suggests that confrontation with adversity can enhance as well as impair the contextual cueing effect. We aimed to investigate this relationship more systematically by devising a contextual cueing task that tests spatial configuration learning within complex visual scenes that were emotionally neutral or negative (Study 1) and was preceded by the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST) or a no-stress control condition (Study 2). We demonstrate a robust contextual cueing effect that was comparable across negative and neutral scenes (Study 1). In Study 2, acute stress disrupted spatial configuration learning irrespective of scene valence and endogenous cortisol reactivity to stress. Together with the emerging evidence in the literature, our findings suggest that spatial configuration learning may be subject to complex regulation as a function of spatial or temporal proximity to a stressor, with potential implications for the development of stress-related psychopathology.

Somatosensory interactions reveal feature-dependent computations.

Our ability to perceive and discriminate textures is based on the processing of high-frequency vibrations generated on the fingertip as it scans across a surface. Although much is known about the processing of vibration amplitude and frequency information when cutaneous stimulation is experienced at a single location on the body, how these stimulus features are processed when touch occurs at multiple locations is poorly understood. We evaluated participants' ability to discriminate tactile cues (100-300 Hz) on one hand while they ignored distractor cues experienced on their other hand. We manipulated the relative positions of the hands to characterize how limb position influenced cutaneous touch interactions. In separate experiments, participants judged either the frequency or intensity of mechanical vibrations. We found that vibrations experienced on one hand always systematically modulated the perception of vibrations on the other hand. Notably, bimanual interaction patterns and their sensitivity to hand locations differed according to stimulus feature. Somatosensory interactions in intensity perception were only marked by attenuation that was invariant to hand position manipulations. In contrast, interactions in frequency perception consisted of both bias and sensitivity changes that were more pronounced when the hands were held in close proximity. We implemented models to infer the neural computations that mediate somatosensory interactions in the intensity and frequency dimensions. Our findings reveal obligatory and feature-dependent somatosensory interactions that may be supported by both feature-specific and feature-general operations. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Little is known about the neural computations mediating feature-specific sensory interactions between the hands. We show that vibrations experienced on one hand systematically modulate the perception of vibrations felt on the other hand. Critically, interaction patterns and their dependence on the relative positions of the hands differed depending on whether participants judged vibration intensity or frequency. These results, which we recapitulate with models, imply that somatosensory interactions are mediated by feature-dependent neural computations.

Turning distractors into targets increases the congruency sequence effect

The congruency effect in distractor-interference tasks is typically smaller after incongruent trials than after congruent trials. Current views posit that this congruency sequence effect (CSE) reflects control processes that come into play when an irrelevant distractor cues a different response than a relevant target. However, the CSE is counterintuitively larger in the prime-probe task when the prime is occasionally a second target than when the prime is more frequently a distractor. In the present study, we investigated whether this effect occurs because the appearance of an occasional prime target (a) constitutes a rare, unexpected event that triggers heightened control or (b) allows participants to use the same task set (i.e., stimulus-response mapping) for the prime and probe in each trial. Consistent with the latter hypothesis, we observed this effect in Experiment 1 even when the critical trial types appeared equally often. Further, in Experiment 2, we extended this finding while ruling out perceptual differences between conditions as an alternative account. These findings provide novel support for the task set hypothesis and reveal that the CSE reflects control processes that do more than minimize distraction from irrelevant stimuli.

Sensory uncertainty impacts avoidance during spatial decisions.

When making risky spatial decisions, humans incorporate estimates of sensorimotor variability and costs on outcomes to bias their spatial selections away from regions that incur feedback penalties. Since selection variability depends on the reliability of sensory signals, increasing the spatial variance of targets during visually guided actions should increase the degree of this avoidance. Healthy adult participants (N = 20) used a computer mouse to indicate their selection of the mean of a target, represented as a 2D Gaussian distribution of dots presented on a computer display. Reward feedback on each trial corresponded to the estimation error of the selection. Either increasing or decreasing the spatial variance of the dots modulated the spatial uncertainty of the target. A non-target distractor cue was presented as an adjacent distribution of dots. On a subset of trials, feedback scores were penalized with increased proximity to the distractor mean. As expected, increasing the spatial variance of the target distribution increased selection variability. More importantly, on trials where proximity to the distractor cue incurred a penalty, increasing variance of the target increased selection bias away from the distractor cue and prolonged reaction times. These results confirm predictions that increased sensory uncertainty increases avoidance during risky spatial decisions.

Modulation of inhibition as a function of distractor cue validity

Modulation of inhibition as a function of distractor cue validity

The Online Waiting Experience: Using Temporal Information and Distractors to Make Online Waits Feel Shorter

Research on how to manage the online waiting experience has begun to emerge but has primarily focused on the use of distracting cues for online wait management (e.g., text and images that distract the user from the wait). The use of temporal information in waiting webpages (e.g., text and images that convey the duration of the wait) has received little attention from the information systems literature, and we have limited understanding about how the two types of cues (temporal information and distractors) affect wait time estimation. We address this gap by developing a theoretical model of how these cues affect the waiting experience and perceived waiting time. We tested the model with a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 controlled lab experiment and 1025 participants using progress bar treatments that included temporal information (spatial and text description of the wait time duration) and distractors (progress bar animation and accelerated filling of the progress bar) with both short and long wait conditions. We found that the two types of cues reduced perceived waiting time through different nomological paths. Temporal cues reduced perceived uncertainty about the wait, while distractor cues directed attention away from the wait, increasing perceived enjoyment and wait time distortion. Further, the enhanced waiting experience reduced the perceived waiting time. Further, these cues were effective in managing the online waiting experience with both short and long waits.

Multisubject Decomposition of Event-related Positivities in Cognitive Control: Tackling Age-related Changes in Reactive Control

Age-related neurocognitive effects have been observed at different levels ranging from reduced amplitudes of even-related potentials and brain oscillations, to topography changes of brain activity. However, their association remains incompletely understood. We investigated time-frequency and time-course effects in functional networks underlying the P300 and their involvement in reactive control. Electroencephalographic (EEG) data of three different age groups (30 young: 18–26 years, 30 mid-aged: 49–58 years, 30 elderly: 65–75 years) was measured while they performed a cued colour/thickness switching task. Neural data was analysed concerning the targets. To consider restart, mixing, and switching processes, the targets´ position after a cue (first or third target) as well as their context in the single-task (distractor cue) or the mixed-task block (switch- or repeat cue) was analysed. P300 EEG data was decomposed by means of group-independent component and time-frequency analyses focusing on theta and beta oscillations. RTs generally slowed down with age (main effect group), and effects were specifically strong in targets after a switching cue (larger Cohens d). Peaking at around 300 ms, we detected five functionally independent networks reflecting the multicomponent process underlying task-switching. These networks differed in terms of their topography (parietal and frontal), their involvement in task processes (switch-specific, mixing-, restart-, and single-task processes) and in terms of frequency effects. All were affected by age, as indicated by amplitude changes of the target-P300 and power reductions most consistently shown in beta oscillations. Most extensive age-related changes were observed in one parietal network sensitive to mixing and restart processes. Changes included a topography shift, P300 and beta amplitudes, and were ongoing in the elderly group.

Touchscreen-paradigm for mice reveals cross-species evidence for an antagonistic relationship of cognitive flexibility and stability.

The abilities to either flexibly adjust behavior according to changing demands (cognitive flexibility) or to maintain it in the face of potential distractors (cognitive stability) are critical for adaptive behavior in many situations. Recently, a novel human paradigm has found individual differences of cognitive flexibility and stability to be related to common prefrontal networks. The aims of the present study were, first, to translate this paradigm from humans to mice and, second, to test conceptual predictions of a computational model of prefrontal working memory mechanisms, the Dual State Theory, which assumes an antagonistic relation between cognitive flexibility and stability. Mice were trained in a touchscreen-paradigm to discriminate visual cues. The task involved “ongoing” and cued “switch” trials. In addition distractor cues were interspersed to test the ability to resist distraction, and an ambiguous condition assessed the spontaneous switching between two possible responses without explicit cues. While response times did not differ substantially between conditions, error rates (ER) increased from the “ongoing” baseline condition to the most complex condition, where subjects were required to switch between two responses in the presence of a distracting cue. Importantly, subjects switching more often spontaneously were found to be more distractible by task irrelevant cues, but also more flexible in situations, where switching was required. These results support a dichotomy of cognitive flexibility and stability as predicted by the Dual State Theory. Furthermore, they replicate critical aspects of the human paradigm, which indicates the translational potential of the testing procedure and supports the use of touchscreen procedures in preclinical animal research.