Response Selection Processes Research Articles

Conflict Processing Is Unaffected by Stimulus Duration Across Multiple Visual Tasks: Evidence for Transient over Permanent Activation Models

Permanent activation models of conflict tasks assume that the distractor constantly provides input into the response selection process as long as the stimulus is presented, whereas transient activation models assume that the influence of distractors is independent of stimulus duration. In the present study, we contrasted the prediction of these two architectures across different visual conflict tasks with manual responses. Specifically, we investigated the effects of short (150 ms) versus response-terminated stimulus duration on the delta plot (DP) slopes in a classic and accessory Simon task (Experiment 1), in a classic Simon and Eriksen flanker task (Experiment 2), and in a word-based (semantic) Simon and classic Stroop task (Experiment 3). Contrary to permanent activation models, all experiments revealed that the DP slopes were largely unaffected by stimulus duration. This result pattern is consistent with transient activation models such as the diffusion model for conflict tasks (DMC). Coherently, DMC was successfully fitted to the data. Importantly, the τ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ au $$\\end{document} parameter reflecting the time course of distractor activation, as well as other parameters, were largely unaffected by stimulus duration. In conclusion, our results suggest that distractor activation in visual conflict tasks with manual responses is transient rather than permanent, and stimulus duration generally has no meaningful influence on conflict processing.

Motor inhibition errors and interference suppression errors differ systematically on neural and behavioural features of response monitoring

Action inhibition and error commission are prominent in everyday life. Inhibition comprises at least two facets: motor inhibition and interference suppression. When motor inhibition fails, a strong response impulse cannot be inhibited. When interference suppression fails, we become distracted by irrelevant stimuli. We investigated the neural and behavioural similarities and differences between motor inhibition errors and interference suppression errors systematically from stimulus-onset to post-response adaptation. To enable a direct comparison between both error types, we developed a complex speeded choice task where we assessed the error types in two perceptually similar conditions. Comparing the error types along the processing stream showed that the P2, an early component in the event-related potential associated with sensory gating, is the first marker for differences between the two error types. Further error-specific variations were found for the parietal P3 (associated with context updating and attentional resource allocation), for the lateralized readiness potential (LRP, associated with primary motor cortex activity), and for the Pe (associated with error evidence accumulation). For motor inhibition errors, the P2, P3 and Pe tended to be enhanced compared to successful inhibition. The LRP for motor inhibition errors was marked by multiple small response impulses. For interference suppression errors, all components were more similar to those of successful inhibition. Together, these findings suggest that motor inhibition errors arise from a deficient early inhibitory process at the perceptual and motor level, and become more apparent than interference suppression errors, that arise from an impeded response selection process.

Association between physical health and neurocognition in first-episode schizophrenia

IntroductionImpaired cognition is a core feature of schizophrenia that is evident early in the first episode and is frequently accompanied by compromised physical health. Although physical health confers benefits to cognition, it remains unclear whether physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with neurocognition in first episode schizophrenia patients. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in stimulus categorization and motor response selection processes between first-episode schizophrenia patients compared to age-matched controls and explore associations between physical health and these stages of information processing.MethodsFourteen young adult patients receiving care following a first episode of psychosis and a matched sample of nonpsychiatric controls completed a visual oddball task from which the P3 and LRP (lateralized readiness potential) event-related potential (ERP) components were extracted to assess stimulus categorization and response selection processes, respectively. Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and BMI were correlated with ERP measures.ResultsCompared with controls, patients had lower physical activity levels and longer P3 and LRP latencies. Regardless of stimulus probability, patients had reduced accuracy and slower reaction times relative to controls. In patients, marginal associations were found between physical activity and P3 difference waveform amplitude, and BMI was negatively associated with parent P3 waveform amplitude.DiscussionThe present findings suggest that cognitive impairment in first-episode schizophrenia spans both stimulus- and response-related stages of information processing, and may be targeted through physical activity interventions.

Tracing conflict-induced cognitive-control adjustments over time using aperiodic EEG activity.

Cognitive-control theories assume that the experience of response conflict can trigger control adjustments. However, while some approaches focus on adjustments that impact the selection of the present response (in trial N), other approaches focus on adjustments in the next upcoming trial (N + 1). We aimed to trace control adjustments over time by quantifying cortical noise by means of the fitting oscillations and one over f algorithm, a measure of aperiodic activity. As predicted, conflict trials increased the aperiodic exponent in a large sample of 171 healthy adults, thus indicating noise reduction. While this adjustment was visible in trial N already, it did not affect response selection before the next trial. This suggests that control adjustments do not affect ongoing response-selection processes but prepare the system for tighter control in the next trial. We interpret the findings in terms of a conflict-induced switch from metacontrol flexibility to metacontrol persistence, accompanied or even implemented by a reduction of cortical noise.

Visual cue spatial context affects performance of anticipatory postural adjustments

Past research indicates that anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) errors may be due to the incorrect selection of responses to visual stimuli. In the current study we used the Simon task as a methodological tool to challenge the response selection stage of processing by presenting visual cues with conflicting spatial context; in this case generating a step response to a left pointing arrow which appears to the participant's right side or vice versa. We expected greater mediolateral APA errors, delayed APA and step onset times, and greater lateral CoP displacement prior to stepping for visual cues with incongruent spatial contexts compared to cues with congruent. Thirteen healthy young adults completed step initiation trials (n = 40) from a force platform while whole-body kinematic motion was tracked. Participants were presented with arrows pointing to the left or right, indicating to step with the left or right limb, respectively. These arrows were presented on the same side as the desired step direction (congruent) or the opposite side (incongruent). Results revealed that incongruent trials resulted in significantly more incidences of mediolateral APA errors and greater mediolateral CoP deviations during the APA compared to congruent visual cue context trials. No effects were observed for the temporal outcomes, suggesting that young adults can maintain temporal execution of steps despite these motor control errors. This study demonstrates that the spatial context of visual information significantly impacts the success of response selection processes during step initiation, furthering our knowledge of how humans integrate visual information to initiate whole body movement.

High Efficiency Visible Achromatic Metalens Design via Deep Learning

AbstractMetalenses with both achromatic performance and high focusing efficiency are always challenging, especially in visible range. In this work, a deep learning model is developed to accelerate the design of achromatic metalenses based on the geometric phase theory. During the building process of the phase response library and selection of the nano‐structures, converted transmission coefficients including both phase and amplitude are considered in order to ensure the achromatic focusing, as well as a high focusing efficiency. To test the performance of the design developed from the deep learning model, numerical simulations are performed in the visible wavelengths from 428 to 652 nm, which show a focal length of 266 µm with the deviation under 5%, and the average focusing efficiency reaches 52%.

Stop-signal delay reflects response selection duration in stop-signal task.

The stop-signal task (SST) is widely used for studying the speed of the latent process of response inhibition. The SST patterns are typically explained by a horse-race model (HRM) with supposed Go and Stop processes. However, HRM does not agree with the sequential-stage model of response control. As a result, the exact relationship between the response selection, the response execution stages, and the Stop process remains unclear. We propose that response selection occurs within the stop-signal delay (SSD) period, and that the competition between the Go and Stop processes occurs within the response execution period. To confirm this, we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants carried out a modified SST task with an additional stimulus category - Cued-Go. In the Cued-Go trials, cues were followed by imperative Go signals. The Cue-Go period duration was dynamically adjusted by an adaptive algorithm based on the response times reflecting the individual response selection duration. In Experiment 2, Cued-Go stimuli were followed by Stop Signals in half of the trials and response inhibition efficiency was calculated. The results of Experiment 1 indicate that SSD reflects the duration of the response selection process. The results of Experiment 2 show that this process has an independent and small effect on the effectiveness of controlled inhibition of the target response. Based on our findings, we propose a two-stage model of response inhibition in SST, with the first stage including response selection process and the second stage response inhibition following the SS presentation.

How Intermittent Brain States Modulate Neurophysiological Processes in Cognitive Flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility is an essential facet of everyday life, for example, when switching between different tasks. Neurophysiological accounts on cognitive flexibility have often focused on the task switch itself, disregarding preceding processes and the possible impact of "brain states" before engaging in cognitive flexibility. In a combined working memory/task-switching paradigm, we examined how neuronal processes during cognitive flexibility are interrelated to preceding neuronal processes across time and brain regions in a sample of n = 42 healthy adults. The interrelation of alpha- and theta-band-related processes over brain states ahead and during response selection was investigated on a functional neuroanatomical level using EEG-beamforming. The results showed that response selection processes (reflected by theta-band activity) seem to be strongly connected to "idling" and preparatory brain activity states (in both the theta- and alpha-band). Notably, the superior parietal cortex seems to play a crucial role by assembling alpha-band-related inhibitory processes from the rule- and goal-based actions during "idling" brain states, namely, short-term maintenance of rules (temporal cortex), task-set reconfiguration (superior frontal/precentral regions), and perceptual control (occipital cortex). This information is further relayed to response selection processes associated with theta-band activity. Notably, when the task has to be switched, theta-band activity in the superior frontal gyrus indicates a need for cognitive control in the "idling" brain state, which also seems to be relayed by BA7. The results indicate the importance of brain activity states ahead of response selection processes for cognitive flexibility.

A mouse-tracking study of the composite nature of the Stroop effect at the level of response execution.

By forcing selection into response execution processes, the present mouse-tracking study investigated whether the ongoing process of response selection in the colour-word Stroop task is influenced by conflict and facilitation at both the level of response and stimulus. Mouse-tracking measures including partial errors provided credible evidence that both response and semantic conflict (i.e., distinct constituents of interference) contribute to the overall Stroop interference effect even after a response has been initiated. This contribution was also observed for the overall facilitation effect (that was credibly decomposed into response and semantic components in response times but not in mouse deviation measures). These results run counter to the dominant single-stage response competition models that currently fail to explain: 1) the expression of Stroop effects in measures of response execution and; 2) the composite nature of both interference and facilitation. By showing that Stroop effects-originating from multiple levels of processing-can cascade into movement parameters, the present study revealed the potential overlap between selection and execution process. It therefore calls for further theoretical efforts to account for when, where and under what conditions Stroop effects originating from different loci are controlled.

The role of visual association cortices during response selection processes in interference-modulated response stopping.

Response inhibition and the ability to navigate distracting information are both integral parts of cognitive control and are imperative to adaptive behavior in everyday life. Thus far, research has only inconclusively been able to draw inferences regarding the association between response stopping and the effects of interfering information. Using a novel combination of the Simon task and a stop signal task, the current study set out to investigate the behavioral as well as the neurophysiological underpinnings of the relationship between response stopping and interference processing. We tested n = 27 healthy individuals and combined temporal EEG signal decomposition with source localization methods to delineate the precise neurophysiological dynamics and functional neuroanatomical structures associated with conflict effects on response stopping. The results showed that stopping performance was compromised by conflicts. Importantly, these behavioral effects were reflected by specific aspects of information coded in the neurophysiological signal, indicating that conflict effects during response stopping are not mediated via purely perceptual processes. Rather, it is the processing of specific, stop-relevant stimulus features in the sensory regions during response selection, which underlies the emergence of conflict effects in response stopping. The findings connect research regarding response stopping with overarching theoretical frameworks of perception-action integration.

Inhibition of Motor Planning and Response Selection after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

The purpose of this study is to compare cortical motor planning activity during response selection and motor execution processes between individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and uninjured controls during a reaction time and response selection task. Individuals with ACLR ( n = 20) and controls ( n = 20) performed a lateralized choice reaction time (e.g., Go/NoGo) task. Electrocortical activity and reaction time were recorded concurrently using electroencephalography and inertial measurement units. Separate stimulus locked and response-locked event-related potentials were computed for each limb. The lateralized readiness potential (LRP) was computed as the interhemispheric differences between waveforms and the mean LRP area and onset latency were recorded. Active motor threshold was determined using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Differences between groups (ACLR vs control) and limbs (involved vs uninvolved) and the associations between LRP characteristics and response performance (number of errors) were assessed. Participants with ACLR have had smaller LRP area during periods of response selection ( P = 0.043, d = 0.4) and motor execution ( P = 0.015, d = 0.5) and committed more errors in both Go ( P < 0.001, d = 0.8) and NoGo ( P = 0.032, d = 0.5) response conditions. There were no differences in latency of response selection or motor execution. Participants with ACLR had higher active motor thresholds ( P < 0.001, d = 1.3) than controls, which was weakly associated with smaller LRP areas ( r = 0.32-0.42, P < 0.05). The ACLR group demonstrated greater motor planning and response inhibition during a choice reaction time task. More errant performance also suggests poorer decision making in the presence of a "speed-accuracy" trade-off. Key features of the sample, including lower corticospinal excitability, lend support to an interpretation of widespread cortical inhibition contributing to impairments in response selection and motor execution.

A spurious correlation between difference scores in evidence-accumulation model parameters.

Evidence-accumulation models are a useful tool for investigating the cognitive processes that give rise to behavioural data patterns in reaction times (RTs) and error rates. In their simplest form, evidence-accumulation models include three parameters: The average rate of evidence accumulation over time (drift rate) and the amount of evidence that needs to be accumulated before a response becomes selected (boundary) both characterise the response-selection process; a third parameter summarises all processes before and after the response-selection process (non-decision time). Researchers often compute experimental effects as simple difference scores between two within-subject conditions and such difference scores can also be computed on model parameters. In the present paper, we report spurious correlations between such model parameter difference scores, both in empirical data and in computer simulations. The most pronounced spurious effect is a negative correlation between boundary difference and non-decision difference, which amounts to r = - .70 or larger. In the simulations, we only observed this spurious negative correlation when either (a) there was no true difference in model parameters between simulated experimental conditions, or (b) only drift rate was manipulated between simulated experimental conditions; when a true difference existed in boundary separation, non-decision time, or all three main parameters, the correlation disappeared. We suggest that care should be taken when using evidence-accumulation model difference scores for correlational approaches because the parameter difference scores can correlate in the absence of any true inter-individual differences at the population level.

An adaptive paradigm for detecting the individual duration of the preparatory period in the choice reaction time task.

According to the sequential stage model, the selection and the execution of a motor response are two distinct independent processes. Here, we propose a new adaptive paradigm for identifying the individual duration of the response preparatory period based on the motor reaction time (RT) data. The results are compared using the paradigm with constant values of the preparatory period. Two groups of participants performed on either an easy (Group 1) or a hard (Group 2) response selection task with two types of stimuli based on the preparatory period parameters: (1) stimuli with a constant preparatory period duration of 0 or 1200 ms and (2) stimuli with adaptive preparatory period durations. Our analysis showed an increase in the duration of the response selection process as a function of increasing task complexity when using both paradigms with constant and adaptive values of the preparatory period duration. We conclude that the adaptive paradigm proposed in the current paper has several important advantages over the constant paradigm in terms of measuring the response accuracy while being equally efficiently in capturing other critical response parameters.

On the relative importance of attention and response selection processes for multi-component behavior – Evidence from EEG-based deep learning

Goal-directed behavior often requires concatenating different actions to achieve a goal. The neural correlates of such multi-component behavior have extensively been investigated. However, it is still enigmatic whether it is possible to predict, using single-trial EEG data and on a single-subject level, that an individual is confronted with a situation imposing high or low demands on multi-component behavior. This study gathered data from N = 239 individuals and applied EEG-based deep learning combined with explainable artificial intelligence, temporal EEG signal decomposition, and source localization.We show that attentional selection and sensory integration processes in sensory association cortices were highly predictive with ∼86%. Processes specifying rule-based response selection and translation, associated with superior and posterior parietal cortices, were also predictive with ∼70%. This, however, was only possible when the information about sensory integration was not available for deep learning. Therefore, sensory integration processes are particularly important in the decoding of whether an individual is confronted with a situation imposing high or low demands on response selection capacity limited multi-component behavior. The results provide insights into the relative importance of various cognitive processes during complex goal-directed behavior and suggest that attentional processes are important to consider during multi-component behavior.

The influence of error detection and error significance on neural and behavioral correlates of error processing in a complex choice task

Error detection and error significance form essential mechanisms that influence error processing and action adaptation. Error detection often is assessed by an immediate self-evaluation of accuracy. Our study used cognitive neuroscience methods to elucidate whether self-evaluation itself influences error processing by increasing error significance in the context of a complex response selection process. In a novel eight-alternative response task, our participants responded to eight symbol stimuli with eight different response keys and a specific stimulus-response assignment. In the first part of the experiment, the participants merely performed the task. In the second part, they also evaluated their response accuracy on each trial. We replicated variations in early and later stages of error processing and action adaptation as a function of error detection. The additional self-evaluation enhanced error processing on later stages, probably reflecting error evidence accumulation, whereas earlier error monitoring processes were not amplified. Implementing multivariate pattern analysis revealed that self-evaluation influenced brain activity patterns preceding and following the response onset, independent of response accuracy. The classifier successfully differentiated between responses from the self- and the no-self-evaluation condition several hundred milliseconds before response onset. Subsequent exploratory analyses indicated that both self-evaluation and the time on task contributed to these differences in brain activity patterns. This suggests that in addition to its effect on error processing, self-evaluation in a complex choice task seems to have an influence on early and general processing mechanisms (e.g., the quality of attention and stimulus encoding), which is amplified by the time on task.

Alpha and Theta Bands Dynamics Serve Distinct Functions during Perception-Action Integration in Response Inhibition.

The ability to inhibit responses is central for situational behavior. However, the mechanisms how sensory information is used to inform inhibitory control processes are incompletely understood. In the current study, we examined neurophysiological processes of perception-action integration in response inhibition using the theory of event coding as a conceptual framework. Based on theoretical considerations, we focused on theta and alpha band activity in close connection to the functional neuroanatomical level using EEG beamforming. Moreover, we performed a network-based analysis of theta and alpha band activity. We show a seesaw-like relationship between medial and superior frontal cortex theta band activity and frontoparietal cortex alpha band activity during perception-action integration in response inhibition, depending on the necessity to reconfigure perception-action associations. When perception-action integration was more demanding, because perception-action associations (bindings) have to be reconfigured, there was an increase of theta and a decrease of alpha band activity. Vice versa, when there was no need to reconfigure perception-action bindings, theta band activity was low and alpha band activity was high. However, theta band processes seem to be most important for perception-action integration in response inhibition, because only the sensor-level network organization of theta band activity showed variations depending on the necessity to reconfigure perception-action associations. When no reconfiguration was necessary, the network architecture was more small-world-like, likely enabling efficient processing. When reconfigurations were necessary, the network organization becomes more random. These differences were particularly strong for fractions of the neurophysiological signal supposed to reflect response selection processes.

Human inference in changing environments with temporal structure.

To make informed decisions in natural environments that change over time, humans must update their beliefs as new observations are gathered. Studies exploring human inference as a dynamical process that unfolds in time have focused on situations in which the statistics of observations are history-independent. Yet, temporal structure is everywhere in nature and yields history-dependent observations. Do humans modify their inference processes depending on the latent temporal statistics of their observations? We investigate this question experimentally and theoretically using a change-point inference task. We show that humans adapt their inference process to fine aspects of the temporal structure in the statistics of stimuli. As such, humans behave qualitatively in a Bayesian fashion but, quantitatively, deviate away from optimality. Perhaps more importantly, humans behave suboptimally in that their responses are not deterministic, but variable. We show that this variability itself is modulated by the temporal statistics of stimuli. To elucidate the cognitive algorithm that yields this behavior, we investigate a broad array of existing and new models that characterize different sources of suboptimal deviations away from Bayesian inference. While models with "output noise" that corrupts the response-selection process are natural candidates, human behavior is best described by sampling-based inference models, in which the main ingredient is a compressed approximation of the posterior, represented through a modest set of random samples and updated over time. This result comes to complement a growing literature on sample-based representation and learning in humans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Revealing the effects of temporal orienting of attention on response conflict using continuous movements

Orienting attention in time enables us to prepare for forthcoming perception and action (e.g., estimating the duration of a yellow traffic light when driving). While temporal orienting can facilitate performance on simple tasks, its influence on complex tasks involving response conflict is unclear. Here, we adapted the flanker paradigm to a choice-reaching task where participants used a computer mouse to reach to the left or right side of the screen, as indicated by the central arrow presented with either the congruent or incongruent flankers. We assessed the effects of temporal orienting by manipulating goal-driven temporal expectation (using probabilistic variations in target timing) and stimulus-driven temporal priming (using sequential repetitions versus switches in target timing). We tested how temporal orienting influenced the dynamics of response conflict resolution. Recent choice-reaching studies have indicated that under response conflict, delayed movement initiation captures the response threshold adjustment process, whereas increased curvature toward the incorrect response captures the degree of coactivation of the response alternatives during the controlled response selection process. Both temporal expectation and priming reduced the initiation latency regardless of response conflict, suggesting that both lowered response thresholds independently of response conflict. Notably, temporal expectation, but not temporal priming, increased the curvature toward the incorrect response on incongruent trials. These results suggest that temporal orienting generally increases motor preparedness, but goal-driven temporal orienting particularly interferes with response conflict resolution, likely through its influence on response thresholds. Overall, our study highlights the interplay between temporal orienting and cognitive control in goal-directed action.

Negative affordance effect: automatic response inhibition triggered by handle orientation of non-target object

Habituated response tendency associated with affordance of an object is automatically inhibited if this affordance cue is extracted from a non-target object. This study presents two go/no-go experiments investigating whether this response control operates in response selection processes and whether it is linked to conflict-monitoring mechanisms. In the first experiment, the participants performed responses with one hand, and in the second experiment, with two hands. In addition, both experiments consisted of two blocks with varying frequency of go conditions (25%-go vs. 75%-go). The non-target-related response inhibition effect was only observed in Experiment 2 when the task required selecting between two hands. Additionally, the results did not reveal patterns typically related to conflict monitoring when go-frequency is manipulated and when a stimulus–response compatibility effect is examined relative to congruency condition of the previous trial. The study shows that the non-target-related response inhibition assists hand selection and is relatively resistant to conflict-monitoring processes.

Selection for Action: The Medial Frontal Cortex Is an Executive Hub for Stimulus and Response Selection.

This EEG study investigates the electrophysiological activity underlying processes of stimulus and response selection, and their executive orchestration via long-range functional connectivity under conflict condition, in order to shed more light on how these brain dynamics shape individual behavioral performance. Participants (n = 91) performed a modified flanker task, in which bilateral visual stimulation and a bimanual response pattern were employed to isolate the stimulus and response selection-related lateralized activity. First, we identified conflict-related markers of task-relevant processes; most importantly, the stimulus and response selection were evidenced by contra-ipsilateral differences in visual and motor activity, respectively, and executive control was evidenced by modulations of midfrontal activity. Second, we identified conflict-related functional connectivity between midfrontal and other task-relevant areas. The results showed that interregional phase synchronization in theta band was centered at the midfrontal site, interpreted here as a "hub" of executive communication. Importantly, the theta functional connectivity was more robust under the condition of increased demands for stimulus and response selection, including connectivity between the medial frontal cortex and the lateral frontal and motor areas, as well as cross-frequency theta-alpha coupling between the medial frontal cortex and contralateral visual areas. Third, we showed that individual differences in the measured conflict-related EEG activity, particularly the midfrontal N2, theta power, and global theta connectivity, predict the behavioral efficiency in conflict resolution.