Stimulus-response Compatibility Paradigm Research Articles

Too much to handle? Interference from distractors with similar affordances on target selection for handled objects.

The existence of handle affordances has been classically demonstrated using the Stimulus-Response Compatibility paradigm, with shorter response times when the orientation of the object handle and the response hand are compatible in comparison to incompatible. Yet the activation of handle affordances from visual objects has been investigated in very simple situations involving single stimulus and motor response. As natural perceptual scenes are usually composed of multiple objects that could activate multiple affordances, the consequence of multiple affordance activation on the perception and processing of a given object of the scene requires more investigation. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of distractor affordances on the processing of a target object in situations involving several familiar graspable objects. In two online experiments, 229 participants had to select a target object (the kitchen utensil or the tool) in a visual scene displaying a pair of objects. They performed left key presses when the target was on the left and right key presses when the target was on the right. Target handle orientation and response side could be compatible or incompatible. Critically, target and distractor objects had similar or dissimilar handle affordances, with handles oriented for left- or right-hand grasps. Results from the two experiments showed slower response times when target and distractor objects had similar handle affordances in comparison to dissimilar affordances, when participants performed right hand responses and when target orientation and response were compatible. Thus, affordance similarity between objects may interfere rather than facilitate object processing and slow down target selection. These findings are in line with models of affordance and object selection assuming automatic inhibition of distractors' affordances for appropriate object interaction.

How pre-processing decisions affect the reliability and validity of the approach–avoidance task: Evidence from simulations and multiverse analyses with six datasets

Reaction time (RT) data are often pre-processed before analysis by rejecting outliers and errors and aggregating the data. In stimulus–response compatibility paradigms such as the approach–avoidance task (AAT), researchers often decide how to pre-process the data without an empirical basis, leading to the use of methods that may harm data quality. To provide this empirical basis, we investigated how different pre-processing methods affect the reliability and validity of the AAT. Our literature review revealed 108 unique pre-processing pipelines among 163 examined studies. Using empirical datasets, we found that validity and reliability were negatively affected by retaining error trials, by replacing error RTs with the mean RT plus a penalty, and by retaining outliers. In the relevant-feature AAT, bias scores were more reliable and valid if computed with D-scores; medians were less reliable and more unpredictable, while means were also less valid. Simulations revealed bias scores were likely to be less accurate if computed by contrasting a single aggregate of all compatible conditions with that of all incompatible conditions, rather than by contrasting separate averages per condition. We also found that multilevel model random effects were less reliable, valid, and stable, arguing against their use as bias scores. We call upon the field to drop these suboptimal practices to improve the psychometric properties of the AAT. We also call for similar investigations in related RT-based bias measures such as the implicit association task, as their commonly accepted pre-processing practices involve many of the aforementioned discouraged methods.Highlights• Rejecting RTs deviating more than 2 or 3 SD from the mean gives more reliable and valid results than other outlier rejection methods in empirical data• Removing error trials gives more reliable and valid results than retaining them or replacing them with the block mean and an added penalty• Double-difference scores are more reliable than compatibility scores under most circumstances• More reliable and valid results are obtained both in simulated and real data by using double-difference D-scores, which are obtained by dividing a participant’s double mean difference score by the SD of their RTs

The different effects of breaking an object at different time points.

Whether the Object-based Correspondence Effect caused by task-irrelevant handles of graspable objects is attributed to the spatial-based or motor-based accounts, or both, has been controversial thus far. In this study, we investigated this question from the time dynamic perspective with the modified stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility paradigm. Specifically, we used three different types of objects in three behavioral experiments: objects with a handle, symmetrical objects, and objects with unilateral protrusion. The objects were broken or remained intact at three different time points (i.e., 50 ms, 150 ms, and 250 ms). The results showed that the object with an intact handle had the correspondence effect at 150 ms, while the correspondence effect disappeared when the handle was broken (Experiment 1). However, no similar pattern was found for symmetric objects (Experiment 2) and objects with unilateral protrusion (Experiment 3). Meanwhile, similar compatibility effects were found in all three experiments when the breakage occurred at 50 ms, which suggests that spatial-based, attention-related factors play a key role in early visual information representation. Our findings suggest that both early spatial-based and later motor-based mechanisms are necessary for the object-based correspondence effect, corroborating the development of visual information representation over time.

Test-Retest Reliability of Event-Related Potentials Across Three Tasks

Abstract. Event-related potentials (ERPs) constitute a useful and cost-effective method to assess the neural underpinnings of multiple cognitive processes. ERPs have been used to track changes in cognitive processes in longitudinal and clinical studies. However, few studies have assessed their test-retest reliability (i.e., their consistency across time). Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of ERPs (P100, N100, P200, N200, P3b, lateralized readiness potentials) across three tasks. In two assessments separated by approximately 4 months, ERPs were recorded in 26 healthy participants, during two oddball tasks (motor and counting) and a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm. Pearson’s correlations and intraclass correlations were used to assess the test-retest reliability of ERPs. Correlations between ERPs elicited by the three tasks were assessed with Pearson’s correlations. Our analyses revealed moderate to very strong test-retest reliability for most ERP components across the three tasks. Test-retest reliability did not differ between the motor and counting oddball tasks. Most ERPs were also correlated across paradigms. Therefore, these results confirm that ERPs have the potential to be reliable markers to serve as robust assessment tools in longitudinal or clinical studies.

Spatial processes in category assignment.

Investigates the hypothesis that spatial processes are involved in judgments on membership in a category. It is argued that membership versus nonmembership of an object or a concept, in a category, is spatially simulated in mental space by a minimal continuum with 2 levels, left for membership and right for nonmembership. In analogy to other embodied dimensions (e.g., time line or number line), the orientation of membership levels on the mental dimension is assumed to follow the acquired reading/writing schema, with procedural primacy implying dominance, hence leftward positioning of dominant elements. This rationale is tested in 7 experiments. A recognition memory paradigm (modified 2AFC paradigm, Experiment 1) revealed that participants were faster indicating the location of an old word on the screen when displayed left within a pair of words, indicating a spatial representation of category membership ("member" = left, "nonmember" = right). For category discrimination (Experiment 2) we found faster and more accurate performance when a target word is presented left as compared with right. This pattern is replicated in Experiments 4a and 4b, with different response alternatives. Discriminating categories in a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm (Experiment 3), participants were faster making correct responses with their left hand than with their right hand in target category trials. In contrast, no differences were found for distractor trials. Experiments 5a and 5b address the spatial bias in spontaneous sorting situations. Overall, this pattern of results across the 7 experiments provides evidence in support of a spatial simulation of category assignment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Dissociable effects of averted “gaze” on the priming of bodily representations and motor actions

Gaze direction is an important stimulus that signals key details about social (dis)engagement and objects in our physical environment. Here, we explore how gaze direction influences the perceiver's processing of bodily information. Specifically, we examined how averted versus direct gaze modifies the operation of effector-centered representations (i.e., specific fingers) versus movement-centered representations (i.e., finger actions). Study 1 used a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm that tested the priming of a relevant effector or relevant movement, after observing videos of direct or averted gaze. We found a selective priming of relevant effectors, but only after averted gaze videos. Study 2 found similar priming effects with symbolic direction cues (averted arrows). Study 3 found that averted gaze cues do not influence generic spatial compatibility effects, and thus, are specific to body representations. In sum, this research suggests that both human and symbolic averted cues selectively prime relevant body-part representations, highlighting the dynamic interplay between our bodies, minds, and environments.

What triggers a gesture? Exploring affordance compatibility effects in representational gesture production.

What are the mechanisms responsible for spontaneous cospeech gesture production? Driven by the close connection between cospeech gestures and object-related actions, recent research suggests that cospeech gestures originate in perceptual and motoric simulations that occur while speakers process information for speaking (Hostetter & Alibali, 2008). Here, we test this claim by highlighting object affordances during a communication task, inspired by the classic stimulus-response compatibility paradigm by Tucker and Ellis (1998). We compared cospeech gestures in situations where target objects were oriented toward the speakers' dominant hand (grasping potential enhanced), with situations where they were oriented toward the nondominant hand. Before the main experiment, we conducted a replication attempt of Tucker and Ellis' (1998: Experiment 1) to (re)establish the effect of stimulus compatibility, using contemporary items. Contrary to expectations, we could not replicate the original findings. Furthermore, compatibly with our replication results, the gesture data showed that enhancing grasping potential did not increase the amount of cospeech gestures produced. Vertical orientation nevertheless did, with upright objects eliciting more cospeech gestures than inverted ones, which does suggest a relation between affordance and gesture production. Our results challenge the automaticity of affordance effects, both in a classic stimulus-response compatibility experiment as well as in a more interactive dialogue setting and suggest that previous findings on cospeech gestures emerge from thinking and communicating about action-evoking content rather than from the affordance-compatibility of the presented objects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Automatic facial reactions to facial, body, and vocal expressions: A stimulus-response compatibility study.

When perceiving emotional facial expressions there is an automatic tendency to react with a matching facial expression. A classic explanation of this phenomenon, termed the matched motor hypothesis, highlights the importance of topographic matching, that is, the correspondence in body parts, between perceived and produced actions. More recent studies using mimicry paradigms have challenged this classic account, producing ample evidence against the matched motor hypothesis. However, research using stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) paradigms usually assumed the effect relies on topographic matching. While mimicry and SRC share some characteristics, critical differences between the paradigms suggest conclusions cannot be simply transferred from one to another. Thus, our aim in the present study was to directly test the matched motor hypothesis using SRC. Specifically, we investigated whether observing emotional body postures or hearing emotional vocalizations produces a tendency to respond with one's face, despite completely different motor actions being involved. In three SRC experiments, participants were required to either smile or frown in response to a color cue, presented concurrently with stimuli of happy and angry facial (experiment 1), body (experiment 2), or vocal (experiment 3) expressions. Reaction times were measured using facial EMG. Whether presenting facial, body, or vocal expressions, we found faster responses in compatible, compared to incompatible trials. These results demonstrate that the SRC effect of emotional expressions does not require topographic matching. Our findings question interpretations of previous research and suggest further examination of the matched motor hypothesis.

Is a letterbox always a letterbox? The role of affordances in guiding perceptual categorization.

Classically investigated in the context of judgment tasks about achievable actions, affordances have also been investigated in the context of the stimulus-response compatibility paradigm. Earlier work showed that perceptual categorization performance is significantly faster and more accurate when the orientation of the graspable part of a presented object, and the orientation of the participant's response are compatible, suggesting that the main function of affordances is restricted to action preparation. Here, we investigate the potential role of affordances in the categorization of ambiguous stimuli through a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm. In other words, we investigate if in ambiguous situations, such as ones in which a stimulus may give rise to two percepts, affordances would stabilize perception on one of these two and, therefore, helps in the subsequent categorizations. Two experiments were run, based on the forced-choice stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) paradigm, with a progressive series of ambiguous (bistable) lateral-graspable objects. In Experiment 1, subjects responded by pressing horizontally opposite keyboard keys, while in Experiment 2, the keyboard keys were vertically separated. Experiment 1 found that subjects perceived the initial object in a bistable series for longer, and exhibited greater response stability in compatible than incompatible situations. In Experiment 2, none of these modulations were significant. Overall, our results show that affordances operationalized through a SRC paradigm modulated how subjects categorized ambiguous stimuli. We argue that affordances may play a substantial role in ambiguous contexts by reducing the uncertainty of such situations.

Emotional state dependence facilitates automatic imitation of visual speech.

Observing someone speak automatically triggers cognitive and neural mechanisms required to produce speech, a phenomenon known as automatic imitation. Automatic imitation of speech can be measured using the Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) paradigm that shows facilitated response times (RTs) when responding to a prompt (e.g., say aa) in the presence of a congruent distracter (a video of someone saying aa), compared with responding in the presence of an incongruent distracter (a video of someone saying oo). Current models of the relation between emotion and cognitive control suggest that automatic imitation can be modulated by varying the stimulus-driven task aspects, that is, the distracter's emotional valence. It is unclear how the emotional state of the observer affects automatic imitation. The current study explored independent effects of emotional valence of the distracter (Stimulus-driven Dependence) and the observer's emotional state (State Dependence) on automatic imitation of speech. Participants completed an SRC paradigm for visual speech stimuli. They produced a prompt superimposed over a neutral or emotional (happy or angry) distracter video. State Dependence was manipulated by asking participants to speak the prompt in a neutral or emotional (happy or angry) voice. Automatic imitation was facilitated for emotional prompts, but not for emotional distracters, thus implying a facilitating effect of State Dependence. The results are interpreted in the context of theories of automatic imitation and cognitive control, and we suggest that models of automatic imitation are to be modified to accommodate for state-dependent and stimulus-driven dependent effects.

Do manufactured and natural objects evoke similar motor information? The case of action priming.

There is considerable evidence that visually presented manipulable objects evoke motor information, supporting the existence of affordance effects during object perception. However, most arguments come from stimulus-response compatibility paradigms, raising the issue of the automaticity of affordance effects. Action priming paradigms overcome this issue but show less reliable results, possibly because affordance effects are moderated by additional factors. The present study aimed to assess whether affordance effects highlighted in action priming paradigms could be affected by object category (manufactured or natural). A total of 24 young adults performed a semantic categorisation task on natural and manufactured target objects presented after neutral (non-grasping hand postures) or action (congruent power or precision grips) primes. Results revealed a modulation of action priming effects as a function of object category. Object semantic categorisation was faster after action than neutral primes, but only for manufactured objects. Results suggest that natural and manufactured objects evoke distinct types of affordances and that action priming paradigms favour the evocation of functional affordances during object semantic categorisation. This finding fuels the debate on the nature of the motor information evoked by visual objects.

Post-conflict speeding: Evidence of sequential effects in motivational conflicts.

Sequential effects in conflict processing (postconflict slowing and conflict adaptation) have primarily been studied in stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) tasks. Moreover, results obtained in SRC paradigms are often proposed as a model of higher-level motivational conflicts. The authors present 3 experiments suggesting that motivational conflicts, such as approach-approach (AA) and avoidance-avoidance (VV) conflicts partially engage different processes than SRC conflicts and thus result in different sequential effects. Instead of postconflict slowing, they predicted speeding after AA conflicts because they expect the approach motivation component of AA conflicts to briefly increase action readiness. Second, the authors expected larger conflict adaptation in VV than AA conflicts because conflict adaptation is known to be enhanced by inducing negative affect. They conducted 3 experiments with varying intertrial intervals (intertrial interval [ITI]) in which participants repeatedly solved hypothetical motivational conflicts (AA, VV) and nonconflicts (NC). In all three experiments, the authors observed postconflict speeding after AA conflicts compared to NC when the ITI was short. Conflict adaptation proved to be less reliable. These results extend previous research on sequential effects in conflict resolution by showing that sequential effects emerge also in higher-level motivational AA and VV conflicts but partially follow different rules than in SRC paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Stimulus–response Compatibility Paradigm and Aging

Stimulus–response Compatibility Paradigm and Aging

Inhibitory Control in Speech Comprehension among Dai-Han Bilingual Children.

We aimed to investigate differences in inhibitory control ability between proficient and non-proficient Dai–Han bilinguals. Two experiments used a combined stimulus–stimulus and stimulus–response compatibility paradigm for this purpose. Participants were Dai–Han bilingual primary-school students selected from a Dai-speaking town in Yunnan province, China. In Dai language interference condition, participants were asked to complete a picture category task. Results showed that the effect of attentional control for non-proficient bilinguals (NPBs) was significantly greater than that for proficient bilinguals (PBs), while the effect of response inhibition was not. This implied that a difference in inhibitory control between PBs and NPBs appeared at the attention control stage when interference by the Dai lexicon emerged. In Han language interference condition, however, participants were also asked to complete the same task. Results showed that the effect of response inhibition for NPBs was significantly greater than that for PBs, but the effect of attentional control was not. This demonstrated that a difference in inhibitory control emerged at the response inhibition stage when interference by the Han lexicon emerged. This pattern of results is opposite to previous researches, which indicated that the difference between PBs and NPBs occurred at the response inhibition stage under first language condition, whereas at the attentional control stage under second language (L2) condition. Based on these, this study suggests that Dai–Han bilinguals showed a remarkable L2 advantage. In addition, results showed that response times (RTs) of PBs were faster than RTs of NPBs while confounding variables (e.g., intelligence, etc.) were under control. This indicates that the inhibitory control ability of the PBs is superior to that of NPBs in this study.

ターゲットに対する反応回数は遂行成績並びに視覚的注意に影響するのか

Visual attention refers to cognitive functions for selecting task-relevant information and filtering out task-irrelevant information. Psychological research on visual attention has utilized congruency effects observed in Stimulus-Response compatibility paradigms, such as the Stroop task, the Flanker task, and the Simon task as the benchmark for investigating cognitive control. A number of studies (e.g., Egner, 2007) have demonstrated that the congruency effect is larger when congruent trials appear frequently within a given block than when they appear infrequently. This phenomenon is termed the proportion congruency (PC) effect, which is considered to reflect fluctuations in visual selectivity. Recently, however, a number of researchers have challenged the view that the PC effect reflects the modulation of visual selectivity. Schmidt (2013) for example argued that the PC effect is driven by performance improvements based on learning predictive relationships between stimuli and responses, rather than by the modulation of visual selectivity. It is notably unclear whether performance improvements are caused by increased contingency of a specific stimulus-response, or high response frequency resulting from the increased contingency in a block. This study was designed to examine the effect of response frequency on Simon task performance by manipulating the number of responses (pushing response buttons) to a target in the Simon task. More specifically, right-handed undergraduate and graduate students (N = 16) were requested to press a key once for a specific target (e.g., red circle) and press the key twice for the other target (e.g., green circle). Our results demonstrated that reaction times and error rates were not dependent on the number of reactions. This finding suggests that performance improvement is caused by contingency learning of stimulus-response pairs and not by the high response frequency.

Flexible adjustments of visual selectivity in a Flanker task

ABSTRACTCongruency effects observed in stimulus-response compatibility paradigms are affected by proportion congruency (PC), that is, the ratio of congruent trials in a block-wise context. The PC effect may reflect the operation of visual selectivity. We used a flanker task to investigate the nature of the relationship between the congruency effect and PC in a given block, as well as the preservation of visual selectivity. In Experiment 1, we observed a linear relationship between the congruency effect and PC across five PC groups in a training session; in post training (with PC constant), the congruency effect was equivalent across the five groups. In Experiment 2, congruency effects varied with PC in phases within a block. These suggest that visual selectivity, acquired in a training session, is not sustained in post training where it rapidly adjusts to a new PC context. Characteristics of visual selectivity derived from these findings are discussed.

The role of the motor system in conceptual processing: Effects of object affordances beyond response interference

Numerous behavioral and neuro-imaging studies have demonstrated that the motor system is activated when people are presented with manipulable objects. However it remains a matter of debate whether these results should be interpreted as evidence that certain conceptual processes employ motor programs. In order to address this issue, we conducted two experiments which required participants to assess the functions of tool-like objects and respond verbally. The results demonstrate that action affordances may constrain performance in tasks which are not based on the stimulus–response compatibility paradigm. We argue that this finding supports the causal role of the motor system in conceptual processing and that it cannot be explained by spreading of activation and response interference.

Is automatic imitation a specialized form of stimulus–response compatibility? Dissociating imitative and spatial compatibilities

In recent years research on automatic imitation has received considerable attention because it represents an experimental platform for investigating a number of interrelated theories suggesting that the perception of action automatically activates corresponding motor programs. A key debate within this research centers on whether automatic imitation is any different than other long-term S–R associations, such as spatial stimulus–response compatibility. One approach to resolving this issue is to examine whether automatic imitation shows similar response characteristics as other classes of stimulus–response compatibility. This hypothesis was tested by comparing imitative and spatial compatibility effects with a two alternative forced-choice stimulus–response compatibility paradigm. The stimulus on each trial was a left or right hand with either the index or middle finger tapping down. Speeded responses were performed with the index or middle finger of the right hand in response to the identity or the left–right spatial position of the stimulus finger. Two different tasks were administered: one that involved responding to the stimulus (S–R) and one that involved responding to the opposite stimulus (OS–R; i.e., the one not presented on that trial). Based on previous research and a connectionist model, we predicted standard compatibility effects for both spatial and imitative compatibility in the S–R task, and a reverse compatibility effect for spatial compatibility, but not for imitative compatibility, in the OS–R task. The results from the mean response times, mean percentage of errors, and response time distributions all converged to support these predictions. A second noteworthy result was that the recoding of the finger identity in the OS–R task required significantly more time than the recoding of the left–right spatial position, but the encoding time for the two stimuli in the S–R task was equivalent. In sum, this evidence suggests that the processing of spatial and imitative compatibility is dissociable with regard to two different processes in dual processing models of stimulus–response compatibility.

Shall we do this together? Social gaze influences action control in a comparison group, but not in individuals with high-functioning autism

Perceiving someone else's gaze shift toward an object can influence how this object will be manipulated by the observer, suggesting a modulatory effect of a gaze-based social context on action control. High-functioning autism (HFA) is characterized by impairments of social interaction, which may be associated with an inability to automatically integrate socially relevant nonverbal cues when generating actions. To explore these hypotheses, we made use of a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm in which a comparison group and patients with HFA were asked to generate spatially congruent or incongruent motor responses to changes in a face, a face-like and an object stimulus. Results demonstrate that while in the comparison group being looked at by a virtual other leads to a reduction of reaction time costs associated with generating a spatially incongruent response, this effect is not present in the HFA group. We suggest that this modulatory effect of social gaze on action control might play an important role in direct social interactions by helping to coordinate one's actions with those of someone else. Future research should focus on these implicit mechanisms of interpersonal alignment ('online' social cognition), which might be at the very heart of the difficulties individuals with autism experience in everyday social encounters.

Interference in simultaneously perceiving and producing facial expressions—Evidence from electromyography

The goal of the current studies was to examine perception–action interactions in a socially relevant domain. Social interactions are based on a mutual understanding of the emotions and actions of others. We assume that the perception of emotional actions also stimulates a parallel action preparation in the perceiver, underlining the common coding theory. We report two experiments aimed to examine whether the perception of socially relevant facial actions (e.g., happy vs. angry facial expressions) interact with the execution of such actions. More specifically, we use a stimulus–response compatibility paradigm, in which subjects responded to the gender of a face by either smiling or frowning while ignoring the fact that the presented face is also randomly either smiling or frowning. We measured reaction time (RT) as onset latency on the two large muscle groups used for smiling (zygomaticus major) and frowning (corrugator supercilii) using electromyography. Experiment 1 showed that on compatible trials, in which perceived facial expression and actually produced facial expression matched, RTs were shorter than on incompatible trials. Experiment 2 used pre-instructed (i.e., blocked) responses and replicated the compatibility effect, suggesting that the effect is functionally located not in response selection but in response initiation or execution. We discuss these results in relation to cognitive mechanisms of common coding of perception and action and to the human mirror neuron system.