Does irrelevant stimulus location affect response selection?
Reaction time (RT) is shorter when the irrelevant location of the stimulus corresponds to the relevant location of the response: When a subject is to perform a left or right keypress according to the colour of a stimulus delivered either to the left or to the right of a fixation, RT is typically shorter when the location of the stimulus corresponds to the location of the response (e.g., left stimulus/left response) than when it does not (e.g., left stimulus/right response). Umiltà and Nicoletti (1990) have suggested that this effect, known as the ¿Simon effect' in the literature, occurred at the response selection stage, a stage whose duration depends on the effectors used to perform the task. In the present study, this effect and that of the finger response repertoire (within- versus between-hand composition) were found to be additive, which does not support the response selection hypothesis of the Simon effect.
Hasbroucq
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Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, CNRS, Marseille, Occitanie, France. thierry@inf.cnrs-mrs.fr
Possamaï
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CA
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time