title: Control over location-based response activation in the Simon task: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence.
abstract: In 4 Simon experiments the authors examined control over 2 routes of sensorimotor processing: response priming in the unconditional route and response selection via the conditional route. The Simon effect diminished as the frequency of noncorresponding trials increased. Location-based response priming was observed only when the stimulus followed a corresponding event but not after a noncorresponding trial. Therefore, the unconditional route appears to be suppressed whenever the task context indicates priming as potentially disadvantageous. Moreover, the task-irrelevant stimulus location was used for response selection as a function of correspondence probability. Although exact repetitions of stimulus-response sequences caused a marked speed-up of responses, this 3rd mechanism is independent of unconditional route suppression and frequency-based adjustments in the conditional route.
authors.affiliation: Biological Psychology/Psychophysiology, Institute for Psychology, Humboldt-University at Berlin, Berlin, Germany. birgit.stuermer@rz.hu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stürmer
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leuthold
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Soetens
authors.forename: Hannes
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schröter
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sommer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004585:Electrooculography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology