Conflict adaptation depends on task structure.
The dependence of the Simon effect on the correspondence of the previous trial can be explained by the conflict-monitoring theory, which holds that a control system adjusts automatic activation from irrelevant stimulus information (conflict adaptation) on the basis of the congruency of the previous trial. The authors report on 4 experiments showing that conflict adaptation is mediated by task structure as well as previous congruency. Experiment 1 showed that for 2 completely segregated sets of stimulus-response pairs there was no conflict adaptation across sets. However, if the stimulus sets overlapped for 2 separate response sets, conflict adaptation could be observed across the response sets. Experiment 2 showed that this effect was not due to the use of stimulus-response sets lateralized to 1 hemisphere each. Experiment 3 showed that if response sets are common for 2 separate stimulus sets, then conflict adaptation can again be observed across sets. Finally, Experiment 4 showed local control effects in the absence of confounding feature-overlap effects. These results indicate that deployment of control as evidenced by conflict adaptation reflects task structure.
Akçay
Caglar
C
Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, USA.
Hazeltine
Eliot
E
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001288:Attention; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition; D003118:Color Perception; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005556:Form Perception; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis