title: Dynamic adjustment of temporal preparation: shifting warning signal modality attenuates the sequential foreperiod effect.
abstract: We examined sequential effects in the variable foreperiod (FP) paradigm, which refer to the finding that responses to an imperative signal (IS) are fast when a short FP trial is repeated but slow when it is preceded by a long FP trial. The effect has been attributed to a trace-conditioning mechanism in which individuals learn the temporal relationship between a warning signal (WS) and the IS in a trial-by-trial manner. An important assumption is that the WS in a current trial (i.e., trial FP(n)) acts as a conditioned stimulus, such that it automatically triggers the conditioned response at the exact critical moment that was imperative in the previous trial (i.e., trial FP(n-1)). According to this assumption, a shift from one WS modality in trial FP(n-1) to another modality in trial FP(n) is expected to eliminate or at least reduce the sequential FP effect. This prediction was tested in three experiments that included a random variation of WS modality and FP length within blocks of trials. In agreement with the prediction, a shift in WS modality attenuated the asymmetry of the sequential FP effect.
authors: Cognitive and Biological Psychology, University of Tübingen, Germany. michael.steinborn@uni-tuebingen.de
authors: Michael B
authors: MB
authors: Steinborn
authors: Bettina
authors: B
authors: Rolke
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Bratzke
authors: Rolf
authors: R
authors: Ulrich
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology