Trial-to-trial modulations of the Simon effect in conditions of attentional limitations: Evidence from dual tasks.
Interference effects are reduced after trials including response conflict. This sequential modulation has often been attributed to a top-down mediated adaptive control mechanism and/or to feature repetition mechanisms. In the present study we tested whether mechanisms responsible for such sequential modulations are subject to attentional limitations under dual-task situations. Participants performed a Simon task in mixed single- and dual-task contexts (Experiment 1), in blocked contexts with dual-task load either, in trialN (Experiment 2a), in trialN-1 (Experiment 2b), or in both trials (Experiment 3). Results showed that the occurrence of a sequential modulation did not depend on dual-task load per se as it occurred predominantly in conditions of lowest and highest task load. Instead, task factors such as the repetition of task episodes and stimulus-response repetitions determined whether a sequential modulation occurred.
Fischer
Rico
R
Department of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. fischer@psychologie.tudresden.de
Plessow
Franziska
F
Kunde
Wilfried
W
Kiesel
Andrea
A
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010898:Pitch Perception; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time; D012193:Reversal Learning; D055815:Young Adult