On the decay of distractor-response episodes.
Distractor-to-distractor repetition effects can be explained by retrieval and/or inhibitory processes. Interestingly, the two accounts predict different effects from repeated distractors: Inhibition theories always predict benefits, whereas stimulus-response-retrieval theories predict an interaction of response repetition and distractor repetitions, resulting in benefits with response repetitions and costs with response changes. In the present experiment the time-course and the temporal separability of a stimulus-response episode on distractor-to-distractor repetitions were analyzed. The results showed that the interaction of response repetition and distractor repetitions was affected by a simple decay function. In addition, distractor repetition effects were affected by the temporal separability. In concert, the data yield evidence for retrieval-based explanations of distractor-to-distractor repetitions.
Frings
Christian
C
Saarland University, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychology, Saarbrücken, Germany. c.frings@mx.uni-saarland.de
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology