title: Testing theories of post-error slowing.
abstract: People tend to slow down after they make an error. This phenomenon, generally referred to as post-error slowing, has been hypothesized to reflect perceptual distraction, time wasted on irrelevant processes, an a priori bias against the response made in error, increased variability in a priori bias, or an increase in response caution. Although the response caution interpretation has dominated the empirical literature, little research has attempted to test this interpretation in the context of a formal process model. Here, we used the drift diffusion model to isolate and identify the psychological processes responsible for post-error slowing. In a very large lexical decision data set, we found that post-error slowing was associated with an increase in response caution and-to a lesser extent-a change in response bias. In the present data set, we found no evidence that post-error slowing is caused by perceptual distraction or time wasted on irrelevant processes. These results support a response-monitoring account of post-error slowing.
authors: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. gilles.dutilh@gmail.com
authors: Gilles
authors: G
authors: Dutilh
authors: Joachim
authors: J
authors: Vandekerckhove
authors: Birte U
authors: BU
authors: Forstmann
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Keuleers
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Brysbaert
authors: Eric-Jan
authors: EJ
authors: Wagenmakers
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D003657:Decision Making; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011930:Reaction Time; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012660:Semantics