title: In touch with the Simon effect.
abstract: Cognitive control has been extensively studied using the auditory and visual modalities. In the current study, a tactile version of the Simon task was created in order to test control mechanisms in a modality that was less studied, to provide comparative and new information. A significant Simon effect--reaction time gap between congruent (i.e., stimulus and response in the same relative location) and incongruent (i.e., stimulus and response in opposite locations) stimuli--provided grounds to further examine both general and tactile-specific aspects of cognitive control in three experiments. By implementing a neutral condition and conducting sequential and distributional analysis, the present study: (a) supports two different independent mechanisms of cognitive control--reactive control and proactive control; (b) reveals facilitation and interference within the tactile Simon effect; and (c) proposes modality differences in activation and processing of the spatially driven stimulus-response association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, <location>Beer Sheva, Israel</location> Department of Psychology, and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, <location>Beer Sheva, Israel</location>
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Salzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, <location>Beer Sheva, Israel</location>
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aisenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, <location>Beer Sheva, Israel</location>
authors.forename: Tal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oron-Gilad
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, <location>Beer Sheva, Israel</location>
authors.forename: Avishai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Simon effect; attention; cognitive control; neutrals; sequential analysis; tactile