title: Conflict adaptation within but not across NoGo decision criteria: Event-related-potential evidence of specificity in the contextual modulation of cognitive control.
abstract: From the standpoint of conflict-monitoring theory (Botvinick et al., 2001), detecting an incident of information-processing conflict should attenuate the disruptive influence of information-processing conflicts encountered subsequently, by which time cognitive-control operations will have been engaged. To examine the generality of this conflict-adaptation process across task dimensions, the present research analyzed event-related potentials in a Go/NoGo task that randomly varied the NoGo decision criterion applied across trials. Sequential analyses revealed reduced-amplitude fronto-central N2 and NoGo P3 responses on the second of two consecutive NoGo trials. Importantly, both of these conflict-adaptation effects were present only when the same NoGo decision criterion was applied across trials n and n-1. These findings support the theory that encountering information-processing conflict focuses attention on specific stimulus-response contingencies (Verguts & Notebaert, 2009) rather than engages general cognitive-control mechanisms (Freitas & Clark, 2015). Further implications for the generality of cognitive control are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Stony Brook University, United States.
authors.forename: Julia L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.affiliation: Stony Brook University, United States.
authors.forename: Sheri L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Stony Brook University, United States. Electronic address: Antonio.Freitas@stonybrook.edu.
authors.forename: Antonio L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Freitas
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive control; Conflict adaptation; Congruence-sequence effects; Go/NoGo; N2; NoGo P3; Response mapping