title: Contingency learning is not affected by conflict experience: Evidence from a task conflict-free, item-specific Stroop paradigm.
abstract: A contingency learning account of the item-specific proportion congruent effect has been described as an associative stimulus-response learning process that has nothing to do with controlling the Stroop conflict. As supportive evidence, contingency learning has been demonstrated with response conflict-free stimuli, such as neutral words. However, what gives rise to response conflict and to Stroop interference in general is task conflict. The present study investigated whether task conflict can constitute a trigger or, alternatively, a booster to the contingency learning process. This was done by employing a "task conflict-free" condition (i.e., geometric shapes) and comparing it with a "task conflict" condition (i.e., neutral words). The results showed a significant contingency learning effect in both conditions, refuting the possibility that contingency learning is triggered by the presence of a task conflict. Contingency learning was also not enhanced by the task conflict experience, indicating its complete insensitivity to Stroop conflict(s). Thus, the results showed no evidence that performance optimization as a result of contingency learning is greater under conflict, implying that contingency learning is not recruited to assist the control system to overcome conflict.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Electronic address: levinyu@post.bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Achva Academic College, Israel.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tzelgov
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D057190:Stroop Test; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Automaticity of reading; Cognitive control; Contingency learning; Informational conflict; Item-specific proportion congruent effect; Task conflict