title: Anticipatory affect during action preparation: evidence from backward compatibility in dual-task performance.
abstract: Upcoming responses in the second of two subsequently performed tasks can speed up compatible responses in the temporally preceding first task. Two experiments extend previous demonstration of such backward compatibility to affective features: responses to affective stimuli were faster in Task 1 when an affectively compatible response effect was anticipated for Task 2. This emotional backward-compatibility effect demonstrates that representations of the affective consequences of the Task 2 response were activated before the selection of a response in Task 1 was completed. This finding is problematic for the assumption of a serial stimulus-response translation stage. It also shows that the affective consequence of a response is anticipated during, and has an impact on stimulus-response translation, which implies that action planning considers codes representing and predicting the emotional consequences of actions. Implications for the control of emotional actions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas B
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4722-5114
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Eder
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Freiburg i.Br. , Freiburg im Breisgau , Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dignath
authors.affiliation: c Cognitive Psychology Unit & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition , Leiden University , Leiden , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hommel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dual-task performance; backward-compatibility effect; emotional action; stimulus-response translation