title: Social priming of hemispatial neglect affects spatial coding: Evidence from the Simon task.
abstract: In the Simon effect (SE), choice reactions are fast if the location of the stimulus and the response correspond when stimulus location is task-irrelevant; therefore, the SE reflects the automatic processing of space. Priming of social concepts was found to affect automatic processing in the Stroop effect. We investigated whether spatial coding measured by the SE can be affected by the observer's mental state. We used two social priming manipulations of impairments: one involving spatial processing - hemispatial neglect (HN) and another involving color perception - achromatopsia (ACHM). In two experiments the SE was reduced in the "neglected" visual field (VF) under the HN, but not under the ACHM manipulation. Our results show that spatial coding is sensitive to spatial representations that are not derived from task-relevant parameters, but from the observer's cognitive state. These findings dispute stimulus-response interference models grounded on the idea of the automaticity of spatial processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. Electronic address: arend.psy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arend
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aisenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Avishai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D057190:Stroop Test; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Achromatopsia; Hemispatial neglect; Simon effect; Social priming; Spatial coding