Separated hands further response-response binding effects.

Action control is hierarchically organized. Multiple consecutive responses can be integrated into an event representation of higher order and can retrieve each other upon repetition, resulting in so-called response-response binding effects. Previous research indicates that the spatial separation of responses can affect how easily they can be cognitively separated. In this study, we introduced a barrier between the responding hands to investigate whether the spatial separation of two responses also influences response-response binding effects. In line with previous research on stimulus-response binding, we expected an increased separability of responses to result in stronger response-response binding effects when responding hands were separated by a barrier. We indeed found stronger response-response binding effects with separated hands. Results indicate that a more distinct representation of individual actions through increased separability might benefit the control of hierarchical actions.

Two roads leading to the same evaluative conditioning effect? Stimulus-response binding versus operant conditioning.

Evaluative Conditioning (EC) refers to changes in our liking or disliking of a stimulus due to its pairing with other positive or negative stimuli. In addition to stimulus-based mechanisms, recent research has shown that action-based mechanisms can also lead to EC effects. Research, based on action control theories, has shown that pairing a positive or negative action with a neutral stimulus results in EC effects (Stimulus-Response binding). Similarly, research studies using Operant Conditioning (OC) approaches have also observed EC effects. The aim of the present study is to directly compare EC effects elicited by two different response-based approaches - S-R bindings and OC. To this end, participants were randomly assigned to an S-R binding procedure and an OC procedure. EC effects were measured in conditions and compared. Implications for EC theory are discussed.

Anodal tDCS of the left inferior parietal cortex enhances memory for correct information without affecting recall of misinformation.

False memories during testimony are an enormous challenge for criminal trials. Exposure to post-event misinformation can lead to inadvertent creation of false memories, known as the misinformation effect. We investigated anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) during recall testing to enhance accurate recall while addressing the misinformation effect. Participants (N = 60) watched a television series depicting a fictional terrorist attack, then received an audio recording with misinformation, consistent information, and control information. During cued recall testing, participants received anodal or sham tDCS. Results revealed a robust misinformation effect in both groups, with participants falsely recalling on average 26.6% of the misinformed items. Bayesian statistics indicated substantial evidence in favour of the null hypothesis that there was no difference between groups in the misinformation effect. Regarding correct recall however, the anodal group exhibited significantly improved recall for items from the original video. Together, these results demonstrate that anodal tDCS of the left IPL enhances correct recall of the episodes from the original event without affecting false recall of misinformation. The findings support the IPL's role in recollection and source attribution of episodic memories.

Separating binding and retrieval of event files in older adults.

In the literature on human action control, it is assumed that features of stimuli (S) and responses (R) are integrated into internal representations (so-called event files) that are involved in the execution of an action. Experimentally, the impact of this integration on action control is typically analyzed via S-R binding effects. Recent theorizing in the BRAC framework (Frings et al., 2020) suggests to disentangle the processes of S-R binding proper from S-R retrieval as two independent components contributing to S-R binding effects. Since the literature on age effects on S-R binding effects is scarce and does not provide information on whether the existing findings about the two processes can be generalized to older age groups, this is the first study addressing the effects of older age separately on S-R binding proper vs. S-R retrieval. In two established variants of S-R binding tasks (cumulative n = 262), we contrasted binding (by using a saliency manipulation at the time of binding proper) versus retrieval processes (by manipulating the onset of the distractor at the time of retrieval), replicating previous results in younger (18-30 years) and also in older healthy controls (50-70 years). We therefore found no evidence for age effects on S-R binding proper or S-R retrieval. We thus conclude that the processes contributing to S-R binding effects are - at least in the age groups analyzed in this study - robust and age-independent. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: In human action control, binding proper and retrieval of features in stimulus-response episodes typically lead to so-called S-R binding effects. Against the background of recent theorizing, binding proper and retrieval should be studied independently. In this article, we ran a younger and an older age group and analyzed possible age-related differences in integration or retrieval. Both groups showed the expected pattern for binding and retrieval as expected from the literature.

Statistical learning of motor preparation.

Statistical learning, the process of extracting regularities from the environment, is one of the most fundamental abilities playing an essential role in almost all aspects of human cognition. Previous studies have shown that attentional selection is biased toward locations that are likely to contain a target and away from locations that are likely to contain a distractor. The current study investigated whether participants can also learn to extract that a specific motor response is more likely when the target is presented at specific locations within the visual field. To that end, the additional singleton paradigm was adapted such that when the singleton target was presented at one specific location, one response (e.g., right index finger) was more likely than the other (e.g., right middle finger) and the reverse was true for another location. The results show that participants learned to extract that a particular motor response is more likely when the singleton target (which was unrelated to the response) was presented at a specific location within the visual field. The results also suggest that it is the location of the target and not its shape that is associated with the biased response. This learning cannot be considered as being top-down or conscious as participants showed little, if any, awareness of the response biases present. The results are discussed in terms of the event coding theory. The study increases the scope of statistical learning and shows how individuals adapt automatically, without much awareness, to the regularities present in the environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A touching advantage: cross-modal stop-signals improve reactive response inhibition.

The ability to inhibit an already initiated response is crucial for navigating the environment. However, it is unclear which characteristics make stop-signals more likely to be processed efficiently. In three consecutive studies, we demonstrate that stop-signal modality and location are key factors that influence reactive response inhibition. Study 1 shows that tactile stop-signals lead to better performance compared to visual stop-signals in an otherwise visual choice-reaction task. Results of Study 2 reveal that the location of the stop-signal matters. Specifically, if a visual stop-signal is presented at a different location compared to the visual go-signal, then stopping performance is enhanced. Extending these results, study 3 suggests that tactile stop-signals and location-distinct visual stop-signals retain their performance enhancing effect when visual distractors are presented at the location of the go-signal. In sum, these results confirm that stop-signal modality and location influence reactive response inhibition, even in the face of concurrent distractors. Future research may extend and generalize these findings to other cross-modal setups.

Another dimension! Using dimension weighting to observe integration and retrieval in localization performance.

According to action control theories, responding to a stimulus leads to the integration of response and stimulus features (e.g., color, shape, etc.) into event files. Upon feature repetition, the event file is retrieved, affecting performance. However, the resulting so-called binding effects are typically absent when participants localize targets in a sequence. Here, only a location change benefit emerges, known as inhibition of return (IOR), unmodulated by feature repetitions and changes. This has often been replicated in attentional orienting research. However, in these experimental designs only the individual stimulus feature is systematically varied to repeat or change. Based on the dimension weighting account from visual search, we hypothesized that the lack of binding effects in localization performance is due to a lack of systematically varying feature dimensions. In three experiments, participants localized targets in the left or right hemifield. The target appeared at multiple possible locations with gray distractors (Experiment 1), at multiple possible locations without distractors (Experiment 2), and at two possible locations without distractors (Experiment 3). Crucially, the nonspatial identity of the target repeated its dimension with or without the individual feature, or it changed its dimension. Whereas a binding effect between response and feature was absent, we found a binding pattern between response and feature dimension. IOR was always present. The results fit well with theories of different research strands-action control, attentional orienting, and visual search-suggesting that these gain impact by incorporating each other's ideas, leading to an all-encompassing understanding of selection and action. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Ability to Voluntarily Regulate Theta Band Activity Affects How Pharmacological Manipulation of the Catecholaminergic System Impacts Cognitive Control.

BACKGROUND: The catecholaminergic system influences response inhibition, but the magnitude of the impact of catecholaminergic manipulation is heterogeneous. Theoretical considerations suggest that the voluntary modulability of theta band activity can explain this variance. The study aimed to investigate to what extent interindividual differences in catecholaminergic effects on response inhibition depend on voluntary theta band activity modulation. METHODS: A total of 67 healthy adults were tested in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study design. At each appointment, they received a single dose of methylphenidate or placebo and performed a Go/Nogo task with stimuli of varying complexity. Before the first appointment, the individual's ability to modulate theta band activity was measured. Recorded EEG data were analyzed using temporal decomposition and multivariate pattern analysis. RESULTS: Methylphenidate effects and voluntary modulability of theta band activity showed an interactive effect on the false alarm rates of the different Nogo conditions. The multivariate pattern analysis revealed that methylphenidate effects interacted with voluntary modulability of theta band activity at a stimulus processing level, whereas during response selection methylphenidate effects interacted with the complexity of the Nogo condition. CONCLUSIONS: The findings reveal that the individual's theta band modulability affects the responsiveness of an individual's catecholaminergic system to pharmacological modulation. Thus, the impact of pharmacological manipulation of the catecholaminergic system on cognitive control most likely depends on the existing ability to self-modulate relevant brain oscillatory patterns underlying the cognitive processes being targeted by pharmacological modulations.

Neurophysiological processes reflecting the effects of the immediate past during the dynamic management of actions.

In recent years, there has been many efforts to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework explaining the working mechanisms involved in perception-action integration. This framework stresses the importance of the immediate past on mechanisms supporting perception-action integration. The present study investigates the neurophysiological principles of dynamic perception-action bindings, particularly considering the influence of the immediate history on action control mechanisms. For this purpose, we conducted an established stimulus-response binding paradigm during EEG recording. The SR-task measures stimulus-response binding in terms of accuracy and reaction time differences depending on the degree of feature overlap between conditions. Alpha, beta and theta band activity in distinct time domains as well as associated brain regions were investigated applying time-frequency analyses, a beamforming approach as well as correlation analyses. We demonstrate, for the first time, interdependencies of neuronal processes relying on the immediate past. The reconfiguration of an action seems to overwrite immediately preceding processes. The analyses revealed modulations of theta (TBA), alpha (ABA) and beta band activity (BBA) in connection with fronto-temporal structures supporting the theoretical assumptions of the considered conceptual framework. The close interplay of attentional modulation by gating irrelevant information (ABA) and binding and retrieval processes (TBA) is reflected by the correlation of ABA in all pre-probe-intervals with post-probe TBA. Likewise, the role of BBA in maintaining the event file until retrieval is corroborated by BBA preceding the TBA-associated retrieval of perception-action codes. Following action execution, TBA shifted towards visual association cortices probably reflecting preparation for upcoming information, while ABA and BBA continue to reflect processes of attentional control and information selection for goal-directed behavior. The present work provides the first empirical support for concepts about the neurophysiological mechanisms of dynamic management of perception and action.

Motion perception in touch: resolving contradictory findings by varying probabilities of different trial types.

Representational momentum describes the typical overestimation of the final location of a moving stimulus in the direction of stimulus motion. While systematically observed in different sensory modalities, especially vision and audition, in touch, empirical findings indicate a mixed pattern of results, with some published studies suggesting the existence of the phenomenon, while others do not. In the present study, one possible moderating variable, the relative probabilities of different trial types, was explored in an attempt to resolve the seemingly contradictory findings in the literature. In some studies, only consistently moving target stimuli were presented and no representational momentum was observed, while other studies have included inconsistently moving target stimuli in the same experimental block, and observed representational momentum. Therefore, the present study was designed to systematically compare the localization of consistent target motion stimuli across two experimental blocks, for which either only consistent motion trials were presented, or else mixed with inconsistent target motion trials. The results indicate a strong influence of variations in the probability of different trial types on the occurrence of representational momentum. That is, representational momentum only occurred when both trial types (inconsistent and consistent target motion) were presented within one experimental block. The results are discussed in light of recent theoretical advancements in the literature, namely the speed prior account of motion perception.

Memory for abstract control states does not decay with increasing retrieval delays.

Recent studies have suggested that abstract control states (i.e., internal attentional states independent from concrete stimuli and responses) can be stored in episodic memory and retrieved subsequently. However, the duration of such a control state memory remains unclear. Previous research has found a quick and complete decay for stimulus-response bindings after 2000-5000 ms. Here, we tested a possible decay of control state bindings with retrieval delays of 2000, 3000, or 5000 ms. Five preregistered experiments used a confound-minimized prime-target task to measure the congruency sequence effect (CSE) separately for trials in which a nominally irrelevant context feature changed or repeated across trials. Analyses of the individual experiments did not result in conclusive evidence. A mega-analysis integrating the data of all experiments (Ntotal = 326) replicated evidence for binding and retrieval of control states, in that larger CSEs were found for context repetition trials. Importantly, Bayesian analysis indicated that this effect was not modulated by the length of retrieval delay. While this finding suggests that bindings of abstract control states can be relatively robust, we also discuss possible limitations of the present research.

Responding, fast and slow: Visual detection and localization performance is unaffected by retrieval.

According to action control theories, responding to a stimulus leads to the binding of the response and stimulus features into an event file. Repeating any component of the latter retrieves previous information, affecting ongoing performance. Based on years of attentional orienting research, recent boundaries of such binding theories have been proposed as binding effects are fully absent in visual detection (e.g., Schöpper et al., 2020, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 82(4), 2085-2097) and localization (e.g., Schöpper & Frings, 2022; Visual Cognition, 30(10), 641-658) performance. While this can be attributed to specific task demands, the possibility remains that retrieval of previous event files is hampered in such tasks due to overall fast responding. In the current study we instructed participants to signal the detection (Experiment 1) and location (Experiment 2) of dots orthogonally repeating or changing their nonspatial identity and location. Crucially, the dots were either hard or easy to perceive. As expected, making targets hard to perceive drastically slowed down detection and localization response speed. Importantly, binding effects were absent irrespective of perceptibility. In contrast, discriminating the nonspatial identity of targets (Experiment 3) showed strong binding effects. These results highlight the impact of task-dependence for binding approaches in action control.

Turning the Light Switch on Binding: Prefrontal Activity for Binding and Retrieval in Action Control.

According to action control theories, responding to a stimulus leads to the binding of response and stimulus features into a common representation, that is, an event file. Repeating any component of an event file retrieves all previously bound information, leading to performance costs for partial repetitions measured in so-called binding effects. Although otherwise robust and stable, binding effects are typically completely absent in "localization tasks," in which participants localize targets with spatially compatible responses. Yet, it is possible to observe binding effects in such when location features have to be translated into response features. We hypothesized that this modulation of binding effects is reflected in task involvement of the dorsolateral pFC (DLPFC). Participants localized targets with either direct (i.e., spatially compatible key) or translated (i.e., diagonally opposite to the spatially compatible key) responses. We measured DLPFC activity with functional near-infrared spectroscopy. On the behavioral level, we observed binding effects in the translated response condition, but not in the direct response condition. Importantly, prefrontal activity was also higher in the translated mapping condition. In addition, we found some evidence for the strength of the difference in binding effects in behavioral data being correlated with the corresponding effects in prefrontal activity. This suggests that activity in the DLPFC reflects the amount of executive control needed for translating location features into responses. More generally, binding effects seem to emerge only when the task at hand involves DLPFC recruitment.

The relation between learning and stimulus-response binding.

Perception and action rely on integrating or binding different features of stimuli and responses. Such bindings are short-lived, but they can be retrieved for a limited amount of time if any of their features is reactivated. This is particularly true for stimulus-response bindings, allowing for flexible recycling of previous action plans. A relation to learning of stimulus-response associations suggests itself, and previous accounts have proposed binding as an initial step of forging associations in long-term memory. The evidence for this claim is surprisingly mixed, however. Here we propose a framework that explains previous failures to detect meaningful relations of binding and learning by highlighting the joint contribution of three variables: (a) decay, (b) the number of repetitions, and (c) the time elapsing between repetitions. Accounting for the interplay of these variables provides a promising blueprint for innovative experimental designs that bridge the gap between immediate bindings on the one hand and lasting associations in memory on the other hand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Beep-Speed Illusion Cannot Be Explained With a Simple Selection Bias.

An object appears to move at higher speed than another equally fast object when brief nonspatial tones coincide with its changes in motion direction. We refer to this phenomenon as the beep-speed illusion (Meyerhoff et al., 2022, Cognition, 219, 104978). The origin of this illusion is unclear; however, attentional explanations and potential biases in the response behavior appear to be plausible candidates. In this report, we test a simple bias explanation that emerges from the way the dependent variable is assessed. As the participants have to indicate the faster of the two objects, participants possibly always indicate the audio-visually synchronized object in situations of perceptual uncertainty. Such a response behavior potentially could explain the observed shift in perceived speed. We therefore probed the magnitude of the beep-speed illusion when the participants indicated either the object that appeared to move faster or the object that appeared to move slower. If a simple selection bias would explain the beep-speed illusion, the response pattern should be inverted with the instruction to indicate the slower object. However, contrary to this bias hypothesis, illusion emerged indistinguishably under both instructions. Therefore, simple selection biases cannot explain the beep-speed illusion.

Prestimulus alpha power signals attention to retrieval.

The human brain is in distinct processing modes at different times. Specifically, a distinction can be made between encoding and retrieval modes, which refer to the brain's state when it is storing new information or searching for old information, respectively. Recent research proposed the idea of a "ready-to-encode" mode, which describes a prestimulus effect in brain activity that signals (external) attention to encoding and predicts subsequent memory performance. Whether there is also a corresponding "ready-to-retrieve" mode in human brain activity is currently unclear. In this study, we examined whether prestimulus oscillations can be linked to (internal) attention to retrieval. We show that task cues to prepare for retrieval (or testing) in comparison with restudy of previously studied vocabulary word pairs led to a significant decrease of prestimulus alpha power just before the onset of word stimuli. Beamformer analysis localized this effect in the right secondary visual cortex (Brodmann area 18). Correlation analysis showed that the task cue-induced, prestimulus alpha power effect is positively related to stimulus-induced alpha/beta power, which in turn predicted participants' memory performance. The results are consistent with the idea that prestimulus alpha power signals internal attention to retrieval, which promotes the elaborative processing of episodic memories. Future research on brain-computer interfaces may find the findings interesting regarding the potential of using online measures of fluctuating alpha oscillations to trigger the presentation and sequencing of restudy and testing trials, ultimately enhancing instructional learning strategies.

Multisensory integration reduces landmark distortions for tactile but not visual targets.

Target localization is influenced by the presence of additionally presented nontargets, termed landmarks. In both the visual and tactile modality, these landmarks led to systematic distortions of target localizations often resulting in a shift toward the landmark. This shift has been attributed to averaging the spatial memory of both stimuli. Crucially, everyday experiences often rely on multiple modalities, and multisensory research suggests that inputs from different senses are optimally integrated, not averaged, for accurate perception, resulting in more reliable perception of cross-modal compared with uni-modal stimuli. As this could also lead to a reduced influence of the landmark, we wanted to test whether landmark distortions would be reduced when presented in a different modality or whether landmark distortions were unaffected by the modalities presented. In two experiments (each n = 30) tactile or visual targets were paired with tactile or visual landmarks. Experiment 1 showed that targets were less shifted toward landmarks from the different than the same modality, which was more pronounced for tactile than for visual targets. Experiment 2 aimed to replicate this pattern with increased visual uncertainty to rule out that smaller localization shifts of visual targets due to low uncertainty had led to the results. Still, landmark modality influenced localization shifts for tactile but not visual targets. The data pattern for tactile targets is not in line with memory averaging but seems to reflect the effects of multisensory integration, whereas visual targets were less prone to landmark distortions and do not appear to benefit from multisensory integration.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In the present study, we directly tested the predictions of two different accounts, namely, spatial memory averaging and multisensory integration, concerning the degree of landmark distortions of targets across modalities. We showed that landmark distortions were reduced across modalities compared to distortions within modalities, which is in line with multisensory integration. Crucially, this pattern was more pronounced for tactile than for visual targets.

Bound to a spider without its web: Task-type modulates the retrieval of affective information in subsequent responses.

Action control theories assume that upon responding to a stimulus response and stimulus features are integrated into a short episodic memory trace; repeating any component spurs on retrieval, affecting subsequent performance. The resulting so-called "binding effects" are reliably observed in discrimination tasks. In contrast, in localization performance, these effects are absent and only inhibition of return (IOR) emerges - a location change benefit. Affective information has been found to modulate binding effects; yet a modulation of IOR has led to mixed results, with many finding no influence at all. In the current study, participants discriminated letters (Experiment 1) or localized dots (Experiment 2) on a touchpad in prime-probe sequences. During the prime display two images - one with fruits and one with a spider - appeared, one of which spatially congruent with the to-be-touched area. In the discrimination task, previously touching a spider compared to a fruit slowed down response repetitions. In contrast, the localization task only showed IOR. This suggests that task-irrelevant valence is integrated with the response and affects subsequent responses due to retrieval. However, this is not ubiquitous but depends on task type. The results shed further light on the impact of affective information on actions.

Need for (expected) speed: Exploring the indirect influence of trial type consistency on representational momentum.

The biases affecting people's perception of dynamic stimuli are typically robust and strong for specific stimulus configurations. For example, representational momentum describes a systematic perceptual bias in the direction of motion for the final location of a moving stimulus. Under clearly defined stimulus configurations (e.g., specific stimulus identity, size, speed), for example, the frequently used "implied motion" trial sequence, for which a target is subsequently presented in a consistent direction and with a consistent speed, a displacement in motion direction is evidenced. The present study explores the potential influence of expectations regarding directional as well as speed consistencies on representational momentum, elicited by including other, inconsistently moving trial types within the same experimental block. A systematic representational momentum effect was observed when only consistent motion trials were presented. In contrast, when inconsistent target motion trials were mixed within the same block of experimental trials, the representational momentum effect decreased, or was even eliminated (Experiments 1 & 2). Detailed analysis indicated that this reflects a global (proportion of consistent and inconsistent motion trials within a particular experimental block), not local (preceding trial influencing actual trial) effect. Yet, additional follow-up studies (Experiments 3 & 4) support the idea that these changes in perceived location are strongly influenced by the overall stimulus speed statistics in the different experimental blocks. These results are discussed and interpreted in light of recent theoretical developments in the literature on motion perception that highlight the importance of expectations about stimulus speed for motion perception.

Increased display complexity reveals effects of salience in action control.

In action-control research, typically, stimulus sparse displays are used. This might be one reason why previous theorizing focuses on the (top-down) demands of response selection (e.g., what key to press), while often ignoring (bottom-up) demands of stimulus selection (e.g., what stimulus to attend). However, complex perceptual situations may pose selection demands that make additional, response-unrelated feature dimensions relevant for response selection. The major stimulus characteristic affecting perceptual selection is salience. In research on visual attention, there is a debate about the conditions under which salience becomes effective. We related both debates in two experiments, in which we modulated display set size as well as salience in a stimulus-response binding task. In sum, the data of these experiments (pooled N = 138) demonstrated that salience furthered the integration of stimulus features in displays with many stimuli more than in sparse displays. Our results demonstrate the neglected impact of salience on action-control when going beyond the very simplistic displays common in action-control research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).