Separating after-effects of target and distractor processing in the tactile sensory modality

The present study investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying aftereffects of tactile target and distractor processing. In our experiment, participants selected tactile target stimuli against simultaneously presented tactile distractor stimuli in prime-probe sequences. Tactile distractors in ea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Attention, perception & psychophysics perception & psychophysics, 2019-04, Vol.81 (3), p.809-822
Main Authors: Wesslein, Ann-Katrin, Moeller, Birte, Frings, Christian, Giesen, Carina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coding
Cognition & reasoning
Experimental psychology
Feedback (Response)
Inhibition
Memory
Physiological psychology
Repetition
Stimuli
Visual Stimuli
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Summary:The present study investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying aftereffects of tactile target and distractor processing. In our experiment, participants selected tactile target stimuli against simultaneously presented tactile distractor stimuli in prime-probe sequences. Tactile distractors in each prime/probe trial were either response incompatible (i.e., interfering at the response level) or response neutral (i.e., noninterfering at the response level), manipulated between participants. Furthermore, distractor relation (repetition vs. change) and response relation (repetition vs. change) across prime-probe sequences were orthogonally varied within participants. Thus, independent estimates of distractor repetition main effects (that are attributable to distractor-specific prime processing and have previously been interpreted in terms of inhibition or episodic retrieval processes) and the modulation of distractor repetition effects due to response relation (that is target specific and can only be explained in terms of event-file retrieval) were assessed (see Giesen, Frings, & Rothermund, Memory & Cognition, 40, 373-387, 2012). Replicating previous studies with visual stimuli, simple distractor repetition effects were stronger for response-incompatible compared with responseneutral tactile distractors. In contrast, event-file retrieval as reflected in distractor-response binding retrieval effects was not modulated by whether the distractors were response incompatible or response neutral. Together, these findings highlight that in tactile tasks, prime-distractor and prime-target processing both hold the potential to cause aftereffects during probe performance.
ISSN:1943-3921
1943-393X
DOI:10.3758/sl3414-018-01655-7