Lengthening the duration of response execution does not modulate blindness to action-compatible stimuli

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Perception
• Human Action

Background:

• Action-compatible blindness describes reduced perception of stimuli during compatible action planning/execution.
• Previous research indicates larger blindness effects during response execution compared to post-response.
• The duration of the response execution phase is a critical factor in action-compatible blindness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if lengthening the response execution phase affects action-compatible blindness.
• To determine if a three-tap response increases the blindness effect compared to a one-tap response.
• To explore if response repetition extends the time course of action-compatible blindness.

Main Methods:

• Employed the action-compatible blindness paradigm with participants performing one or three taps.
• Manipulated the number of taps (one vs. three) in blocked and mixed trial designs.
• Measured target stimulus perception frequency during response planning and execution phases.

Main Results:

• Lengthening the response execution phase by requiring three taps did not yield a larger blindness effect.
• The number of taps (one vs. three) did not influence the magnitude of action-compatible blindness.
• No evidence was found that response repetition extends the time course of the blindness effect.

Conclusions:

• The duration of the response execution phase, even when extended through repetition, does not modulate action-compatible blindness.
• Current models of action-compatible blindness may need refinement to account for the lack of effect from response repetition.
• Cognitive differences between single and repeated responses do not appear to impact action-compatible blindness.