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Congruency sequence effects are driven by previous-trial congruency, not previous-trial response conflict
Daniel H Weissman1, Joshua Carp
1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Frontiers in Psychology
|September 13, 2013
Summary
Congruency sequence effects (CSEs) in cognitive tasks are not driven by response conflict, as suggested by the conflict monitoring model. Instead, findings indicate CSEs depend on the previous trial
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Congruency sequence effects (CSEs) show smaller interference after incongruent trials than congruent ones.
- The origin of CSEs is debated, with conflict monitoring and attentional/affective theories offering competing explanations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate between conflict monitoring and congruency-based accounts of CSEs.
- To investigate whether CSEs are driven by previous-trial reaction time (RT) or previous-trial congruency.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments utilizing a face-word Stroop task.
- Analysis of current-trial congruency effects in relation to previous-trial RT and congruency.
Main Results:
- Current-trial congruency effects were not dependent on previous-trial RT when previous-trial congruency was controlled.
- Current-trial congruency effects were influenced by previous-trial congruency independently of previous-trial RT.
Conclusions:
- Findings support theories attributing CSEs to non-conflict processes that vary with prior trial congruency.
- Results challenge the conflict monitoring model's explanation of CSEs being solely driven by response conflict.
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