From hands to feet: Abstract response representations in distractor-response bindings

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Human motor control
• Action planning

Background:

• Distractor stimuli can become associated with motor responses.
• This distractor-response binding allows distractors to act as retrieval cues for subsequent responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether distractor-response bindings are effector-specific or abstract.
• To determine the nature of response codes involved in distractor-response binding.

Main Methods:

• A prime-probe design was employed with participants responding using hands or feet.
• The effector set (hands vs. feet) was systematically varied between prime and probe trials.
• Participants' action plans were manipulated regarding their active state during probe response execution.

Main Results:

• Distractor-response binding effects were observed for effector repetitions but not effector changes when responses were immediate.
• However, distractor-response binding occurred in effector-change trials when the prime action plan remained active.
• This suggests abstract response codes are integrated with distractors.

Conclusions:

• Distractor-response binding relies on abstract representations of actions, not specific effector commands.
• The findings contribute to understanding how action plans and memory representations interact in cognitive control.