Stimulus-Response Bindings in the Go/NoGo Task: Effects on the Judged Typicality of Stimuli

In the present paper, we explore the notion that judgments of typicality are dependent on the goal-relevancy of exemplars. However, we propose that relevancy can be derived from the response provided to stimulus, through the operation of stimulus-response bindings. Specifically, items associated with selection responses are tagged as "relevant" and will be subsequently judged as more typical of their categories, while stimuli associated with avoidance responses are tagged as "irrelevant" will be judged as less typical of their categories. We test this prediction with a Go-NoGo task with male and female faces. Results showed that (a) faces associated with a selection (Go) response were judged more typical of their gender category than faces associated with an avoidance (NoGo) response, and (b) these effects were more likely to be observed when the context is reactivated. Our results are consistent with the notion that representation of typicality is goal-oriented and contextually dependent.