Response Preparation, Response Conflict, and the Effects of Irrelevant Flanker Stimuli

The present study explored how response preparation modulates the effects of response conflict as induced by irrelevant flanker stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 2, an unreliable response cue (i.e., valid in 75% of trials but invalid in 25% of trials) preceded the stimulus display containing a target stimulus and different types (i.e., identical, neutral, compatible, or incompatible) flanker stimuli. In Experiment 3, a fully reliable response cue (i.e., valid in 100% of trials) or a neutral cue preceded the stimulus display. There were two major findings. First, valid response cues always improved performance in terms of speed and accuracy when compared to invalid or neutral cues, indicating that the cues were used to selectively prepare the indicated response. Second, response preparation with unreliable response cues did not modulate flanker-induced response conflict in reaction times (RTs; and not consistently in error percentages), whereas response preparation with reliable cues eliminated flanker-induced response conflict. According to these results, only extreme levels of response preparation modulate (flanker-induced) response conflict. The results of computer simulations suggest some boundary conditions for our conclusion.