Reaction Time of Erroneous Responses in the Go/No-Go Paradigm

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Reaction time (RT) for erroneous responses in go/no-no tasks is typically shorter than correct responses.
• An opposing finding suggests RT differences may be influenced by go trial probability or memory load.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of go trial probability and memory load on erroneous response RT.
• To differentiate between confusion and response inhibition as causes for RT differences.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using simultaneous and sequential matching tasks with manipulated memory load (low/high) and go trial probability (low/high).
• Participants' reaction times for correct and erroneous responses were recorded.

Main Results:

• Short false positive RT occurred only in the high go trial probability/low memory load condition.
• Long false positive RT was observed in the other three conditions.
• Both low go trial probability and high memory load independently led to long false positives, attributed to confusion.

Conclusions:

• High go trial probability with low memory load leads to short false positive RT, suggesting response inhibition failure.
• Low go trial probability or high memory load leads to long false positive RT, attributed to confusion.
• Task parameters significantly impact error response characteristics in go/no-go tasks.