Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 27, 2026
08:45
A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets
Published on: December 5, 2014
9.5K
The Simon effect in a discrete sequence production task: Key-specific stimuli cannot be ignored due to attentional
Willem B Verwey1, David L Wright2, Rob H J Van der Lubbe3
1Department of Cognitive Psychology and Ergonomics, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands; Human Performance Laboratories, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Acta Psychologica
|March 9, 2020
Summary
Practicing key pressing sequences does not eliminate reliance on visual stimuli. Attention attraction ensures stimuli are used, even when harmful, impacting motor sequence learning.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Motor Learning
Background:
- Sequence learning models propose stimuli disregard with practice.
- Visuospatial attention may maintain stimulus reliance due to luminance cues.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate stimulus reliance during practiced motor sequences.
- Determine if attention attraction overrides stimulus disregard in sequence learning.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments used discrete key pressing tasks with letter stimuli.
- Simon effect measured key press latency based on stimulus-location correspondence.
- Participants practiced familiar and unfamiliar sequences.
Main Results:
- Simon effect persisted across practice, indicating continued stimulus use.
- Stimulus use remained stable for familiar and unfamiliar sequences.
- Simon effect present even with meaningless or detrimental stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Attention attraction enforces stimulus use in motor sequence learning.
- Stimulus reliance persists despite practice, challenging some sequence learning models.
- Motor sequences involve racing S-R translation and sequencing systems, incorporating spatial and verbal knowledge.
Keywords:
Automated movement sequencesCognitive modelsDiscrete sequence production taskKeying sequencesMotor chunkingSequence learningSimon effectMore Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:03Serial Position Effect
The serial position effect is a cognitive phenomenon where individuals are more likely to recall the first and last items in a list compared to those in the middle. This effect is divided into the primacy effect and the recency effect. The primacy effect is observed when the initial items in a list are remembered better. This occurs because these items are rehearsed more frequently or receive more elaborative processing, allowing them to be encoded into long-term memory more effectively. For...
01:30Impact of Schemas
Schemas are cognitive structures that provide a framework for interpreting and organizing social information. They help individuals navigate complex environments by offering expectations about people, events, and behaviors. Schemas influence attention, encoding, and retrieval processes, thereby shaping the entire trajectory of information processing in social contexts.Attention and Cognitive LoadDuring initial attention, schemas function as filters that prioritize schema-consistent information,...