The reflexive imagery task: An experimental paradigm for neuroimaging.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• High-level cognitions can be involuntarily triggered by external stimuli and action sets.
• The Reflexive Imagery Task (RIT) previously showed involuntary subvocalizations when subjects avoided naming single presented objects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the reliability and robustness of the RIT paradigm.
• To explore a modified RIT with simultaneous presentation of two non-focal objects.
• To examine the neural underpinnings and applications of the RIT in neuroimaging.

Main Methods:

• Subjects performed a modified RIT, viewing two simultaneous, non-focal visual objects while instructed not to name them.
• The occurrence of involuntary subvocalizations was recorded.
• Experiments were replicated with different participant samples.

Main Results:

• The RIT effect persisted, with involuntary subvocalizations occurring in a high proportion of trials (M = 0.78).
• The RIT effect was observed for both simultaneously presented objects in a considerable proportion of trials (M = 0.35).
• Findings were replicated across experiments and samples, confirming the paradigm's reliability.

Conclusions:

• The RIT is a reliable paradigm for studying involuntary cognitive processes.
• The RIT effect is robust even with dual-object presentation.
• This paradigm can be integrated with neuroimaging for further research into mental processes, attention, imagery, and action control.