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An ERP investigation of the working memory stroop effect
Wenfei Wang1, Mingming Qi1, Heming Gao1
1School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China.
Neuropsychologia
|January 16, 2021
Summary
Working memory (WM) content can facilitate attention when congruent with tasks. However, incongruent WM content may not interfere with attention, as shown by behavioral and ERP data in this Stroop effect study.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- The Stroop effect, traditionally studied in selective attention, has been extended to working memory (WM) to understand how stored information influences ongoing cognitive tasks.
- Investigating the interplay between WM content and attentional processing is crucial for understanding cognitive control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the neural mechanisms underlying the Working Memory (WM) Stroop effect.
- To differentiate between Stroop facilitation and interference effects within WM by incorporating a neutral condition.
Main Methods:
- Participants engaged in a WM task involving remembering a word, followed by a color discrimination task with congruent, incongruent, or neutral word-color stimuli.
- Behavioral data (reaction times) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the color decision task.
- ERPs were analyzed focusing on N2 and P3 components, time-locked to the presentation of the colored rectangle.
Main Results:
- Behaviorally, reaction times indicated a WM Stroop effect (longer for incongruent vs. congruent) and a facilitation effect (shorter for congruent vs. neutral). No significant interference effect was observed for incongruent vs. neutral conditions.
- ERPs showed increased N2 and P3 activity for incongruent versus congruent conditions, suggesting heightened conflict detection and resolution.
- The neutral condition elicited enhanced N2 (conflict monitoring) but decreased P3 (conflict resolution) compared to congruent and incongruent conditions.
Conclusions:
- Working memory content can facilitate attentional processing when it is congruent with the task demands.
- Incongruent working memory content does not appear to interfere with attentional processing in this specific paradigm.
- Neural data supports the distinct roles of conflict monitoring and resolution in response to varying levels of cognitive conflict within a working memory context.
