Response-response bindings do not decay for 6 seconds after integration: A case for bindings' relevance in...

Executing a response results in bindings between features of present stimuli and features of the response (Hommel et al., 2001). Repetition of any of these features can then retrieve other integrated features, thus affecting following action (binding effects). The important role of feature bindings in action control is widely recognized in the literature by now (e.g., Frings et al., 2020; Henson et al., 2014). Recently, we found that bindings can also exist between individually planned and executed responses (Moeller & Frings, 2019b), which suggests that binding processes might play a role in hierarchical action representation (see Lashley, 1951). Yet, more specific information is necessary regarding the characteristics of response-response bindings to be able to integrate binding research with research on hierarchical action representation. Here, we analyzed durations of bindings between individual responses to decide whether response-response bindings hold for sufficiently long durations to support binding of actions also on a higher level in a hierarchy. We found evidence for response-response bindings lasting for relatively long times and no measurable decrease of the magnitudes for the binding effects over 2,000, 4,000, or 6,000 ms after response integration. The present findings support the suggestion that binding mechanisms can play a role in relating low-level microoperations to high-level macroprocedures in human action control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).