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Irrelevant Stimuli and Action Control: Analyzing the Influence of Ignored Stimuli via the Distractor-Response Binding Paradigm
Published on: May 14, 2014
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Partial repetition between action plans delays responses to ideomotor compatible stimuli
Lisa R Fournier1, Benjamin P Richardson2
1Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-4820, USA. lfournier@wsu.edu.
Psychological Research
|March 19, 2021
Summary
Intervening actions can disrupt planned actions, but this disruption, known as partial repetition cost (PRC), is reduced when the intervening event is ideomotor compatible. This suggests similar action plan mechanisms for both compatible and abstract stimuli.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Motor Control
Background:
- Executing planned actions can be interrupted by unexpected events requiring immediate responses.
- Working memory (WM) plays a crucial role in retaining action plans during such interruptions.
- Partial repetition between intended and intervening actions can lead to costs or benefits in execution time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate partial repetition costs (PRCs) and benefits (PRBs) with ideomotor-compatible intervening stimuli.
- To determine if ideomotor compatibility influences action plan selection and retention.
- To compare action selection mechanisms for ideomotor-compatible versus abstract stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Participants retained an action plan for a first visual event (A) while responding to a second, intervening event (B).
- Experiment 1 varied stimulus compatibility (ideomotor, abstract, or mixed).
- Experiment 1B used ideomotor stimuli that closely mimicked required responses.
Main Results:
- Partial repetition costs (PRCs) were observed across all stimulus combinations.
- PRCs were reduced when the intervening event (B) was ideomotor compatible.
- No evidence suggested ideomotor-compatible actions bypassed selection bottlenecks, contrary to prior research.
Conclusions:
- Action plan activation, selection, and retention mechanisms are similar for ideomotor-compatible and abstract stimuli.
- PRCs occur for offline-generated action plans relying on working memory, even for ideomotor stimuli.
- Partial repetition benefits (PRBs) might be limited to online action generation.
