Binding effects occur even shortly after integration: Implications on the retrieval process in action control

Executing a response results in bindings between features of present stimuli and features of the response, a compound often called "event file". If features of an event file repeat in a later episode, the event file is assumed to be retrieved and to affect the current action (so-called "binding effects"). Feature binding and retrieval are considered to be fundamental processes in human action control. However, to date, it is not clear whether the concept of a reinitiating retrieval process, as opposed to the additional involvement of residual activity (as suggested by recent neurophysiological studies), provides a more accurate description of how previously formed bindings can influence current action. In this study, we investigated the short time window immediately following integration and its modulation on binding effects in three experiments. We measured response-response binding effects after 0, 100, 300, and 500 ms after integration in an adapted response-response binding paradigm and measured distractor-response binding effects 0 and 500 ms after integration in an adapted distractor-response binding paradigm. We found evidence for binding effects even at response-stimulus intervals as short as 0 ms, both for response-response binding and distractor-response binding. Our findings suggest that the concept of residual activation seems to play an additional role next to the process of retrieval.