Focusing on conflict in item-specific adaptive control: Insights from a proportion-neutral manipulation
Giacomo Spinelli1, Stephen Lupker2
1Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, Box 1, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland. giacomo.spinelli@uzh.ch.
Memory & Cognition
|April 8, 2026
Summary
This study demonstrates that attention adapts to item-specific conflict frequency in Stroop tasks. Higher conflict frequency in mostly-neutral conditions led to greater Stroop interference, supporting adaptive control mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Attention Research
Background:
- Previous research indicated Stroop effects vary with distractor congruency frequency.
- Adaptive control in attention was hypothesized to be item-specific and reactive.
- The role of conflict versus congruency facilitation in this adaptation remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To isolate the effect of conflict frequency on adaptive attention control.
- To investigate if attention adapts to the frequency of incongruent distractors, independent of congruency facilitation.
- To test the hypothesis that conflict drives item-specific attention adaptation.
Main Methods:
- Modified Stroop task manipulations to contrast targets with neutral or incongruent distractors.
- Implemented Mostly-Neutral (MN) and Mostly-Incongruent (MI) conditions based on distractor frequency.
- Controlled for stimulus frequency as a potential confounding variable.
Main Results:
- Larger Stroop interference was observed in the MN condition compared to the MI condition.
- This pattern persisted even after controlling for stimulus frequency.
- Results indicate that conflict frequency influences attention adaptation.
Conclusions:
- Attention control can be adapted in an item-specific manner based on conflict frequency.
- Conflict, rather than congruency facilitation, plays a key role in driving this adaptive process.
- Findings support Jacoby et al.'s claims regarding item-specific and conflict-driven attention adaptation.
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