192 research outputs found
Conceptual replication of Dignath et al., 2022, experiment 3 - particular focus on emotional Stroop task (E.g., Soutscheck and Schubert, 2013) 'Do self-related primes influence the processing of conflicts in the emotional domain?'
No full textPrevious research has shown (e.g., Dignath et al., 2022) that Congruency Effects (CE) in a gender Stroop task are significantly reduced when self-related primes are used compared neutral primes in a control condition. The significant interaction of the factors ‘congruency’ and ‘prime’, indicated reduced CEs in experimental blocks with self-referential information compared to control blocks. Here, we ask whether this phenomenon can be replicated also in the emotional domain. We will closely replicate experiment 3 of Dignath et al. (2022), but instead of a gender task, emotional Stroop task will be employed (modelled after Soutscheck & Schubert, 2013), in which participants must classify facial expressions as positive or negative, while ignoring clearly positive or negative valenced words. In line with the study of Dignath et al. (2022), the main question of this experiment is how self-referential primes modulate CEs. Going beyond previous research, we ask whether similar effects can be generalized to the emotional domain. We consider two possible accounts. The attentional bias account assumes that CEs should be increased in the self-referential condition, because self-referential primes draw attention towards the task-irrelevant dimension and hence should enhance CEs. Specifically, for emotional stimuli, it has been suggested that attention is not only quicker engaged by emotional stimuli, but also impairs attentional disengagement. In contrast, the priming of control account holds that CEs in the self-referential condition should be reduced, because self-relevance boosts cognitive control over task-irrelevant response tendencies. Indeed, it has been suggested that the inextricable link between control and self-referential information is particularly strong for emotional material
Conceptual replication of Dignath et al., 2022, experiment 3 - particular focus on emotional Stroop task (E.g., Soutscheck and Schubert, 2013) 'Do self-related primes influence the processing of conflicts in the emotional domain?'
No full textPrevious research has shown (e.g., Dignath et al., 2022) that Congruency Effects (CE) in a gender Stroop task are significantly reduced when self-related primes are used compared neutral primes in a control condition. The significant interaction of the factors ‘congruency’ and ‘prime’, indicated reduced CEs in experimental blocks with self-referential information compared to control blocks. Here, we ask whether this phenomenon can be replicated also in the emotional domain. We will closely replicate experiment 3 of Dignath et al. (2022), but instead of a gender task, emotional Stroop task will be employed (modelled after Soutscheck & Schubert, 2013), in which participants must classify facial expressions as positive or negative, while ignoring clearly positive or negative valenced words. In line with the study of Dignath et al. (2022), the main question of this experiment is how self-referential primes modulate CEs. Going beyond previous research, we ask whether similar effects can be generalized to the emotional domain. We consider two possible accounts. The attentional bias account assumes that CEs should be increased in the self-referential condition, because self-referential primes draw attention towards the task-irrelevant dimension and hence should enhance CEs. Specifically, for emotional stimuli, it has been suggested that attention is not only quicker engaged by emotional stimuli, but also impairs attentional disengagement. In contrast, the priming of control account holds that CEs in the self-referential condition should be reduced, because self-relevance boosts cognitive control over task-irrelevant response tendencies. Indeed, it has been suggested that the inextricable link between control and self-referential information is particularly strong for emotional material
Binding and Retrieval of Control states - control decay due to retrieval delay 5
No full textA commonly found effect in conflict tasks is the congruency sequence effect (CSE; Egner, 2008). This effect is defined by the reduction of congruency effects in post-conflict trials. Two theoretical approaches compete for the explanation of this phenomenon: Control accounts describe the CSE as the result of adaption processes, which regulate the attentional focus to the task-relevant dimension and/or result in the inhibition of task-irrelevant information. In contrast, binding accounts attribute the CSE to the learning of stimulus-response (S-R) combinations. This type of short term associative learning is referred to as binding. In subsequent trials the partial retrieval of such bound S-R combinations leads to impaired performance in comparison to the complete retrieval of an S-R combination or no retrieval at all. Recent theories tried to integrate both approaches. So, it is hypothesized that not only S-R combinations can be bound and retrieved, but also the current cognitive state, which would also include the degree of cognitive control currently implemented. There is first evidence indicating that the binding and retrieval of such control states impact on the CSE (Dignath, Johannsen, Hommel, & Kiesel, 2019).
Previously, we conducted 4 studies indicating that there is no decay of bound control states. In this study, we will try to boost the binding effect to test by decreasing the amount of repeated contextual features in context switch trials. This should increase the operating space for a possible interaction with ITI duratio
Motivational control of habits: A preregistered fMRI study
No full textAbstract Habitual action is typically distinguished from goal-directed action by its insensitivity to changes in reward value. There is an ongoing discussion whether this insensitivity is an intrinsic design feature of habits or, rather, a function of the cognitive system that controls these action tendencies. Our preregistered study investigated this issue using functional magnetic resonance imaging of brain activity before and after a reward devaluation in an outcome-selective Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) paradigm. Based on the expected-value-of-control theory, it was hypothesized that neural activity of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) would increase during the presentations of Pavlovian cues associated with a devalued outcome, reflecting increased control allocation in situations predictive of a devalued reward. The behavioral results confirmed an outcome-selective PIT effect that was abolished by devaluing the associated outcome. Contrary to our hypothesis, neuroimaging data revealed that dACC activity decreased during presentations of the associated cue. A comparable reduction was also observed in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the putamen. These findings suggest that the current reward value was accessed during the transfer tests and that devaluation of the action outcome did not enhance cognitive control over associated response tendencies. The study plan and data analyses were peer-reviewed prior to data collection by Peer Community In: Registered Reports (PCI:RR). The Preregistered Stage 1 protocol is available at https://osf.io/k8ygb (date of in-principle acceptance: February 8, 2022; https://rr.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=140). The Stage 2 report was recommended after peer review by PCI:RR at https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.rr.101079 (date of recommendation: July 8, 2025)
Task conflict biases decision making
No full textCooperation project of Stefanie Schuch and David Dignat
Binding and Retrieval of Control states - control decay due to retrieval delay - Repetition 3
No full textA commonly found effect in conflict tasks is the congruency sequence effect (CSE; Egner, 2008). This effect is defined by the reduction of congruency effects in post-conflict trials. Two theoretical approaches compete for the explanation of this phenomenon: Control accounts describe the CSE as the result of adaption processes, which regulate the attentional focus to the task-relevant dimension and/or result in the inhibition of task-irrelevant information. In contrast, binding accounts attribute the CSE to the learning of stimulus-response (S-R) combinations. This type of short term associative learning is referred to as binding. In subsequent trials the partial retrieval of such bound S-R combinations leads to impaired performance in comparison to the complete retrieval of an S-R combination or no retrieval at all. Recent theories tried to integrate both approaches. So, it is hypothesized that not only S-R combinations can be bound and retrieved, but also the current cognitive state, which would also include the degree of cognitive control currently implemented. There is first evidence indicating that the binding and retrieval of such control states impact on the CSE (Dignath, Johannsen, Hommel, & Kiesel, 2019). With this study we want to replicate a lab pilot study that investigated the decay of control states (OSF Registration: https://osf.io/8thvs). Our study’s goal is to replicate the pilot study with a bigger sample size. The replication study will be conducted on an online testing environment using jsPsych (de Leeuw, 2015), a library for JavaScript that allows to program web browser based experiments
Task-conflict biases decision making
No full textCooperation project of Stefanie Schuch and David Dignat
Conceptual replication of Dignath et al., 2022, experiment 3 - particular focus on emotional Stroop task (E.g., Soutscheck and Schubert, 2013) 'Do self-related primes influence the processing of conflicts in the emotional domain?'
No full textThe Influence of Self-Related Primes on Cognitive Control in Emotional Conflicts
No full textThe aim of this study is to investigate the influence of self-related information on cognitive control in emotional conflicts in order to get a better understanding of how self-regulation works.
To instigate emotional conflicts and related cognitive control mechanisms, we use the emotional face-word Stroop task (see Etkin, 2006). Conflict occurs if at least two stimuli carry contrary information and contradict each other in their associated reaction. It has been assumed that people react to this conflict with increased cognitive control processes in order to supress irrelevant information and to amplify the relevant information. For instance, in the emotional face-word Stroop task the relevant stimulus is a face that displays either a negative or a positive emotion. The irrelevant stimulus, that is, a distractor, is a word describing the expressed emotion (e.g., anger or happiness). Accordingly, information in the irrelevant stimulus can be congruent with the information contained in the relevant stimulus (e.g., face and word express anger) or incongruent (e.g., face expresses anger but the word says happiness). The so-called congruency effect describes impaired performance for incongruent conditions relative to facilitated performance for congruent conditions.
The congruency effect can be observed for emotional and non-emotional stimuli (Etkin, 2006; Soutschek et al., 2013; Egner et al., 2008). Similarly, the congruency sequence effect (CSE), that is, the interaction of congruency in previous and current trials, has also been documented for both tasks (Egner et al., 2008; Soutschek et al., 2013). More specifically, the CSE shows that the congruency effect following a previous incongruent trial is smaller in comparison to the congruency effect of trials following a previous congruent trial. Presumably, the CSE indicates enhanced control processes after incongruent trials, that is, after conflicts. On this account, the CSE is a tool to investigate how cognitive control changes from trial-to-trial (see Botvinick et al., 2001 or Egner, 2007 for cognitive CSEs and Egner et al., 2008; Soutschek et al., 2013 for CSE in an emotional task).
A critical factor that could influence control processes is the self-reference of a stimulus (Sui & Humphreys, 2015). In fact, self-reference might play a particular relevant role for control of emotional conflicts (Northoff, 2005). According to the appraisal theory of emotion (Scherer, 1984), emotions are described as a process and appraisals are understood as components of this process and therefore, of emotions (Ellsworth & Scherer, 2003). These theories assume that the relevance of a stimulus (Is it relevant for my well-being?) serves as an earlier and rapid appraisal dimension (Ellsworth & Scherer, 2003)? Dignath et al. (2022) provided first evidence for an influence of self-reference on the congruency effect in a classic colour-Stroop task. Here, self-reference strengthened the processing of cognitive control with regard to task-relevant stimuli or with regard to task-irrelevant stimuli, in order to suppress the irrelevant information. Furthermore, research has also shown that self-reference modulates attention and processing in emotional contexts like enhanced processing of emotional negative stimuli compared to neutral or even positive ones (Herbert et al., 2011; Sui & Rotshtein, 2019).
The present research examines the impact of self-related information on emotional conflict by using the emotional face-word Stroop task. We ask whether and how self-related information modulates the congruency effect and investigate possible consequence for conflict regulation
The Influence of Self-Related Primes on Cognitive Control in Emotional Conflicts
No full textThe aim of this study is to investigate the influence of self-related information on cognitive control in emotional conflicts in order to get a better understanding of how self-regulation works.
To instigate emotional conflicts and related cognitive control mechanisms, we use the emotional face-word Stroop task (see Etkin, 2006). Conflict occurs if at least two stimuli carry contrary information and contradict each other in their associated reaction. It has been assumed that people react to this conflict with increased cognitive control processes in order to supress irrelevant information and to amplify the relevant information. For instance, in the emotional face-word Stroop task the relevant stimulus is a face that displays either a negative or a positive emotion. The irrelevant stimulus, that is, a distractor, is a word describing the expressed emotion (e.g., anger or happiness). Accordingly, information in the irrelevant stimulus can be congruent with the information contained in the relevant stimulus (e.g., face and word express anger) or incongruent (e.g., face expresses anger but the word says happiness). The so-called congruency effect describes impaired performance for incongruent conditions relative to facilitated performance for congruent conditions.
The congruency effect can be observed for emotional and non-emotional stimuli (Etkin, 2006; Soutschek et al., 2013; Egner et al., 2008). Similarly, the congruency sequence effect (CSE), that is, the interaction of congruency in previous and current trials, has also been documented for both tasks (Egner et al., 2008; Soutschek et al., 2013). More specifically, the CSE shows that the congruency effect following a previous incongruent trial is smaller in comparison to the congruency effect of trials following a previous congruent trial. Presumably, the CSE indicates enhanced control processes after incongruent trials, that is, after conflicts. On this account, the CSE is a tool to investigate how cognitive control changes from trial-to-trial (see Botvinick et al., 2001 or Egner, 2007 for cognitive CSEs and Egner et al., 2008; Soutschek et al., 2013 for CSE in an emotional task).
A critical factor that could influence control processes is the self-reference of a stimulus (Sui & Humphreys, 2015). In fact, self-reference might play a particular relevant role for control of emotional conflicts (Northoff, 2005). According to the appraisal theory of emotion (Scherer, 1984), emotions are described as a process and appraisals are understood as components of this process and therefore, of emotions (Ellsworth & Scherer, 2003). These theories assume that the relevance of a stimulus (Is it relevant for my well-being?) serves as an earlier and rapid appraisal dimension (Ellsworth & Scherer, 2003)? Dignath et al. (2022) provided first evidence for an influence of self-reference on the congruency effect in a classic colour-Stroop task. Here, self-reference strengthened the processing of cognitive control with regard to task-relevant stimuli or with regard to task-irrelevant stimuli, in order to suppress the irrelevant information. Furthermore, research has also shown that self-reference modulates attention and processing in emotional contexts like enhanced processing of emotional negative stimuli compared to neutral or even positive ones (Herbert et al., 2011; Sui & Rotshtein, 2019).
The present research examines the impact of self-related information on emotional conflict by using the emotional face-word Stroop task. We ask whether and how self-related information modulates the congruency effect and investigate possible consequence for conflict regulation
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