Review article
Sensory neural pathways revisited to unravel the temporal dynamics of the Simon effect: A model-based cognitive neuroscience approach

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.02.023Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The temporal dynamics of the Simon effect varies by task’s conditions and modality.

  • The main senses share similar architecture of spatial/non-spatial neural pathways.

  • As a mathematical model the DMC accounts for the effect’s temporal dynamics.

  • DMC can construct a bridge between neural and behavioral measures of the Simon task.

  • Model-based cognitive neuroscience provides broad account for the Simon effect.

Abstract

The Simon task is one of the most prominent interference tasks and has been extensively studied in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Despite years of research, the underlying mechanism driving the phenomenon and its temporal dynamics are still disputed. Within the framework of the review, we adopt a model-based cognitive neuroscience approach. We first go over key findings in the literature of the Simon task, discuss competing qualitative cognitive theories and the difficulty of testing them empirically. We then introduce sequential sampling models, a particular class of mathematical cognitive process models. Finally, we argue that the brain architecture accountable for the processing of spatial (‘where’) and non-spatial (‘what’) information, could constrain these models. We conclude that there is a clear need to bridge neural and behavioral measures, and that mathematical cognitive models may facilitate the construction of this bridge and work towards revealing the underlying mechanisms of the Simon effect.

Section snippets

Introducing the Simon effect and its temporal dynamics

The Simon task was first described by Simon and colleagues (Simon and Rudell, 1967, Simon and Small, 1969). It captures an intuitive phenomenon: we perform much better when the source of information and appropriate response are spatially aligned (Fitts and Deininger, 1954). In the original Simon task, participants are asked to identify tones played to their right or left ears. High and low pitch sounds are assigned to right or left keys, as instructed. The spatial location of the auditory

Dual-route models and the role of cognitive control

De Jong, Liang and Lauber (De Jong et al., 1994) proposed a dual-route model to explain the decreasing delta plots in the Simon task (see Fig. 2). They suggested that two processes take place in parallel. One process refers to a task-relevant indirect route that processes the deliberate response decision based on task demands. The other process refers to a task-irrelevant process, where the spatial code directly activates a response that corresponds with the relative location of the stimulus (

The inconsistency of the delta plots − common or separate mechanisms?

The decreasing delta plot has been a hallmark of the horizontal (left-right) visual Simon task. However, not all variations of the Simon task show this particular pattern (see Fig. 1). An increase of the Simon effect for longer RTs has been shown for other forms of the task and for other modalities, such as when hands are crossed in a horizontal visual Simon task (Wascher et al., 2001), in vertical visual Simon tasks (Töbel et al., 2014, Wiegand and Wascher, 2007, Wiegand and Wascher, 2005),

Mathematical cognitive process models of the Simon effect

Mathematical cognitive models offer a means to quantitatively formalize cognitive theories communicated verbally (i.e., qualitative). Unlike descriptive statistical models, such as delta plots, cognitive models are generative models (or “process models”), that provide an account not just of how behavioral data is structured, but also how it could potentially have been generated. One class of mathematical cognitive models particularly suited to better understand the temporal dynamics of the

How do ‘what’ and ‘where’ neural pathways subserve the Simon effect?

Functional neuroanatomy has the potential to constrain the models of the underlying mechanisms in the Simon task. We argue that cognitive models like the DMC can help us better understand the temporal dynamics of the underlying Simon task and that functional neuroanatomy can ground its assumptions in the structure of the brain. We qualitatively link the neural structure of two separate neural pathways that independently process spatial and non-spatial features of the input with mathematical

Who controls the ‘what’ and ‘where’ pathways?

Information is processed in the ‘what’ and ‘where’ pathways in a parallel manner leading to a response conflict in the non-corresponding condition. How does the decision to respond based on the ‘what’ pathway and ignore or suppress the ‘where’ pathway come about in the brain? The spatial ‘where’ pathway plays a role in guiding one’s actions (visual: Kravitz et al., 2010; auditory: Warren et al., 2005; tactile: Dijkerman and de Haan, 2007). On a portion of the trials, Servant and colleagues (

Concluding remarks

In the present review we proposed a comprehensive framework to account for the temporal dynamics of the Simon effect as measured by different variants of the Simon task. The framework brought forth in the present review links cognitive models with the neuronal pathways accountable for the processing of spatial (‘where’) and non-spatial (‘what’) information. Recent literature suggests that this organization is common among vision, audition, and somatosensory modalities. We have argued that

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by an ERC grant from the European Research Council (BUF), by a Vidi grant from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (BUF), and by the Israel Science Foundation (YS, grant no. 93/15).

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