Skip to main content
Articles

Influence of Time Pressure in a Simple Response Task, a Choice-by-Location Task, and the Simon Task

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027//0269-8803.15.4.241

Abstract The influence of strategy was examined for a simple response task, a choice-by-location task, and the Simon task by varying time pressure. Besides reaction time (RT) and accuracy, we measured response force and derived two measures from the event-related EEG potential to form an index for attentional orienting (posterior contralateral negativity: PCN) and the start of motor activation (the lateralized readiness potential: LRP). For the choice-by-location task and the Simon task, effects of time pressure were found on the response-locked LRP, but not on the onset of the PCN and the stimulus-locked LRP. Thus, strategy influences processing after the start of motor activation in choice tasks. A small effect of time pressure was found on the peak latency of the PCN in the Simon task, which suggests that time pressure may affect attentional orienting. In the simple response task, time pressure reduced the amplitude of the PCN. This finding suggests that strategy affects attentional orienting to stimuli when these stimuli are not highly relevant. Finally, the effect of time pressure on RT was much larger in the simple response task than in the other tasks, which may be ascribed to the possibility of preparing the required response in the simple response task.

References

  • Clarke, J.M. , Halgren, E. , Chauvel, P. (1999). Intracranial ERPs in humans during a lateralized visual oddball task: I. Occipital and peri-Rolandic recordings. Clinical Neurophysiology, 110, 1210– 1225 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Coles, M.G.H. (1989). Modern mind-brain reading: Psychophysiology, physiology, and cognition. Psychophysiology, 26, 251– 269 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • De Jong, R. , Wierda, M. , Mulder, G. , Mulder, L.J.M. (1988). Use of partial information in responding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14, 682– 692 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • De Jong, R. , Liang, C. , Lauber, E. (1994). Conditional and unconditional automaticity: A dual-process model of effects of spatial stimulus-response correspondence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 20, 731– 750 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Eimer, M. (1996). The N2pc component as an indicator of attentional selectivity. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 99, 225– 234 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Falkenstein, M. , Hohnsbein, J. , Hoormann, J. (1994). Time pressure effects on late components of the event-related potential (ERP). Journal of Psychophysiology, 8, 22– 30 . First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Frith, C.D. , Done, D.J. (1986). Routes to action in reaction time tasks. Psychological Research, 48, 169– 177 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gaillard, A.W.K. (1977). The late CNV: Preparation versus expectancy. Psychophysiology, 14, 563– 568 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gaillard, A.W.K. , Van Beijsterveldt, C.E.M. (1991). Slow brain potentials elicited by a cue signal. Journal of Psychophysiology, 5, 337– 348 . First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Gratton, G. , Coles, M.G.H. , Sirevaag, E.J. , Eriksen, C.W. , Donchin, E. (1988). Pre- and post-stimulus activation of response channels: A psychophysiological analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14, 331– 344 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Henderson, L. , Dittrich, W.H. (1998). Preparing to react in the absence of uncertainty: I. New perspectives on simple reaction time. British Journal of Psychology, 89, 531– 554 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hommel, B. (1994). Spontaneous decay of response code activation. Psychological Research, 56, 261– 268 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ilan, A.B. , Miller, J.O. (1998). On the temporal relations between memory scanning and response preparation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 1501– 1520 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ilan, A.B. , Miller, J.O. (1999). A distinction between the initiation and the continuation of response preparation. Psychophysiology, 36, 209– 219 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jaśkowski, P. , Rybarczyk, K. , Jaroszyk, F. , Lemañski, D. (1995). The effect of stimulus intensity on force output in simple reaction time task in human. Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis, 55, 57– 64 . First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jaśkowski, P. , Van der Lubbe, R.H.J. , Wauschkuhn, B. , Wascher, E. , Verleger, R. (2000). The influence of time pressure and motor preparation on response force in an S1-S2 paradigm. Acta Psychologica, 105, 89– 105 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jaśkowski, P. , Verleger, R. , Wascher, E. (1994). Response force and reaction time in a simple reaction task under time pressure. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 202, 405– 413 . First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kornblum, S. , Hasbroucq, T. , Osman, A. (1990). Dimensional overlap: Cognitive basis for stimulus-response compatibility - A model and taxonomy. Psychological Review, 97, 253– 270 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kutas, M. , McCarthy, G. , Donchin, E. (1977). Augmenting mental chronometry: The P300 as a measure of stimulus evaluation time. Science, 197, 792– 795 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Leuthold, H. , Sommer, W. , Ulrich, R. (1996). Partial advance information and response preparation: Inferences from the lateralized readiness potential. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 125, 307– 323 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Low, K.A. , Miller, J.O. (1999). The usefulness of partial information: Effects of go probability in the choice/nogo task. Psychophysiology, 36, 288– 297 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Luck, S.J. , Girelli, M. , McDermott, M.T. , Ford, M.A. (1997). Bridging the gap between monkey neurophysiology and human perception: An ambiguity resolution theory of visual selective attention. Cognitive Psychology, 33, 64– 87 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Luck, S.J. , Hillyard, S.A. (1994). Electrophysiological correlates of feature analysis during visual search. Psychophysiology, 31, 291– 308 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Meyer, D.E. , Irwin, D.E. , Osman, A.M. , Kounios, J. (1988a). The dynamics of cognition and action: Mental processes inferred from speed-accuracy decomposition. Psychological Review, 95, 183– 237 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Meyer, D.E. , Osman, A.M. , Irwin, D.E. , Yantis, S. (1988b). Modern mental chronometry. Biological Psychology, 26, 3– 67 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Miller, J.O. (1988). A warning about median reaction time. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14, 539– 543 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Miller, J. , Franz, V. , Ulrich, R. (1999). Effects of auditory stimulus intensity on response force in simple go/no-go and choice RT tasks. Perception and Psychophysics, 61, 107– 119 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Miller, J.O. , Patterson, T. , Ulrich, R. (1998). Jackknife-based method for measuring LRP onset latency differences. Psychophysiology, 35, 99– 115 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Oostenveld, R. , Praamstra, P. , Stegeman, D.F. , Van Oosterom, A. (2001). Overlap of attention and movement-related activity in lateralized event-related brain potentials. Clinical Neurophysiology, 112, 477– 484 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Osman, A.M. , Lou, L. , Müller-Gethmann, H. , Rinkenauer, G. , Mattes, S. , Ulrich, R. (2000). Mechanisms of speed-accuracy tradeoff: Evidence from covert motor processes. Biological Psychology, 51, 173– 199 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Osman, A.M. , Moore, C.M. (1993). The locus of dual-task interference: Psychological refractory effects on movement-related brain potentials. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 19, 1292– 1312 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Pachella, R.G. (1974). The interpretation of reaction time in information-processing research. In B. Kantowitz (Ed.), Human information processing: Tutorials in performance and cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum . First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Pfefferbaum, A. , Ford, J.M. , Johnson, R. , Wenegrat, B.G. , Koppel, B.S. (1984). Manipulation of P3 latency: Speed vs. accuracy instructions. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 55, 188– 197 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Pivik, R.T. , Broughton, R.J. , Coppola, R. , Davidson, R.J. , Fox, N , Nuwer, M.R. (1993). Guidelines for the recording and quantitative analysis of electroencephalographic activity in research contexts. Psychophysiology, 30, 547– 558 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Praamstra, P. , Stegeman, D.F. , Horstink, M.W.I.M. , Cools, A.R. (1996). Dipole source analysis suggests selective modulation of the supplementary motor area contribution of the readiness potential. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 98, 468– 477 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Reed, A.V. (1976). List length and the time course of recognition in immediate memory. Memory and Cognition, 4, 16– 30 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Roelfsema, P.R. , Engel, A.K. , König, P. , Singer, W. (1997). Visuomotor integration is associated with zero time-lag synchronization among cortical areas. Nature, 385, 157– 161 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Shedden, J.M. , Nordgaard, C.L. (2001). ERP time course of perceptual and post-perceptual mechanisms of spatial selection. Cognitive Brain Research, 11, 59– 75 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Simon, J.R. , Acosta, E. , Mewaldt, S.P. , Speidel, C.R. (1976). The effect of an irrelevant directional precue on choice reaction time: Duration of the phenomenon and its relation to stages of processing. Perception & Psychophysics, 19, 16– 22 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Strayer, D.L. , Wickens, C.D. , Braune, R. (1987). Adult age differences in the speed and capacity of information processing: 2. An electrophysiological approach. Psychology and Aging, 2, 99– 110 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ulrich, R. , Rinkenauer, G. , Miller, J. (1998). Effects of stimulus duration and intensity on simple reaction time and response force. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 915– 928 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Valle-Inclán, F. (1996). The locus of interference in the Simon effect: an ERP study. Biological Psychology, 43, 147– 162 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Van der Lubbe, R.H.J. , Wauschkuhn, B. , Wascher, E. , Niehoff, T. , Kömpf, D. , Verleger, R. (2000). Lateralization with direction information for the preparation of saccades and finger movements. Experimental Brain Research, 132, 163– 178 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Van der Lubbe, R.H.J , Woestenburg, J.C. (1999). The influence of peripheral cues on the tendency to react toward a lateral relevant stimulus with multiple-item arrays. Biological Psychology, 51, 1– 21 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Van der Lubbe, R.H.J. , Woestenburg, J.C. (2000). Location selection in the visual domain. Psychophysiology, 37, 662– 676 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Van Galen, G.P. , Van Huygevoort, M. (2000). Error, stress and the role of neuromotor noise in space oriented behavior. Biological Psychology, 51, 151– 171 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Verleger, R. (1997). On the utility of P3 latency as an index of mental chronometry. Psychophysiology, 34, 131– 156 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Verleger, R. , Gasser, T. , Möcks, J. (1982). Correction for EOG artifacts in event related potentials of the EEG: Aspects of reliability and validity. Psychophysiology, 19, 472– 480 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Verleger, R. , Wauschkuhn, B. , Van der Lubbe, R.H.J. , Jaśkowski, P. , Trillenberg, P. (2000). Posterior and anterior contribution of hand-movement preparation to late CNV. Journal of Psychophysiology, 14, 69– 86 . First citation in articleLinkGoogle Scholar

  • Wascher, E. , Wauschkuhn, B. (1996). The interaction of stimulus- and response-related processes measured by event-related lateralizations of the EEG. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 99, 149– 162 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wascher, E. , Schatz, U. , Kuder, T. , Verleger, R. (2001). Validity and boundary conditions of automatic response activation in the Simon task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 731– 751 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wauschkuhn, B. , Verleger, R. , Wascher, E. , Klostermann, W. , Burk, M. , Heide, W. , Kömpf, D. (1998). Lateralized human cortical activity for shifting visuospatial attention and initiating saccades. Journal of Neurophysiology, 80, 2900– 2910 . First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Wickelgren, W.A. (1977). Speed-accuracy tradeoff and information processing dynamics. Acta Psychologica, 41, 67– 85 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Wijers, A.A. , Lange, J.J. , Mulder, G. , Mulder, L.J.M. (1997). An ERP study of visual spatial attention and letter target detection for isoluminant and nonisoluminant stimuli. Psychophysiology, 34, 553– 565 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Woodman, G.F. , Luck, S.J. (1999). Electrophysiological measurement of rapid shifts of attention during visual search. Nature, 400, 867– 869 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Yellott, J.I. (1971). Correction for fast-guessing and the speed-accuracy tradeoff in choice reaction time. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 8, 159– 199 . First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar