13:30 - 15:00
Mon-HS2-Talk II-
Mon-Talk II-
Room: HS2
Chair/s:
Philip Schmalbrock, Silvia Selimi, Elena Benini
Humans have to coordinate many different inputs to generate a goal-directed output. Although it seems trivial that we can execute most actions in our everyday life effortlessly - it is not. Several independent processes merge to produce seemingly trivial looking actions. In research on human action control, the processes of binding and retrieval have received increased interest in recent years. In this context, a unified account emerged that strives to specify binding and retrieval in action control (BRAC) over a range of related experimental phenomena and paradigms (Frings et al., 2020). In the first symposium, we take a broad look at research that demonstrates the far reach of action control. The interconnection between learning and action control processes is investigated in two talks regarding performance feedback and associative learning. The following talk is concerned with the role of action control in the auditory domain, specifically in music. The talk after this presents findings on the role of binding and retrieval processes in the context of task switching. The final talk looks at the neural correlates of action control. The contributions presented in both symposia underline the diversity of the research areas investigating human action control and highlight the prominent role of binding and retrieval processes for moving forward in understanding goal-directed human action.
Do affective consequences modulate stimulus response binding and retrieval? Evidence from a free choice task
Mon-HS2-Talk II-02
Presented by: Juhi Parmar
Juhi Parmar, Klaus Rothermund
Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena
In this experiment, we aim to study the relationship between stimulus-response binding and retrieval (SRBR) – a fundamental mechanism driving behaviour automatization – and instrumental learning. We use a free-choice task to demonstrate probabilistic rule learning of color-response relations through positive and negative feedback that is related to monetary incentives (instrumental learning). In the very same experiment, we also investigate the modulatory role of affective consequences on SRBR effects. These latter effects are assessed with a sequential prime-probe design, using an orthogonal variation of Response relation (colour repetition vs change) by Distractor relation (word repetition vs change). To investigate the relation between SRBR and rule learning, we test whether there is a standard SRBR effect, whether it is modulated by the feedback received on the previous trial, and whether the strength of these effects correspond to the general learning effect. Results are discussed with regard to their implications for theories of learning and habit formation.
Keywords: stimulus-response binding and retrieval, affective consequences, instrumental learning, feedback, cognition, action planning, episodic memory