Exploring indirect retrieval of stimulus-response bindings for merely associated stimuli
Mon-HS2-Talk III-03
Presented by: Mrudula Arunkumar
When a stimulus is paired with a response, a stimulus response binding (SRB) is formed. Subsequent stimulus repetition retrieves SRB from memory, which facilitates (impedes) performance when the same (different) response is required again. In this study, we explored whether indirect retrieval of SRB by an associated stimulus is possible. Participants first went through a learning task to acquire novel stimulus-stimulus associations. The same stimulus pairs were later presented in a prime-probe task to assess direct and indirect retrieval of SRB. Participants classified word color. Probe words were either identical to prime words (test for direct retrieval), or corresponded to the associated stimulus (test for indirect retrieval), or were unrelated words (baseline). Independently of word relation, response relation (repetition vs. change) across prime and probe trials was manipulated. In a highly powered study (N=130), we only obtained evidence for direct retrieval due to identical word repetition in the probe, whereas evidence for indirect retrieval due presentation of an associated word was absent. Controlling for participants who did not remember stimulus-stimulus associations did not alter the findings. Hence, our results show that indirect retrieval does not occur at the SRB level as the associated words do not show similar levels of costs/benefits due to response retrieval compared to identical word repetitions.
Keywords: Indirect retrieval, associations, stimulus-response bindings