Binding for graded errors
Wed-Main hall - Z2a-Poster 3-8701
Presented by: Anna Foerster
Ample evidence points to binding between features of acted-upon stimuli and of correct responses, both in correct as well as erroneous action episodes. These bindings offer short-cuts in acting because encountering the same stimulus again retrieves the bound response, facilitating its execution. Whether these short-cuts are effective on the level of categorical decision-making or whether they also involve metric properties of overt body movements is an open question. We therefore assessed whether binding and retrieval emerges also for continuous movements that come with graded errors. Participants swiped their left or right index finger from respective starting positions to a small target circle on a tablet. The color of the circle instructed which finger to use in each trial. One of two irrelevant sounds accompanied the presentation of the circle and we expected that their identity would be bound to response features. Replicating previous finding, indications for binding and retrieval involving this irrelevant stimulus feature only emerged in temporal variables of planning and execution. However, we did not observe direct evidence for binding of these features and continuous response features. Instead, the results strongly suggest that continuous response features, i.e., both the correct position of the target circle and the final swiping position, are bound to their effector (left vs. right index finger). The current study therefore demonstrates binding and retrieval of goal-related and experienced aspects of the response that shape action control proper beyond decision-making.
Keywords: action control, binding and retrieval, error processing