16:30 - 18:00
Parallel sessions 6
16:30 - 18:00
Room: HSZ - N1
Chair/s:
Maristella Lunardon
Everyone makes mistakes, and mistakes lead us to change the course of our action, either by stopping it or at least slowing it down, with an overall impact on subsequent decisions and behavior. Therefore, it is not surprising that human action control is governed by efficient cognitive mechanisms to monitor and regulate erroneous actions. But there is more to that. Errors not only trigger cognitive processes of monitoring and control. They are also associated with affective responses (often negative) that contribute to the chain of events initiated by the error. Moreover, although humans share basic functions for error processing, these functions may manifest differently across individuals, for example in relation to personality traits, and across contexts, such as in relation to task complexity and content.
The goal of this symposium is to provide a cross-cutting perspective on error processing research. By including contributions that use both behavioral and neurophysiological methods, the symposium seeks to bring together findings that shed light on various aspects of error processing.
The first talk examines the immediate effects of efficient error detection, which can lead to the cancellation of an ongoing erroneous action. The second talk explores the neural signatures of error processing and their links to outcomes not necessarily directly tied to mistakes. The third talk delves into individual differences, investigating how error processing relates to perfectionism. The fourth and fifth talks focus on error adjustment, offering insights respectively into affective mechanisms and into its contribution to arithmetic learning in developmental samples.
In conclusion, by providing a stage for diverse themes and methodologies in the study of error processing, this symposium set itself the task of promoting an exchange between different approaches and points of views.
Submission 546
Error Cancellation
SymposiumTalk-01
Presented by: Samuel Varga
Samuel VargaRoland Pfister
Experimental Psychology, Trier University, Germany
Human performance is inherently fallible, yet the cognitive system is equipped with robust mechanisms to detect and counteract errors. Traditionally, research has emphasized the role of error detection and post-error adjustments. More recent work highlights a complementary process: the immediate cancellation of erroneous actions in real time. Evidence from behavioural and electrophysiological studies suggests that error detection can feed directly into ongoing motor activity, terminating erroneous responses within the first 100 milliseconds of action initiation. This rapid intervention is reflected in shortened response durations and in neural signatures such as the error-related negativity (ERN), which may index not only passive detection but also active attempts to halt and correct ongoing behaviour. Together, these findings support a dual-process view of performance monitoring: one component dedicated to recognizing action slips, and another devoted to their swift cancellation. Understanding error cancellation has practical implications for high-stakes domains where even minor lapses can lead to serious consequences. By situating error cancellation alongside traditional accounts of error processing, this perspective underscores the importance of rapid, adaptive control mechanisms in safeguarding human performance.