Meiran Nachshon, Pereg Maayan, Kessler Yoav, Cole Michael W, Braver Todd S
Department of Psychology.
Department of Psychology, Washington University.
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2015 May;41(3):768-86. doi: 10.1037/xlm0000063. Epub 2014 Oct 20.
Humans are characterized by an especially highly developed ability to use instructions to prepare toward upcoming events; yet, it is unclear just how powerful instructions can be. Although prior work provides evidence that instructions can be sufficiently powerful to proactively program working memory to execute stimulus-response (S-R) translations, in a reflexlike fashion (intention-based reflexivity [IBR]), the results to date have been equivocal. To overcome this shortcoming, we developed, and tested in 4 studies, a novel paradigm (the NEXT paradigm) that isolates IBR effects even prior to first task execution. In each miniblock, participants received S-R mapping instructions for a new task. Prior to implementing this mapping, responses were required to advance through screens during a preparatory (NEXT) phase. When the NEXT response was incompatible with the instructed S-R mapping, interference (IBR effect) was observed. This NEXT compatibility effect and performance in the implementation (GO) trials barely changed when prior practice of a few trials was provided. Finally, a manipulation that encouraged preparation resulted in relatively durable NEXT compatibility effects (indicating durable preparatory efforts) coupled with improved GO performance (indicating the success of these efforts). Together, these findings establish IBR as a marker of instructed proactive control.
人类的特点是具有特别高度发达的能力，能够利用指令为即将到来的事件做准备；然而，指令究竟能有多强大尚不清楚。尽管先前的研究提供了证据，表明指令可以强大到足以主动对工作记忆进行编程，以反射般的方式执行刺激-反应（S-R）转换（基于意图的自反性[IBR]），但迄今为止的结果并不明确。为了克服这一缺点，我们开发了一种新的范式（NEXT范式），并在4项研究中进行了测试，该范式甚至在首次执行任务之前就能分离出IBR效应。在每个小模块中，参与者会收到针对新任务的S-R映射指令。在执行此映射之前，要求参与者在准备（NEXT）阶段通过屏幕进行响应。当NEXT响应与指示的S-R映射不兼容时，就会观察到干扰（IBR效应）。当提供几次试验的先前练习时，这种NEXT兼容性效应和执行（GO）试验中的表现几乎没有变化。最后，一种鼓励准备的操作导致了相对持久的NEXT兼容性效应（表明持久的准备努力），同时提高了GO表现（表明这些努力的成功）。总之，这些发现将IBR确立为指示性主动控制的一个标志。
