Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Cogn Psychol. 2021 Mar;125:101378. doi: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2021.101378. Epub 2021 Jan 29.
In a warned reaction time task, the warning stimulus (S1) initiates a process of temporal preparation, which promotes a speeded response to the impending target stimulus (S2). According to the multiple trace theory of temporal preparation (MTP), participants learn the timing of S2 by storing a memory trace on each trial, which contains a temporal profile of the events on that trial. On each new trial, S1 serves as a retrieval cue that implicitly and associatively activates memory traces created on earlier trials, which jointly drive temporal preparation for S2. The idea that S1 assumes this role as a retrieval cue was tested across eight experiments, in which two different S1s were associated with two different distributions of S1-S2 intervals: one with predominantly short and one with predominantly long intervals. Experiments differed regarding the S1 features that made up a pair, ranging from highly distinct (e.g., tone and flash) to more similar (e.g., red and green flash) and verbal (i.e., "short" vs "long"). Exclusively for pairs of highly distinct S1s, the results showed that the S1 cue modified temporal preparation, even in participants who showed no awareness of the contingency. This cueing effect persisted in a subsequent transfer phase, in which the contingency between S1 and the timing of S2 was broken - a fact participants were informed of in advance. Together, these findings support the role of S1 as an implicit retrieval cue, consistent with MTP.
在警告反应时间任务中，警告刺激（S1）启动了时间准备过程，这促进了对即将到来的目标刺激（S2）的快速反应。根据时间准备的多重痕迹理论（MTP），参与者通过在每次试验中存储记忆痕迹来学习 S2 的时间，该记忆痕迹包含该试验上事件的时间分布。在每次新试验中，S1 充当检索线索，以隐含和联想的方式激活在早期试验中创建的记忆痕迹，这些记忆痕迹共同为 S2 的时间准备提供动力。S1 作为检索线索扮演这个角色的想法在八项实验中得到了检验，其中两个不同的 S1 与两个不同的 S1-S2 间隔分布相关联：一个主要是短间隔，另一个主要是长间隔。实验在构成一对的 S1 特征上有所不同，范围从高度不同（例如，音调和闪光）到更相似（例如，红色和绿色闪光）和言语（即“短”与“长”）。仅对于高度不同的 S1 对，结果表明 S1 线索改变了时间准备，即使在对该关联没有意识的参与者中也是如此。这种提示效应在后续的转移阶段中持续存在，在该阶段中，S1 和 S2 时间之间的关联被打破了——这是参与者事先被告知的事实。这些发现共同支持 S1 作为一种内隐检索线索的作用，与 MTP 一致。
