Reimer Christina B, Chen Zhang, Verbruggen Frederick
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
R Soc Open Sci. 2021 Oct 6;8(10):210762. doi: 10.1098/rsos.210762. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Rapidly executing novel instructions is a critical ability. However, it remains unclear whether longer preparation of novel instructions improves performance, and if so, whether this link is modulated by performance benefits and costs of preparation. Regarding the first question, we reanalysed previous data on novel instruction implementation and ran Experiment 1. Experiment 1 consisted of multiple mini-blocks, in which participants prepared four novel stimulus-response (S-R) mappings in a self-paced instruction phase. After participants indicated they were ready, one of the four stimuli was presented and they responded. The reanalysis and Experiment 1 showed that longer preparation indeed led to better performance. To examine if preparation was modulated when the benefits of preparation were reduced, we presented the correct response with the stimulus on some trials in Experiments 2 and 3. Preparation was shorter when the probability that the correct response was presented with the stimulus increased. In Experiment 4, we manipulated the costs of preparation by changing the S-R mappings between the instruction and execution phases on some trials. This had only limited effects on preparation time. In conclusion, self-paced preparation of novel instructions comes with performance benefits and costs, and participants adjust their preparation strategy to the task context.
快速执行新指令是一项关键能力。然而，目前尚不清楚对新指令进行更长时间的准备是否会提高表现，如果是，这种联系是否会受到准备的表现益处和成本的调节。关于第一个问题，我们重新分析了之前关于新指令执行的数据并进行了实验1。实验1由多个小模块组成，在这个过程中，参与者在一个自定节奏的指令阶段准备四个新的刺激-反应（S-R）映射。在参与者表示准备好之后，呈现四个刺激中的一个，然后他们做出反应。重新分析和实验1表明，更长时间的准备确实会带来更好的表现。为了研究当准备的益处减少时准备是否会受到调节，我们在实验2和实验3的一些试验中，将正确反应与刺激一起呈现。当正确反应与刺激一起呈现的概率增加时，准备时间会更短。在实验4中，我们通过在一些试验中改变指令阶段和执行阶段之间的S-R映射来操纵准备的成本。这对准备时间只有有限的影响。总之，对新指令进行自定节奏的准备会带来表现益处和成本，并且参与者会根据任务情境调整他们的准备策略。
