Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the joint Simon effect is composed of facilitation and interference and whether facilitation is increased by a joint spatially compatible practice performed before performing the joint Simon task. In both experiments, participants were required to perform a Simon task along another person. Trials could be corresponding, non-corresponding, and neutral. In Experiment 1, participants performed only the Simon task. In Experiment 2, participants first practiced on a joint spatial compatibility task with a compatible mapping and, after a 5-min delay, transferred to a joint Simon task. Results indicated that the joint Simon effect consisted primarily of interference, which was significantly increased by a spatially compatible practice performed jointly. These results allow us to better define in what ways the presence of the other influences performance, in showing that when participants perform a task along with another individual, they display a disadvantage (i.e., slower RTs) when they have to respond to stimuli appearing on the other agent’s side.
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Notes
Although the Simon effect does not usually emerge in go/no-go tasks, there are go/no-go versions in which a Simon effect was found (e.g., Ansorge and Wühr 2004, 2009; Callan et al. 1974; Hommel 1996; Shiu and Kornblum 1999). The tasks used in these studies represent, however, peculiar variants of the go/no-go Simon task. For instance, in Ansorge and Wühr’s study (2004) a Simon effect was observed when a two-choice task preceded the go/no-go Simon task. In this condition, it is possible that participants transferred stimulus–response rules from the two-choice task to the go/no-go task, hence providing the precondition for the emergence of the Simon effect in the go/no-go condition.
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We would like to thank Peter Wühr and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.
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Ferraro, L., Iani, C., Mariani, M. et al. Facilitation and interference components in the joint Simon task. Exp Brain Res 211, 337–343 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2711-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2711-2