Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Word- and arrow-based Simon effects emerge for eccentrically presented location words and arrows

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Psychological Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Two experiments examined whether the location-based Simon effect and word- or arrow-based Simon effects, and their interaction, emerge in the same task situations by presenting location words 左 and 右 (left and right, Experiment 1) or single-headed arrows (left and right pointing, Experiment 2) in the left–right visual field. These tasks include two attributes of task-irrelevant location information, physical location and either location word (Experiment 1) or arrow direction (Experiment 2), when they vary jointly for a single stimulus. Moreover, the location-based Simon effect in these tasks was compared to that obtained in a pure location-based Simon task. Results showed that (1) the location-, word- and arrow-based Simon effects occurred on both mean RT and delta plots; (2) the word- and arrow-based Simon effects interacted with the location-based Simon effect on mean RT; (3) the Simon effect in the pure location-based Simon task differed little from the location-based Simon effect in the two joint Simon tasks. These results indicate that different task-irrelevant spatial attributes can influence responses in the same task, and that one of them can influence the effect of the other on responses. This latter result offers evidence that the different attributes do not provide separate sources of activation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ansorge, U., & Wühr, P. (2004). A response-discrimination account of the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 30, 365–377.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baroni, G., Pellicano, A., Lugli, L., Nicoletti, R., & Proctor, R. W. (2012). Influence of temporal overlap on time course of the Simon effect. Experimental Psychology, 59, 88–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bundesen, C. (1991). A theory of visual attention. Psychological Review, 97, 523–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, R. H. S. (1988). Movements of the eyes. London, UK: Pion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. D., Dunbar, K., & McClelland, J. L. (1990). On the control of automatic processes: A parallel distributed processing account of the Stroop effect. Psychological Review, 97, 332–361.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coles, M. G., Gratton, G., Bashore, T. R., Eriksen, C. W., & Donchin, E. (1985). A psychophysiological investigation of the continuous flow model of human information processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 11, 529–553.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Houwer, J., Beckers, T., Vandorpe, S., & Custers, R. (2005). Further evidence for the role of mode-independent short-term associations in spatial Simon effects. Perception & Psychophysics, 67, 659–666.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, R., Liang, C.-C., & Lauber, E. (1994). Conditional and unconditional automaticity: A dual-process model of effects of spatial stimulus-response correspondence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 20, 731–750.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, B. A., & Eriksen, C. W. (1974). Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task. Perception and Psychophysics, 16, 143–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, B. S., & Kingstone, A. (2006). Visual attention and the semantics of space: Beyond central and peripheral cues. Psychological Science, 17, 622–627.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hommel, B. (1993). The relationship between stimulus processing and response selection in the Simon task: Evidence for a temporal overlap. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 55, 280–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hommel, B. (1994). Spontaneous decay of response-code activation. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 56, 261–268.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hommel, B. (2011). The Simon effect as tool and heuristic. Acta Psychologica, 136, 189–202.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hommel, B. (2019). Theory of Event Coding (TEC) V2 0: Representing and controlling perception and action. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81, 2139–2154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornblum, S., Hasbroucq, T., & Osman, A. (1990). Dimensional overlap: Cognitive basis for stimulus-response compatibility—A model and taxonomy. Psychological Review, 97, 253–270.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, G. D. (1980). Attention and automaticity in Stroop and priming tasks: Theory and data. Cognitive Psychology, 12, 523–553.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, C.-H., & Proctor, R. W. (1995). The influence of irrelevant location information on performance: A review of the Simon and spatial Stroop effects. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2, 174–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, C.-H., & Proctor, R. W. (2001). Influence of irrelevant information on human performance: Effects of S-R association strength and relative timing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54, 95–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo, C., Lupiáñez, J., Funes, M. J., & Fu, X. (2010). Modulation of spatial Stroop by object-based attention but not by space-based attention. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 516–530.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, C., & Proctor, R. W. (2017). How different location modes influence responses in a Simon-like task. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 81, 1125–1134.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, C., & Proctor, R. W. (2018). The location-, word- and arrow-based Simon effects: An ex-Gaussian analysis. Memory & Cognition, 46, 497–506.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo, C., & Proctor, R. W. (2019a). How different direct association routes influence the indirect route in the same Simon-like task. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 83, 1733–1748.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, C., & Proctor, R. W. (2019b). Shared mechanisms underlying the location-, word- and arrow-based Simon effects. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01175-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, C., & Proctor, R. W. (2019c). The location-based Simon effect: Reliability of ex-Gaussian analysis. Memory & Cognition. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-019-00960-2.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mahani, M.-A. N., Bausenhart, K. M., Ahmadabadi, M. N., & Ulrich, R. (2019). Multimodal Simon effect: A multimodal extension of the diffusion model for conflict tasks. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience., 12, 507.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Memelink, J., & Hommel, B. (2013). Intentional weighting: A basic principle in cognitive control. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 77, 249–259.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, J., & Proctor, R. W. (2009). Reducing and restoring stimulus-response compatibility effects by decreasing the discriminability of location words. Acta Psychologica, 130, 95–102.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mittelstädt, V., & Miller, J. (2018). Redundancy gain in the Simon task: Does increasing relevant activation reduce the effect of irrelevant activation? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44, 1153–1167.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Notebaert, W., De Moor, W., Gevers, W., & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2007). New visuo-spatial associations by training verbo-spatial mappings in the first language. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 1183–1188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pellicano, A., Lugli, L., Baroni, G., & Nicoletti, R. (2009). The Simon effect with conventional signals: A time-course analysis. Experimental Psychology, 56, 219–227.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, R. W., Marble, J. G., & Vu, K.-P. L. (2000). Mixing incompatibly mapped location-relevant trials with location-irrelevant trials: Effects of stimulus mode on the reverse Simon effect. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 64, 11–24.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, R. W., Miles, J. D., & Baroni, G. (2011). Reaction time distribution analysis of spatial correspondence effects. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 242–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, R. W., & Vu, K.-P. L. (2006). Stimulus-response compatibility principles: Data, theory, and application. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, R. W., Yamaguchi, M., Zhang, Y., & Vu, K.-P. L. (2009). Influence of visual stimulus mode on transfer of acquired spatial associations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 434–445.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2002). Activation and suppression in conflict tasks: Empirical clarification through distributional analyses. In W. Prinz & B. Hommel (Eds.), Common mechanisms in perception and action. Attention and performance XIX (pp. 494–519). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

  • Simon, J. R. (1969). Reactions toward the source of stimulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 174–176.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stroop, J. R. (1935/1992). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–662 (reprinted in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 121, 15–23)

  • Tipper, S. P., Weaver, B., & Houghton, G. (1994). Behavioural goals determine inhibitory mechanisms of selective attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, 809–840.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich, R., Schröter, H., Leuthold, H., & Birngruber, T. (2015). Automatic and controlled stimulus processing in conflict tasks: Superimposed diffusion processes and delta functions. Cognitive Psychology, 78, 148–174.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vu, K. P. L., Ngo, T. K., Minakata, K., & Proctor, R. W. (2010). Shared spatial representations for physical locations and location words in bilinguals' primary language. Memory & Cognition, 38, 713–722.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wühr, P., & Ansorge, U. (2007). A Simon effect in memory retrieval: Evidence for the response-discrimination account. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 984–988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wühr, P., & Biebl, R. (2011). The role of working memory in spatial S-R correspondence effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37, 442–454.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi, M., & Proctor, R. W. (2012). Multidimensional vector model of stimulus–response compatibility. Psychological Review, 119, 272–303.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zorzi, M., & Umiltà, C. (1995). A computational model of the Simon effect. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 58, 193–205.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by grants from National Science Foundation of China (31470984).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China

    Chunming Luo

  2. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Robert W. Proctor

Authors
  1. Chunming Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert W. Proctor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chunming Luo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Ethical approval

Written consent was obtained from all participants prior to participation. The protocol was approved by the institutional review board (IRB) at the institute of psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Luo, C., Proctor, R.W. Word- and arrow-based Simon effects emerge for eccentrically presented location words and arrows. Psychological Research 85, 816–827 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01280-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01280-5

Search

Navigation