OS_37. Perception and action
Sunday, October 02nd, 2011 [15:40 - 16:40]
TALKS
OS_37.1 - Action-effect blindness for response-related effects
Heinemann, A. 1 , Janczyk, M. 1 , Pfister, R. 1 , Thomaschke, R. 2 & Kiesel, A. 1
1 Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg
2 University of Regensburg
In the present study we investigated the perception of newly learned, arbitrary action effects. Participants associated two actions with two effects in a learning phase. In a test phase, preparing a specific action impaired the detection of the associated effect in a visual search display. Thus, our results suggest a blindness for intended action effects. The data is in line with the code-occupation hypothesis (Stoet & Hommel, 1999) which was put forth to explain a similar finding for effects whose identity is unrelated to the actions they follow (Müsseler & Hommel, 1997). Furthermore, our results indicate that action-effect blindness occurs on all stages of action control and corroborates its functional role for shielding the action-perception system against potentially conflicting stimuli.
OS_37.2 - Is ''Simon'' responsible for the social Simon effect?
Dittrich, K. , Rothe, A. & Klauer, C.
Department of Social Psychology and Methodology. University of Freiburg. Freiburg. Germany
In previous research, it has been demonstrated that spatial compatibility effects (SCE) are eliminated in Simon tasks when stimuli from only one response category are responded to in a single Go/NoGo condition, whereas SCE re-emerge when two participants work together in a joint Go/NoGo condition - the social Simon task. While most researchers explain the so-called social Simon effect with shared task representations, an alternative explanation is provided by the salience of the spatial dimension enhanced in the social Simon task. A first experiment intensified salience of the spatial dimension in single Go/NoGo conditions by using different response devices: Results showed larger SCE for participants responding with a joystick compared to a standard key-press condition indicating that even in single Go/NoGo conditions salience of the spatial dimension can induce SCE. The second experiment manipulated salience of spatial information by the compatibility of participants' seating alignment and spatial orientations of the stimuli in a social Simon task. Only the compatible condition but not the incompatible condition showed SCE. Overall, results suggest that the salience of spatial components can account for social Simon effects more parsimoniously.