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Stimulus and response conflict in the color–word Stroop task: a combined electro-myography and event-related potential study

Stimulus and response conflict in the color–word Stroop task: a combined electro-myography and event-related potential study
Stimulus and response conflict in the color–word Stroop task: a combined electro-myography and event-related potential study
We aimed to separate stimulus and response conflict in a manual color–word Stroop task by combining electro-myography (EMG) and event-related brain potentials (ERPs). EMG served as a measure of response conflict by detecting incorrect response hand activation in correctly responded trials. Response conflict was enhanced in both the incongruent and congruent conditions relative to neutral conditions. This suggests that the Stroop conflict (incongruent vs. congruent condition) could be explained by stimulus conflict in our study and that response conflict was not restricted to the incongruent condition of the Stroop task. Incorrect response activity was detected in a neutral condition using words but not in a neutral condition with non-words. This suggests that the mere presence of task-irrelevant stimuli semantically related to task-relevant stimuli can prime incorrect response activity. The above factors are important to consider in studies which do not have any explicit measure of response conflict. We have detected a robust marker of Stroop conflict, the N450 ERP effect, which has been related to ACC activity. The N450 was probably affected by stimulus conflict in our study and it may be a marker of general conflict processing.
conflict processing, anterior cingulate cortex, stroop effect, response competition, response interference, semantic word processing
0006-8993
63-76
Szűcs, Dénes
1020f888-a7ba-48b6-861a-42a7f6ff716c
Soltész, Fruzsina
cbc12e4b-9d6f-4c24-8203-47ae2bd8f470
Szűcs, Dénes
1020f888-a7ba-48b6-861a-42a7f6ff716c
Soltész, Fruzsina
cbc12e4b-9d6f-4c24-8203-47ae2bd8f470

Szűcs, Dénes and Soltész, Fruzsina (2010) Stimulus and response conflict in the color–word Stroop task: a combined electro-myography and event-related potential study. Brain Research, 1325, 63-76. (doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2010.02.011). (PMID:20153298)

Record type: Article

Abstract

We aimed to separate stimulus and response conflict in a manual color–word Stroop task by combining electro-myography (EMG) and event-related brain potentials (ERPs). EMG served as a measure of response conflict by detecting incorrect response hand activation in correctly responded trials. Response conflict was enhanced in both the incongruent and congruent conditions relative to neutral conditions. This suggests that the Stroop conflict (incongruent vs. congruent condition) could be explained by stimulus conflict in our study and that response conflict was not restricted to the incongruent condition of the Stroop task. Incorrect response activity was detected in a neutral condition using words but not in a neutral condition with non-words. This suggests that the mere presence of task-irrelevant stimuli semantically related to task-relevant stimuli can prime incorrect response activity. The above factors are important to consider in studies which do not have any explicit measure of response conflict. We have detected a robust marker of Stroop conflict, the N450 ERP effect, which has been related to ACC activity. The N450 was probably affected by stimulus conflict in our study and it may be a marker of general conflict processing.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 3 February 2010
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 February 2010
Published date: 14 April 2010
Keywords: conflict processing, anterior cingulate cortex, stroop effect, response competition, response interference, semantic word processing
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 375343
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375343
ISSN: 0006-8993
PURE UUID: 708f5794-e886-4ec8-87f6-1c5aa7e42377

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Date deposited: 01 Apr 2015 11:53
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:24

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Contributors

Author: Dénes Szűcs
Author: Fruzsina Soltész

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