Information transmission for one-dimensional stimuli: The role of strategies

Pierfilippo De Sanctis, Werner Sommer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Important evidence about the information flow between perceptual and motor processes has been obtained from the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) recorded in two-choice go/nogo tasks. Here, we investigated the effect of time pressure on information transmission for one-dimensional stimuli (four squares differing in size). In between- and within-subject designs, respectively, Experiments 1 and 2 showed that under time pressure partial information initiates hand decision and response preparation before complete size information is available. These findings appear to be at odds with the asynchronous discrete coding model. Experiment 3 assessed the mechanisms behind these effects by manipulating the relative difficulty of extracting hand- and go/nogo-specific information from the size of the stimuli. Consistent with asynchronous coding, our results suggest that serial-consecutive processes in extracting partial and full size information may occur also for one-dimensional stimuli. Our data are inconclusive as to the question of discreteness or continuity of information transmission. On a more general level, our data support the notion of flexibility in the coding of perceptual dimensions to adapt performance to environmental conditions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)12-23
Number of pages12
JournalActa Psychologica
Volume131
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Event-related potential
  • Information transmission
  • Lateralized readiness potential
  • Strategy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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