Individual Differences in Conflict-monitoring: Testing Means and Covariance Hypothesis About the Simon and the Eriksen Flanker Task

Overview

Journal Psychol Res

Specialty Psychology

Date 2008 Nov 27

PMID 19034502

Citations 29

Authors

Doris Keye

Oliver Wilhelm

Klaus Oberauer

Don van Ravenzwaaij

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Conflict and context slow-down have been proposed as indicators of a conflict-monitoring system that initiates cognitive control to resolve conflicts in information processing. We investigated individual differences in conflict-monitoring and their associations with working memory (WM) and impulsivity. A total of 150 adults completed a Simon and an Eriksen flanker task, together with measures of WM and impulsivity. On both tasks, responses were slower and less accurate on incompatible than on compatible trials (conflict effect), and the conflict effect was larger when the preceding trial was compatible than when it was incompatible (context effect). Stimulus repetition did not explain the context effect. Individual differences could be attributed to three separable factors for each task: general speeded performance, conflict effect, and context effect. Evidence for across-task generality of these factors was sparse. Associations of these factors with impulsivity were weak at best. WM was correlated with general speed, and also with some but not all factors reflecting conflict-related processes.

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