Dataset Information

Sex differences in implicit processing of allocentric relationships between objects and location in a Simon task.

ABSTRACT: Simon tasks reveal implicit processing conflicts that arise when the abstract coding of stimulus position is incongruent with coding for location of the output response. Participants were tested with two versions of a Simon task in a counterbalanced order to examine a potential female bias for attending to object characteristics versus object location. Both tasks used a triangle pointing to the left or right. A simple version presented the triangle in an inner or outer position relative to central fixation. A more complex version included a frame surrounding the inner-outer triangle presentation area in order to introduce additional visual elements for left/right visual processing. When the No Frame version was the first presented, there were no sex differences in the Simon effect in either version, which is consistent with results from other studies that did not provide feedback regarding accuracy. When the initial test was the Frame version, we observed a reverse Simon effect for incongruent triangles presented in the left inner position, with females faster than males to identify the incongruent condition versus the congruent (-59 vs -5 msec). In the No Frame condition that followed, females showed a carryover effect from the previous Frame condition, exhibiting positive Simon effects that were two fold larger than males for identifying incongruent stimuli presented in the left and right outer positions. Similar to previous Simon studies, females showed longer overall reaction times than males (~15%). The difference was not related to the Simon effect and is also found in other types of tasks involving early visual processing of objects with location. Based on sex differences in the Simon effect that emerged following initial experience of the triangle adjoining the frame, the present results support a female bias toward broader integration of objects within the context of location.

SUBMITTER: Mosso M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7375599 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sex differences in implicit processing of allocentric relationships between objects and location in a Simon task.

Mosso Matthew M Freudenberg Adam A McCracken Kristofer K McGivern Robert F RF

PloS one 20200722 7

Simon tasks reveal implicit processing conflicts that arise when the abstract coding of stimulus position is incongruent with coding for location of the output response. Participants were tested with two versions of a Simon task in a counterbalanced order to examine a potential female bias for attending to object characteristics versus object location. Both tasks used a triangle pointing to the left or right. A simple version presented the triangle in an inner or outer position relative to centr ...[more]

PMID: 32697771

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Project description:This paper presents an experimental study investigating artificial grammar learning in monolingual and bilingual children, with and without dyslexia, using an original methodology. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon task, in which the sequence of the stimuli was manipulated according to the rules of a simple Lindenmayer grammar (more specifically, a Fibonacci grammar). By ensuring that the subjects focused on the correct response execution at the motor stage in presence of congruent or incongruent visual stimuli, we could meet the two fundamental criteria for implicit learning: the absence of an intention to learn and the lack of awareness at the level of resulting knowledge. The participants of our studies were four groups of 10-year-old children: 30 Italian monolingual typically developing children, 30 bilingual typically developing children with Italian L2, 24 Italian monolingual dyslexic children, and 24 bilingual dyslexic children with Italian L2. Participants were administered the modified Simon task developed according to the rules of the Fibonacci grammar and tested with respect to the implicit learning of three regularities: (i) a red is followed by a blue, (ii) a sequence of two blues is followed by a red, and (iii) a blue can be followed either by a red or by a blue. Results clearly support the hypothesis that learning took place, since participants of all groups became increasingly sensitive to the structure of the input, implicitly learning the sequence of the trials and thus appropriately predicting the occurrence of the relevant items, as manifested by faster reaction times in predictable trials. Moreover, group differences were found, with bilinguals being overall faster than monolinguals and dyslexics less accurate than controls. Finally, an advantage of bilingualism in dyslexia was found, with bilingual dyslexics performing consistently better than monolingual dyslexics and, in some conditions, at the level of the two control groups. These results are taken to suggest that bilingualism should be supported also among linguistically impaired individuals.

Dataset Information

Sex differences in implicit processing of allocentric relationships between objects and location in a Simon task.

Publications

Sex differences in implicit processing of allocentric relationships between objects and location in a Simon task.

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