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The dynamics of cognitive control: Evidence for within‐trial conflict adaptation from frequency‐tagged EEG
Author(s) -
Scherbaum Stefan,
Fischer Rico,
Dshemuchadse Maja,
Goschke Thomas
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01137.x
Subject(s) - psychology , electroencephalography , cognition , adaptation (eye) , cognitive psychology , dynamics (music) , control (management) , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science , pedagogy
A central topic in the cognitive sciences is how cognitive control is adapted flexibly to changing task demands. Conflict monitoring theory originally proposed conflict triggered adjustments of cognitive control after a conflict trial to improve subsequent performance. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that readjustments of cognitive control occur continuously within a conflict trial itself. Using frequency tagged electroencephalogram in a flanker task, we traced the allocation of attention to target and distracter stimuli. We found evidence for a conflict‐triggered within‐trial contrast enhancement dissociating target and distracters. This contrast enhancement vanished for consecutive trials with constant tagging frequencies, indicating that trial‐to‐trial conflict adaptation effects may, at least partly, be the product of interacting processes serving conflict resolution within trials.