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Effects of a startle stimulus on response speed and inhibition in a go/no‐go task
Author(s) -
Washington Jessica R.,
Blumenthal Terry D.
Publication year - 2015
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/psyp.12400
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , psychology , prepulse inhibition , startle response , audiology , startle reaction , moro reflex , facilitation , neutral stimulus , go/no go , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , stimulus control , neuroscience , reflex , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , machine learning , computer science , nicotine
Two studies examined the interaction of an acoustic startle stimulus and visual go/no‐go task stimuli on startle reactivity and task performance. In the first study, an acoustic stimulus (50 ms, 100 dB noise) was presented alone or with a green (go) or red (no‐go) circle; in the second study, a prepulse (50 ms, 75 dB noise) was presented alone or 120 ms before the startle stimulus or circle. The startle stimulus speeded responses to the go stimuli and increased the covert false alarm rate in the no‐go condition (measured by EMG activity in the hand), although very few overt errors were made in the no‐go condition. Startle response magnitude was increased by a circle but decreased by a prepulse. The speeding of go responses caused by a startle stimulus was attenuated by the occurrence of a startle response, suggesting that an intense accessory stimulus can facilitate responding to an imperative stimulus, and that the startle response to that intense stimulus can interfere with that facilitation.