The Simon effect towards memorized locations: EEG support for the involvement of attention

Robert Henricus Johannes van der Lubbe

The Simon effect towards memorized locations: EEG support for the involvement of attention

Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

Abstract

About a decade ago it was shown that the Simon effect, the tendency to react towards the side of a stimulus when its location is irrelevant, also occurs when stimuli have to be retrieved from memory. Recently, it was proposed that spatial attention may be responsible for this effect as it might select the relevant object in spatial working memory. An experiment employing the electroencephalogram (EEG) was carried out in which a colored frame (blue, yellow, green, or red) indicated what colored stimulus, one out of four presented in separate quadrants, was the target. The frame occurred either before, simultaneously with, or after the stimuli. In the latter case, the stimuli were first masked and were no longer visible, implying that they had to be retrieved from memory. Simon effects were observed in all conditions, implying that responses were also faster when the side of the to-be-memorized stimulus and the required response side corresponded. Importantly, determination of a newly derived EEG measure, the lateralized power spectra (LPS) in this condition revealed increased ipsilateral occipitoparietal power at around 500 ms after frame onset in the alpha band, supporting the view that attention was directed towards the location of the to-be-memorized item.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 2013
Event	Neuronus 2013 IBRO & IRUN Neuroscience Forum, May 9-11th 2013, Krakow, Poland - Krakow, Poland Duration: 9 May 2013 → 11 May 2013

Conference

Conference	Neuronus 2013 IBRO & IRUN Neuroscience Forum, May 9-11th 2013, Krakow, Poland
Country	Poland
City	Krakow
Period	9/05/13 → 11/05/13

Keywords

IR-88008

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van der Lubbe, R. H. J. (2013). The Simon effect towards memorized locations: EEG support for the involvement of attention. Paper presented at Neuronus 2013 IBRO & IRUN Neuroscience Forum, May 9-11th 2013, Krakow, Poland, Krakow, Poland.

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abstract = "About a decade ago it was shown that the Simon effect, the tendency to react towards the side of a stimulus when its location is irrelevant, also occurs when stimuli have to be retrieved from memory. Recently, it was proposed that spatial attention may be responsible for this effect as it might select the relevant object in spatial working memory. An experiment employing the electroencephalogram (EEG) was carried out in which a colored frame (blue, yellow, green, or red) indicated what colored stimulus, one out of four presented in separate quadrants, was the target. The frame occurred either before, simultaneously with, or after the stimuli. In the latter case, the stimuli were first masked and were no longer visible, implying that they had to be retrieved from memory. Simon effects were observed in all conditions, implying that responses were also faster when the side of the to-be-memorized stimulus and the required response side corresponded. Importantly, determination of a newly derived EEG measure, the lateralized power spectra (LPS) in this condition revealed increased ipsilateral occipitoparietal power at around 500 ms after frame onset in the alpha band, supporting the view that attention was directed towards the location of the to-be-memorized item.",

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