The role of motor imagery in learning via instructions.

Learning via instructions and learning through physical practice are complementary pathways to obtain skilled performance. Whereas an initial task representation can be formed on the basis of instructions, physically practicing novel instructions leads to a shift in processing mode from controlled processing toward more automatic processing. This shift in processing mode is supposedly caused by the formation of a pragmatic task representation, which includes task parameters needed to attain skilled task execution. In between learning via instructions and physical practice, a third type of learning can be situated, motor imagery. Two experiments are reported that studied the extent to which motor imagery can enhance the application of novel instructions. A procedure was developed in which performance improvement after motor imagery could be measured for behavioral markers of processes underlying response selection (i.e., initiation time of a response sequence) and for behavioral markers of processes underlying movement execution (i.e., completion time of the response sequence). Our results suggest that whereas physical practice improves response selection and movement execution, motor imagery only improves response selection. We propose that motor imagery also leads to a shift in processing mode and to the formation of a pragmatic task representation, albeit a less detailed one as compared to the representation that is formed on the basis of physical practice.

Automatic effects of no-go instructions.

Previous research has indicated that stimulus-response mappings that have been instructed but never applied overtly before can lead to automatic response biases when they are irrelevant. In the present study, we investigated whether the same applies to no-go instructions, which relate a stimulus to a no-go response. The results of 2 experiments suggest that a no-go instruction that has never been practiced overtly before can automatically bias responding when it is irrelevant. In addition, the automatic effect of a no-go instruction was similar in size to the automatic effect of a go instruction. Finally, the automatic effect of an unpracticed no-go instruction tended to be larger than the automatic effect of an overtly practiced no-go instruction. We propose that (a) associations between a stimulus and the requirement to stop can be formed on the basis of instructions and without overt practice, (b) these associations may be functionally equivalent to associations formed on the basis of go instructions, and (c) overtly practiced no-go instructions and unpracticed no-go instructions are represented in different formats. (PsycINFO Database Record

Congruency effects on the basis of instructed response-effect contingencies.

Previous research indicated that stimulus-response congruency effects can be obtained in one task (the diagnostic task) on the basis of the instructed stimulus-response mappings of another task (the inducer task) and this without having executed the instructions of the inducer task once. A common interpretation of such finding is that instructed stimulus-response mappings are implemented into functional associations, which automatically trigger responses when being irrelevant and this without any practice. The present study investigated whether instruction-based congruency effects are also observed for a different type of instructions than instructed S-R mappings, namely instructed response-effect contingencies. In three experiments, instruction-based congruency effects were observed in the diagnostic task when the instructions of the inducer task specified response-effect contingencies. On the one hand, our results indicate that instruction-based congruency effects are not restricted to instructed S-R mappings. On the other hand, our results suggest that the representations that mediate these effects do not specify the nature of the relation between response and effect even though this relation was explicitly specified by the instructions.

Eliminating the Simon effect by instruction.

A growing body of research demonstrates that instructions can elicit automatic response activations. The results of the present study indicate that instruction-based response activations can also counteract automatic response activations based on long-term associations. To this end, we focused on the Simon effect, which is the observation that responding to a nonspatial feature of a stimulus (e.g., color) is faster and more accurate when the task-irrelevant stimulus position matches the spatial position of the correct response. The Simon effect can be eliminated or even reversed when combining a Simon task with an incompatible position task (e.g., press right for left stimuli; press left for right stimuli). The present study demonstrates that the Simon effect is eliminated even after presenting only the instructions of an incompatible position task, without participants having the opportunity to practice that task. Moderate practice of the incompatible task did not add anything to the effect of the instructions. Finally, the instructions of a compatible spatial stimulus-response task did not affect the Simon effect. The present results converge with previous findings indicating that the Simon effect is highly malleable and suggest that stimulus-response associations formed on the basis of instructions can counteract effects of long-term stimulus-response associations.

Automatic motor activation by mere instruction.

Previous behavioral studies have shown that instructions about stimulus-response (S-R) mappings can influence task performance even when these instructions are irrelevant for the current task. In the present study, we tested whether automatic effects of S-R instructions occur because the instructed stimuli automatically activate their corresponding responses. We registered the lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) that were evoked by the instructed stimuli while participants were performing a task for which those mappings were irrelevant. Instructed S-R mappings clearly affected task performance in electrophysiological and behavioral measures. The LRP was found to deflect in the direction of the response tendency that corresponded with the instructed S-R mapping. Early activation of the instructed response was observed but occurred predominantly on slow trials. In contrast, response conflict evoked by instructed S-R mappings did not modulate the N2 amplitude. The results strongly suggest that, like experienced S-R mappings, instructed S-R mappings can lead to automatic response activation, but possibly via a different route.