Electrophysiological evidence for temporal overlap among contingent mental processes.

Miller, Jeff; Hackley, Steven A. · 1992 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1037//0096-3445.121.2.195

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Summary

This paper investigates the temporal dynamics of information transmission between contingent mental stages, specifically addressing whether perceptual analysis and motor preparation occur in strict succession or overlap in time. The authors evaluate three theoretical models: discrete transmission (stages are sequential), continuous transmission (stages overlap fully), and asynchronous discrete coding (transmission occurs in discrete pulses for separable stimulus attributes). To distinguish between these models, the study employs electrophysiological measures to determine if motor preparation can begin based on partial perceptual information before the full stimulus analysis is complete. The research utilizes the lateralized readiness potential (LRP), an EEG component reflecting hand-specific motor preparation, as a real-time index of response selection. The experimental design involves a choice reaction task where subjects respond to stimuli varying in shape (S vs. T) and size (large vs. small). Shape determines the responding hand, while size determines whether the response should be executed (go) or withheld (no-go). Experiment 1 validated that shape discrimination is significantly faster than size discrimination using backward recognition masking. Experiments 2 and 3 recorded LRPs during speeded reactions to assess if early shape information triggers motor preparation that is subsequently aborted on no-go trials when size information indicates withholding. Experiment 4 served as a control, using stimuli that varied only in size to test conditions where asynchronous discrete coding predicts no overlap. The results provide electrophysiological evidence for temporal overlap among contingent processes. In Experiments 2 and 3, significant LRPs were observed on no-go trials, indicating that subjects initiated motor preparation based on the rapidly discriminated shape attribute before the slower size analysis was complete. This preparation was aborted prior to movement execution once the size information signaled a no-go condition. These findings contradict fully discrete models, which require complete perceptual analysis before any motor preparation begins. Conversely, Experiment 4, where stimuli varied only in size, yielded no evidence of preliminary response preparation. This result contradicts fully continuous models but supports the asynchronous discrete coding model, which posits that transmission occurs in discrete steps for separable codes. The significance of these findings lies in refining cognitive models of information processing. The study demonstrates that communication between perceptual and motor stages is neither strictly discrete nor fully continuous. Instead, it supports an intermediate model where transmission is asynchronous and discrete for separable stimulus attributes. This implies that the cognitive system utilizes partial perceptual information to initiate motor preparation, optimizing speed when multiple distinct codes are available, but waits for complete analysis when attributes are integral or singular. These results constrain theoretical frameworks by showing that the nature of interstage transmission depends on the specific properties of the stimulus codes involved.

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• perceptual processing