Exploring the Functional Role of Post-Error Adjustments during a Flanker Task

After committing an error, people may slow down to avoid a subsequent error. This post-error adjustment, referred as slowing (PES), be indicative of adaptive compensation geared towards improving performance, and such, is sometimes coupled with improvement in accuracy (PIA). However, the co-occurrence these two phenomena has been inconsistent, leaving open questions whether PES serves functional purpose. Here, we first reanalyzed data from previous flanker study (N = 40) investigate adjustments co-occur improvements performance (functional) or not (non-functional) by comparing RT between post-correct trials. Furthermore, using task absent, congruent, incongruent distractors, can explore cognitive demand differences yield different effects on PIA. excluding poor performers, observed significant PIA effect, suggesting that were applied uniformly across conditions. this was accompanied PES, expected, but instead, marginally speeding. result provides evidence are distinct phenomena. alternative possibility lengthy cue period intertrial interval obscured our ability observe PES. We therefore conducted new, second experiment both durations reduced increase time pressure thus likelihood observing after Nonetheless, preliminary 16) produced similar speeding Experiment 1, additional interaction post-response condition condition: restricted absent- compatible-distractor trials undetected for incongruent-distractor In sum, suggest participants monitor errors make broad, functionally appropriate trial, do consistently necessitate slowing.