An electromyographic investigation of the effect of stimulus-response mapping on choice reaction time.

The activity of the agonist muscles was recorded during the performance of a two-choice visual reaction time (RT) task in which the compatibility of the stimulus-response mapping was manipulated. Correct trials were distinguished according to whether or not the activation of the agonist of the required response was preceded by an activation of the agonist of the nonrequired response. Double activation trials were more numerous for the incompatible than for the compatible mapping. Furthermore, these trials yielded longer RTs than the single muscular activation trials. These results suggest that initial activations of nonrequired responses are more frequently aborted and corrected when the mapping is incompatible than when it is compatible. This finding supports the dimensional overlap model of stimulus-response compatibility (S. Kornblum, T. Hasbroucq, & A. Osman, 1990).