2.3.2 Flanker task
Two types of trials, congruent (i.e.,
>>>>> or
<<<<<) and incongruent (i.e.,
>><>> or
<<><<), were included in the
flanker task. As is typical in flanker-type tasks, participants were
instructed to decide whether the central arrow pointed to the left or
the right by responding with the āFā or āJā button on the keyboard.
Since we introduced picture-naming trials before flanker trials, the
response language and trial type of picture-naming were intermixed with
pseudorandom presentations of flanker trials (except for the voluntary
switching block).
There were 6 blocks, each of which included 114 cross-task trials (2
warm-up trials followed by 56 congruent trials and 56 incongruent
trials). The six blocks were divided into two natural blocks, two forced
blocks, and two voluntary blocks, with the ordering of blocks being
counterbalanced across participants. Trial sequences were randomized
throughout the task so that participants could not anticipate upcoming
trial types.
Figure 1. Procedure of the present study. Cross-task
trial structure (upper panel) and experimental design (lower panel).