Multiple sources of conflict in the flanker task: Flanker interference can be decomposed into cumulative components.

This article aims to clarify the effects of conflicts on the task performance of supervisory boards in education. Management studies on conflicts on corporate boards sometimes find a positive effect and sometimes a negative effect on the performance of boards. These mixed findings are considered a result of the triggering of harmful personal conflicts through disagreements about process and content within boards. In order to gain more insight into the complex ways in which conflicts influence the effectiveness of supervisory boards in education, a multidimensional operationalisation of conflict has been designed, in which three different types of conflict – task, process and relationship conflict – are distinguished. Chairs of the executive boards of schools in the Netherlands (N = 300) were questioned via a survey on various conflict dimensions and their supervisory board’s task performance. The results of hierarchical regression analyses underscore the need for a multidimensional approach to conflicts on supervisory boards in education. Task conflict has a positive effect and relationship conflict a negative effect, while process conflict seems to have no significant effect on supervisory board effectiveness. Furthermore, task conflicts have a mitigating, rather than a triggering, effect on relationship conflicts. Supervisory boards in education should therefore not avoid substantive discussions on the differences of opinion among their members to be more effective.

Neutral affordances: Task conflict in the affordances task

Attentional control of task and response in lateral and medial frontal cortex: Brain activity and reaction time distributions

The classic Stroop task, during which one names the ink color of color words, has long been used as a measure of selective attention (Stroop, 1935). Selective attention generally refers to our ability to attend to one stimulus (a target) while ignoring another (a distractor). Since its initial creation, many variations of the classic Stroop task have been developed. One of these variations is cross-modal Stroop, which uses visual colored targets and auditory distractor color words. However, whether the same mechanisms and processes are used while completing the two tasks has yet to be determined. The following thesis examined cross-modal Stroop and the theories that have been developed in an attempt to explain the classic Stroop findings. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, different colored visual stimuli were used (e.g. color squares and @ symbols) to determine whether this had any impact on task performance. A row of X’s induced significantly less interference, suggesting that they serve as an excellent neutral stimulus. In Experiment 2, the response times and accuracy levels for repeating auditory color words and visual colored items were examined with or without accompanying distractors. Although the classic Stroop task displays a very clear asymmetry between word reading and color naming, this asymmetry was not found for cross-modal Stroop. This finding suggests that the same processes and mechanisms may not be involved when completing cross-modal Stroop as classic Stroop, and furthermore, that some of the theories are better at explaining the cross-modal Stroop effect than others.

Despite instructions to ignore the irrelevant word in the Stroop task, it robustly influences the time it takes to identify the color, leading to performance decrements (interference) or enhancements (facilitation). The present review addresses two questions: (1) What levels of processing contribute to Stroop effects; and (2) Where does attentional selection occur? The methods that are used in the Stroop literature to measure the candidate varieties of interference and facilitation are critically evaluated and the processing levels that contribute to Stroop effects are discussed. It is concluded that the literature does not provide clear evidence for a distinction between conflicting and facilitating representations at phonological, semantic and response levels (together referred to as informational conflict), because the methods do not currently permit their isolated measurement. In contrast, it is argued that the evidence for task conflict as being distinct from informational conflict is strong and, thus, that there are at least two loci of attentional selection in the Stroop task. Evidence suggests that task conflict occurs earlier, has a different developmental trajectory and is independently controlled which supports the notion of a separate mechanism of attentional selection. The modifying effects of response modes and evidence for Stroop effects at the level of response execution are also discussed. It is argued that multiple studies claiming to have distinguished response and semantic conflict have not done so unambiguously and that models of Stroop task performance need to be modified to more effectively account for the loci of Stroop effects.

Researchers have recently begun to question the specificity and reliability of conflict adaptation effects, also known as sequential congruency effects (SCEs), a highly cited effect in cognitive psychology. Some have even used the lack of reliability across tasks (e.g., Flanker, and Stroop) to argue against models of cognitive control that have dominated the field for decades. The present study tested the possibility that domain-general processes across tasks might appear on more sensitive mouse-tracking metrics rather than overall reaction times. The relationship between SCE effects on the Stroop and Flanker tasks were examined for the first time using a mouse-tracking paradigm. Three main findings emerged: (1) Robust SCEs were observed for both the Stroop and Flanker tasks at the group level, (2) Within-task split-half reliabilities for the SCE across dependent variables were weak at best and non-existent in many cases, and (3) SCEs for the Flanker and Stroop tasks did not correlate with each other for overall reaction times, but did show significant correlations between tasks on more dynamic measures that captured processes before response execution. These findings contribute to the literature by highlighting how mouse-tracking may be a fruitful avenue by which future studies can examine the specificity and reliability of conflict adaptation and tease apart different theoretical models producing the effects.

The congruency sequence effect (CSE), or Gratton effect, describes diminished congruency effects (i.e., faster responses for <<<<< vs. <<><< stimuli in a flanker task) on trials following an incongruent trial compared to those following a congruent trial. Traditionally, the CSE is regarded as an index of conflict adaptation. Accounts of the CSE have typically emphasized either top-down (cognitive control) or bottom-up (associative) processes. To disentangle top-down and bottom-up contributions to the CSE, we compared performance on versions of Simon and flanker tasks that control for memory and learning effects present in the standard versions of these tasks with the standard tasks. We analyzed the data using a recently developed model that explains conflict effects in terms of attention-shifting dynamics, the revised diffusion model for conflict tasks. Our modeling analyses suggest the CSEs in both Simon tasks are mainly driven by across-trial changes in the way attention is loaded onto distractor information, consistent with top-down control. In contrast, for both flanker tasks, our model-based analysis does not provide clear evidence favoring either top-down or bottom-up contributions to the CSEs overall. Furthermore, we fit the standard version of these tasks while separately analyzing trials based on whether the response was repeated or alternated across successive trials. Model fits suggest a combination of both influences, with different patterns for congruent and incongruent trials. Performance benefits on congruent trials are driven by adjusting how attention is loaded onto distractor information based on the previous congruency types (i.e., top-down influence). However, on incongruent trials, asymmetrical repetition benefits are mainly due to faster memory retrieval (i.e., bottom-up influence) and reactive attentional control. Our findings highlight that a more nuanced and integrated theoretical framework is necessary to capture the interplay between top-down and bottom-up processes in explaining control mechanisms when analyzing different response sequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Very less work has been done in the past to assess cognition in hypothyroid patients using classical color-word Stroop task. The Stroop color-word task is a well-recognized tool which estimates cognitive inhibition. Stroop task is based on the fact that reading words and identifying color of written words are two different information and they process with a common response channel but with different speeds. The aim of this study was to assess the cognitive inhibition process in drug-naive hypothyroid patients and their comparison with the same patients after the attainment of euthyroid status and also with euthyroid controls using classical color-word Stroop task. Materials and Methods: Thirty drug-naive newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients were study cases who underwent Stroop task once before initiating treatment and then after the attainment of euthyroid state. We performed the same test in euthyroid controls twice at an interval of 3 months for comparison purpose. Correlation analysis was also done for hypothyroidism and cognition. Results: The reaction time of Stroop task was decreased in all the three conditions of each block, i.e., neutral, incongruent, and congruent conditions after the attainment of euthyroid state, and the finding confirms posttreatment modulation of the attention processes in hypothyroid patients. Reaction time of Stroop task in hypothyroid patients was positively correlated with the serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels. Processing of color identification was suppressed than reading words in hypothyroid patients as evidenced by increased reaction time of Stroop task. This increase in reaction time can be reversed by earlier identification of drug-naive hypothyroid cases so that they can get timely treatment to restore their cognitive status. Conclusions: Stroop task scores are reduced in overt hypothyroid patients, but improve after thyroid replacement therapy.

The sequential congruency effect (SCE) is defined as the decrease in the congruency effect following incongruent trials compared to congruent trials. The effect of context repetition on the SCE was investigated in four experiments. In all the experiments, dynamic visual white noise was used as the contextual feature, and the number of congruent and incongruent trials was equal. In Experiments 1 and 2, by using eight-value Flanker and Stroop tasks, and excluding stimulus- and response-feature repetitions from the analysis, a SCE was observed in both context repetition and alternation conditions. In Experiment 3, using a two-value Flanker task, all trials consisted of stimulus- and response-feature repetitions, and a SCE was only observed in the context repetition condition. In Experiment 4, we used a four-value Flanker task, which enabled half of the trials to be partial/complete repetitions and the other half to be complete alternations. A SCE was observed in both context repetition and alternation conditions irrespective of the stimulus- and response-feature repetitions. This pattern of results suggested that the effects of context repetition on the SCE are subject to a number of factors including stimulus- and response-feature repetitions and contingency biases. When contingency information exists, the presence of stimulus- and response-feature repetitions was no longer effective in yielding effects of context repetition on the SCE. These findings suggest that the usage of information registered in episodic event representations including stimulus-, response- and contextual-features, control parameters and contingency biases results from interactions of a complex pattern of mechanisms, yet to be further explored.

The Stroop task is a central experimental paradigm used to probe cognitive control by measuring the ability of participants to selectively attend to task-relevant information and inhibit automatic task-irrelevant responses. Research has revealed variability in both experimental manipulations and individual differences. Here, we focus on a particular source of Stroop variability, the reverse-facilitation (RF; faster responses to nonword neutral stimuli than to congruent stimuli), which has recently been suggested as a signature of task conflict. We first review the literature that shows RF variability in the Stroop task, both with regard to experimental manipulations and to individual differences. We suggest that task conflict variability can be understood as resulting from the degree of proactive control that subjects recruit in advance of the Stroop stimulus. When the proactive control is high, task conflict does not arise (or is resolved very quickly), resulting in regular Stroop facilitation. When proactive control is low, task conflict emerges, leading to a slow-down in congruent and incongruent (but not in neutral) trials and thus to Stroop RF. To support this suggestion, we present a computational model of the Stroop task, which includes the resolution of task conflict and its modulation by proactive control. Results show that our model (a) accounts for the variability in Stroop-RF reported in the experimental literature, and (b) solves a challenge to previous Stroop models-their ability to account for reaction time distributional properties. Finally, we discuss theoretical implications to Stroop measures and control deficits observed in some psychopathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record

집단 내 갈등연구는 갈등의 유형을 과업갈등과 관계갈등으로 분리하여 집단성과에 미치는 서로 다른 영향에 초점을 맞추었지만, 대다수의 선행연구는 관계갈등뿐만 아니라 과업갈등도 집단성과에 부(-)적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 보고하고 있다. 또한 과업갈등과 관계갈등 사이에서 관찰되는 밀접한 정(+)의 상관 관계로 두 갈등 유형간의 전이효과에 대한 연구의 필요성이 제기되고 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 크게 두 가지로 나눌 수 있다. 첫째, 집단 내 갈등유형 간의 전이과정을 약화시킬 수 있는 집단 내 전반적 공정성 풍토의 조절역할을 살펴보고, 둘째, 집단 구성원들이 지각하는 전반적 공정성 풍토가 과업갈등이 집단성과에 긍정적인 영향을 이끌어 낼 수 있는 하나의 상황 조건인지를 검증하였다. 이를 위해, 83개 작업 집단을 대상으로 설문 자료를 수집하였다. 조절회귀분석 결과, 관계갈등과 과업갈등 간의 관계에 전반적 공정성 풍토의 조절효과가 유의미하게 나타났다. 전반적 공정성 풍토가 낮을 때, 관계갈등과 과업갈등 사이에 정(+)의 상관관계가 강하게 나타났지만, 전반적 공정성 풍토가 높을 때, 두 갈등 유형간의 상관관계는 많이 약화되었다. 또한 과업갈등과 집단성과 간의 관계에 대한 전반적 공정성 풍토의 조절효과도 유의미하게 나타났다. 전반적 공정성 풍토가 낮게 지각 될 때, 과업갈등은 집단성과에 부(-)의 효과가 강하게 나타났지만, 전반적 공정성 풍토가 높게 지각될 때, 집단성과에 대한 과업갈등의 부(-)의 효과는 더 이상 나타나지 않았다

Previous research shows that women outperform men in the classic Stroop task, but it is not known why this difference occurs. There are currently two main hypotheses: (1) women have enhanced verbal abilities, and (2) women show greater inhibition. In two Stroop experiments, we examined the Inhibition hypothesis by adopting a procedure, often used in visual cognition paradigms, that induces a particular inhibitory component. So-called Negative Priming occurs when a distracting non-target stimulus on one trial becomes the target on the following trial. Results from our experiments showed that the degree to which this type of inhibition occurs within the Stroop effect is no different for men and women. This was the case irrespective of whether participants made a vocal response (Experiment 1; n = 64, 32 men and 32 women) or a manual response (Experiment 2; n = 64, 32 men and 32 women). These results do not therefore support the Inhibition hypothesis. We additionally review findings from a range of paradigms that can be seen as indexing the different components required for the Stroop task (e.g., distractor suppression). This review suggests that the sex effect is due to superior color naming ability in women.

BackgroundThere is great interest in appropriate phenotypes that serve as indicator of genetically transmitted frontal (dys)function, such as ADHD. Here we investigate the ability to deal with response conflict, and we ask to what extent performance variation on response interference tasks is caused by genetic variation. We tested a large sample of 12-year old monozygotic and dizygotic twins on two well-known and closely related response interference tasks; the color Stroop task and the Eriksen flanker task. Using structural equation modelling we assessed the heritability of several performance indices derived from those tasks.ResultsIn the Stroop task we found high heritabilities of overall reaction time and – more important – Stroop interference (h2 = nearly 50 %). In contrast, we found little evidence of heritability on flanker performance. For both tasks no effects of sex on performance variation were found.ConclusionsThese results suggest that normal variation in Stroop performance is influenced by underlying genetic variation. Given that Stroop performance is often hampered not only in people suffering from frontal dysfunction, but also in their unaffected relatives, we conclude that this variable may constitute a suitable endophenotype for future genetic studies. We discuss several reasons for the absence of genetic effects on the flanker task.

Oil palm–community conflict mapping in Indonesia: A case for better community liaison in planning for development initiatives

In common parlance the term ‘conflict’ connotes a dispute in which two or more parties are involved who are seeking to pursue goals that are (or, are perceived to be) incompatible by resorting to violence, if necessary. Defined in this sense, a conflict situation implies use of physical violence. However, of the three different types of conflicts – ‘fights’, ‘games’ and ‘debates’ – not all involve physical violence. Since conflicts are endemic to human societies, it is not possible to eliminate them altogether. Nor are all conflicts zero-sum games where one party achieves its goal by totally defeating/eliminating the other. Attempts should, therefore, be made to understand the roots of conflict so that the intensity of conflicts may be reduced through a policy of ‘conflict management’ of conflicts thus paving the way for their final resolution. In contemporary international relations most of the protracted conflicts are not binary; a key to their understanding may be provided by the concept of ‘Conflict Clusters’ having multiple dimensions, making their resolution that much more difficult. An attempt has been made here to analyse the root causes of three protracted conflicts in South Asia and to suggest ways and means of resolving the same.