Perception-action coupling in choice reaction time tasks

This study investigates choice reaction time latencies in three kinds of stimulus-response ensembles. That is, using a four-choice reaction time task, three different types of responses (i.e., a pointing, finger-lift, or vocal response), were mapped onto the same spatial stimuli. Results show that reaction time of the more natural (i.e., affordance compatible) pointing response is more than 100 ms shorter than that of the more artificial finger and vocal responses. More critically, however, finger and vocal responses show striking serial position effects while latency of the pointing response is independent of target position. This latter outcome is interpreted as being consistent with the view that the specific nature of the stimulus-response relationship may determine whether an intermediate, stimulus-response translation, stage is needed to link perception and action, or that it is bypassed, allowing direct perception-action routines to guide performance. This interpretation is compatible with the idea that the information-processing and the ecological frameworks are not mutually exclusive but complementary in that they address different kinds of perception-action phenomena.