Data from: The pupillary orienting response predicts adaptive behavioral adjustment after errors

Reaction time (RT) is commonly observed to slow down after an error. This post-error slowing (PES) has been thought to arise from the strategic adoption of a more cautious response mode following deployment of cognitive control. Recently, an alternative account has suggested that PES results from interference due to an error-evoked orienting response. We investigated whether error-related orienting may in fact be a pre-cursor to adaptive post-error behavioral adjustment when the orienting response resolves before subsequent trial onset. We measured pupil dilation, a prototypical measure of autonomic orienting, during performance of a choice RT task with long inter-stimulus intervals, and found that the trial-by-trial magnitude of the error-evoked pupil response positively predicted both PES magnitude and the likelihood that the following response would be correct. These combined findings suggest that the magnitude of the error-related orienting response predicts an adaptive change of response strategy following errors, and thereby promote a reconciliation of the orienting and adaptive control accounts of PES.

反应时（reaction time, RT）已被广泛观测到会在错误发生后出现减慢。这种错误后减慢（post-error slowing, PES）此前学界普遍认为源于认知控制（cognitive control）启动后，个体策略性地采用更为谨慎的反应模式。近期有研究提出了另一理论解释视角，认为PES源于错误引发的定向反应所带来的干扰。我们开展此项研究，旨在探究当定向反应在后续试次开始前得以平复时，与错误相关的定向反应是否实则为适应性错误后行为调整的前兆。本研究在一项刺激间间隔（inter-stimulus intervals）较长的选择反应时任务中，测量了作为自主定向反应典型指标的瞳孔扩张（pupil dilation）情况。结果发现，逐试次的错误诱发瞳孔反应幅值能够正向预测PES幅值以及后续试次反应正确的概率。上述综合实验结果表明，与错误相关的定向反应幅值可预测错误发生后反应策略的适应性调整，从而为PES的定向解释与适应性控制解释的整合统一提供了实证支撑。