Work

When forewarned is not forearmed: No evidence for cue-based proactive control in the spatial Stroop task.

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: It is commonly assumed that people can use advance cues to proactively prepare for conflict from distracting stimulus features, yet empirical findings remain inconsistent. We tested the hypothesis that nonarbitrary stimulus-response (S-R) mappings are a key determinant of cue effectiveness, as vocal Stroop tasks (with nonarbitrary color-naming responses) have shown reliable cue benefits, whereas manual Stroop tasks (with arbitrary key press responses) typically have not. Across five experiments, using a spatial Stroop task with nonarbitrary S-R mappings, we consistently found no evidence that participants used predictive cues to proactively resolve conflict on incongruent trials. Despite providing optimal preparation conditions (100% valid cues, 2,000 ms preparation time), cue benefits only emerged on congruent trials when task difficulty was increased substantially (50 ms stimulus presentation, Experiment 4), likely reflecting a strategic shortcut rather than enhanced proactive control. These findings demonstrate that nonarbitrary S-R mappings are not a sufficient condition for ensuring cue-based engagement of proactive control and challenge the assumption that this form of control is a readily deployable, domain-general mechanism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Source: Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance

DOI: 10.1037/xhp0001400

Authors: Changrun Huang, Tobias Egner

Institution: Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health

Award: G5286550586