Eitan Hemed, Shirel Bakbani-Elkayam, Andrei Teodorescu, Lilach Yona, Baruch Eitam
{"title":"Attention probes may inflate real effects and create pseudoeffects: A rerun and reassessment of Hemed et al. (2020).","authors":"Eitan Hemed, Shirel Bakbani-Elkayam, Andrei Teodorescu, Lilach Yona, Baruch Eitam","doi":"10.1037/xge0001779","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study documents the potential influence of attention probes in experimental paradigms by addressing their unintended effects on response time measurements. Attention probes, which are commonly used to assess participant engagement, may introduce task-switch costs that can confound experimental results. We show how probe-induced biases inflated findings related to reinforcement from sensorimotor predictability and generate a fictitious behavioral response to sensory prediction error. We show that by excluding task trials immediately after attention probes, these biases can be corrected. We validate this approach in two new experiments devoid of probes. The results confirm that response reinforcement from predictable action effects only accumulates as long as predictions hold. These findings challenge traditional (reward-based) reinforcement models by suggesting a distinct mechanism for reinforcement from sensorimotor predictability. The validated corrective method provides a practical tool for mitigating similar confounds in past and future studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":" ","pages":"2346-2360"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001779","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/6/9 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study documents the potential influence of attention probes in experimental paradigms by addressing their unintended effects on response time measurements. Attention probes, which are commonly used to assess participant engagement, may introduce task-switch costs that can confound experimental results. We show how probe-induced biases inflated findings related to reinforcement from sensorimotor predictability and generate a fictitious behavioral response to sensory prediction error. We show that by excluding task trials immediately after attention probes, these biases can be corrected. We validate this approach in two new experiments devoid of probes. The results confirm that response reinforcement from predictable action effects only accumulates as long as predictions hold. These findings challenge traditional (reward-based) reinforcement models by suggesting a distinct mechanism for reinforcement from sensorimotor predictability. The validated corrective method provides a practical tool for mitigating similar confounds in past and future studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Experimental Psychology: General publishes articles describing empirical work that bridges the traditional interests of two or more communities of psychology. The work may touch on issues dealt with in JEP: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, JEP: Human Perception and Performance, JEP: Animal Behavior Processes, or JEP: Applied, but may also concern issues in other subdisciplines of psychology, including social processes, developmental processes, psychopathology, neuroscience, or computational modeling. Articles in JEP: General may be longer than the usual journal publication if necessary, but shorter articles that bridge subdisciplines will also be considered.