Anticipated effect valence retrieves matching past responses but does not modulate stimulus-response binding.

Abstract

In two preregistered experiments (total n = 180), we investigated how the valence of experienced and anticipated action effects influences episodic binding and retrieval effects. Participants responded to the colour of words, and responses were followed by a positive or negative audio-visual effect that was already announced by a cue at the beginning of each trial. Dissecting all trials into prime-probe dyads revealed that the anticipated effect valence in the probe retrieved prime responses that had previously produced an effect of the same valence. Not only the bottom-up perception of the valence cue, but also the anticipation of an effect valence contributed to this retrieval. A repetition of the word identity (distractor) also led to retrieval of the prime response (but not of the effect valence). Distractor-response retrieval effects, however, were (a) not enhanced when having experienced a positive effect after a previous prime response, (b) not enhanced when anticipating a positive probe effect, and (c) not consistently enhanced when anticipating an effect matching the one of the to-be retrieved response, indicating that binding and retrieval operate independently of affective consequences. Our findings align with the idea of binary bindings between distractors and responses, as well as between responses and effect valences.