Does level of cognitive load affect susceptibility?

Christian P. Janssen*, Iris Schutte, J. Leon Kenemans

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We compared how different levels of cognitive load affect frontal P3 (fP3) Event-Related Potential (ERP) to novel sounds. Previous studies demonstrated the predictive value of the probe-elicited frontal P3 (fP3) ERP for subsequent detection failures. They also demonstrated how fP3 is reduced when performing visual and/or manual and/or cognitively demanding tasks. These results are consistent with fP3 indexing orienting to novels or, more neutrally: susceptibility. Here, we tested how fP3 is affected by a threefold variation of cognitive load induced by the verb (generation) task. Participants heard a noun and either listened to it, repeated it, or generated a semantically related verb. These conditions were manipulated between groups. One group (N = 16) experienced the listen and repeat condition; the other group (N = 16) experienced the listen and generate condition. When fP3 was probed 0 or 200 ms after noun offset, it was reduced (relative to no noun) only while repeating or generating, not while listening. An additional probe-elicited ERP was identified as novelty-related negativity, and its contaminating influence on fP3 estimation accounted for by a novel vector-filter procedure. We conclude that cognitive load does not affect fP3-indexed susceptibility. Instead, fP3-indexed susceptibility is affected by presentation of the stimulus, with the most pronounced effect in conditions where a vocal response is needed (i.e., repeat or generate, but not listen), independent of the complexity of the response.

Original languageEnglish
Article number112443
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Psychophysiology
Volume205
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors

Keywords

  • Attention
  • Event related potential
  • Novel P3
  • Susceptibility
  • Verb task

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