Reaction times are shaped by global and local stimulus-response frequencies

Reaction times are shaped by global and local stimulus-response frequencies | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Reaction times are shaped by global and local stimulus-response frequencies Peter Wühr, Herbert Heuer This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6601228/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Responses to more frequent stimuli are faster and less error-prone than responses to less frequent stimuli. Here we show that responses to equally frequent stimulus colors, presented in left and right locations, exhibit an indirect relative-frequency effect when these stimulus colors are presented with different relative frequencies in upper and lower locations; the indirect relative-frequency effect is accompanied by modulated Simon effects and smaller than the direct effect. However, for the same stimulus locations the indirect effect disappears when the global relative frequencies of stimulus colors and thus responses are equated by presenting additional stimuli at the central location; under these conditions only a small direct effect remains for responses to stimulus colors in locations where they actually have different frequencies. Thus there is a strong global, location-independent effect of relative stimulus-response frequency, likely resulting from selective response preparation, and a weaker local, location-dependent effect, likely resulting from facilitated processing of the more frequent stimulus at a specific location. The findings imply that the effects of relative stimulus-response frequency are based on representations both of individual and integrated features of stimuli, responses, and context such as task-irrelevant stimulus locations. binding location specific coding Simon effect S-R frequency transfer Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6601228","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":460760053,"identity":"2cea2a23-5323-4017-a6e2-3c7c8cde0a86","order_by":0,"name":"Peter Wühr","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABA0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFADCQbGB0CKsQHCZWZgOIBLKTNcC7PBAbAWZuK1sEkQpcWcvf/g4wqGw4n90r3Pqj+2Mcj2S58/upl3hzUD3/EGrFosew4zG54Bapk557jZjYNtDMYz+5LZbvOeSWeQPIPdGoMbyWySDQy3EzfcSGMDavmfuOEMM1BL22GgVAJ2Lfcfs/8EadkP1FIAtAVJy/0HOGxhZmME2yKRxsaAquUGdu9b9iQbSzYY/DeecSONWeLMOaBfepjNbs5tS+eRPIPdYebsBx9+bKhIk+2fkcb4oaIMGGI8jM9uvG2zluM7jsP7SCQq4MHuLOyKR8EoGAWjYBSgAgBl1GLRfZmliAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"TU Dortmund University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Peter","middleName":"","lastName":"Wühr","suffix":""},{"id":460760057,"identity":"72db51f5-20bc-427c-bb4d-9530eb49a4ef","order_by":1,"name":"Herbert Heuer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Herbert","middleName":"","lastName":"Heuer","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-06 09:23:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6601228/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6601228/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":94472464,"identity":"5411c6be-1623-4695-b1fd-b9059a4710c4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 15:41:49","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":446502,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"WuehrHeuerSRfrequencyms.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6601228/v1_covered_24f1c5b1-cbf3-45dd-afe9-751149bbf555.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Reaction times are shaped by global and local stimulus-response frequencies","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"binding, location specific coding, Simon effect, S-R frequency, transfer","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6601228/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6601228/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eResponses to more frequent stimuli are faster and less error-prone than responses to less frequent stimuli. 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