Вызывает ли имплицитная конкуренция ответов эффекты последействия?

Introduction. Information is often ambiguous. Several theories suggest that the resolution of ambiguity involves an implicit selection of solution options, the result of which manifests itself in long-term negative and/or positive after-effects. However, in experimental studies, these effects are often mixed, leading to interpretations of the results. This study aims to identify and distinguish these effects. Methods. In this study a within-subject design was used. A total of 56 volunteers (21 males, 35 females; mean age: 25, SD = 5.8) took part in the study. In the first stage, the participants completed unambiguous and ambiguous fragmented word combinations. In the second stage, the participants completed fragmented nouns, some of which appeared in the first stage and some were alternatives not selected in the first stage of completion. Results. In the first stage of the experiment, ambiguous stimuli were completed slower and with more errors (ambiguity disadvantage effect). In the second stage, presentation of the same nouns resulted in the positive priming effect for both ambiguous and non-ambiguous stimuli. Positive and negative after-effects of resolving implicit competition have not been identified. Discussion. The results obtained can be explained by the fact that the implicit response competition has no long-term aftereffects. Another explanation is that the second stage uses tasks that do not require semantic processing and that the word is retrieved by a low-level letter processing before aftereffects of a previous choice appear. Conclusion. Experimental data may support theories that consider only the short-term aftereffects of implicit competition. However, additional verification of the results is required using a task involving the semantic level of information processing.