Stimulus Color Choice Increases Cognitive Control in a Flanker Task

Action Phases Theory (Gollwitzer, 1990) posits that intention formation triggers an action shielding mechanism that promotes goal attainment. This includes shielding against external conflicting distractors such as flankers. Following our predictions, participants who worked on a self-chosen (vs. assigned) Flanker task showed a reduced congruency effect indicating increased cognitive control.