Does body posture reduce the Stroop effect? Evidence from two conceptual replications and a meta-analysis

Straub, Elisa; Dames, Hannah; Kiesel, Andrea; Dignath, David

doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103497

Cited by 16 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Results from our experiments revealed that, in contrast to Smith et al, the postural interactions were quite limited in magnitude in addition to being only a fraction of the size of the original effects. Moreover, our results from Experiment 1 are consistent with two recent replications (Caron et al, 2020;Straub et al, 2022) which reported no meaningful influences of posture on the Stroop effect. In all, the current research provides further converging evidence that postural influences on cognition do not appear to be as robust as was initially reported in prior work.…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

“…Unfortunately, the Smith et al (2019) replication of Rosenbaum et al's (2017Rosenbaum et al's ( /2018 findings could not be replicated either (Experiment 2 in Straub et al, 2022). When Straub et al (2022) meta-analyzed effect sizes for 10 posture and Stroop effect experiments (Caron et al, 2020;Rosenbaum et al, 2017Rosenbaum et al, /2018Smith et al, 2019;Straub et al, 2022), they found a small overall effect size with a confidence interval crossing below the null (Cohen's d = 0.06, 95% CI [-0.04, 0.16]). The combination of these results raises questions about the relationship between posture and Stroop performance.…”

Section: The Influence Of Posture On Attentionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Since the introduction of "standing desks", otherwise known as active workstations (Torbeyns et al, 2014;MacEwen et al, 2015), there has been ongoing debate regarding whether standing can positively influence an individual's cognitive performance relative to sitting (Caron et al, 2020;Rosenbaum et al, 2017Rosenbaum et al, /2018Smith et al, 2019;Straub et al, 2022). Recent work on this topic finds its roots in the theoretical framework of embodied cognition, which maintains that cognitive processes are best understood in terms of contextualized interactions among the body, brain, and environment (Matheson & Barsalou, 2018).…”

Section: The Influence Of Posture On Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These findings led to a series of conceptual and direct replications with mixed results (e.g., Caron et al, 2020;Smith et al, 2019;and Straub et al, 2022). One group of researchers reported a successful replication demonstrating a large significant effect (Experiment 1 in Smith et al, 2019), while a series of multiple experiments conducted by others failed to find any meaningful effects (Experiments 1-5 in Caron et al, 2020;Experiment 1 in Straub et al, 2022).…”

Section: The Influence Of Posture On Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Influence of Posture on Attention

Caron¹,

Marusich²,

Bakdash³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Smith et al. (2019) found standing resulted in better performance than sitting in three different cognitive control paradigms: a Stroop Task, a task-switching, and a visual search paradigm. Here, we conducted close replications of the authors’ three experiments using larger sample sizes than the original work. Our sample sizes had essentially perfect power to detect the key postural effects reported by Smith et al. (2019). Results from our experiments revealed that, in contrast to Smith et al., the postural interactions were quite limited in magnitude in addition to being only a fraction of the size of the original effects. Moreover, our results from Experiment 1 are consistent with two recent replications (Caron et al., 2020; Straub et al., 2022) which reported no meaningful influences of posture on the Stroop effect. In all, the current research provides further converging evidence that postural influences on cognition do not appear to be as robust as was initially reported in prior work.

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supporting

confidence: 92%

Section: The Influence Of Posture On Attentionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: The Influence Of Posture On Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Influence Of Posture On Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Influence of Posture on Attention

Caron¹,

Marusich²,

Bakdash³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, adults have performed better on arithmetic tasks in a sitting posture than in a standing posture, whereas they performed better on memory tasks while walking ( 37 ). Regarding the function of attention, alertness ( 38 , 39 ), and to a lesser extent executive control ( 40 – 43 ), but not orienting ( 38 ), may be improved in a standing compared with a sitting posture. We also previously demonstrated that in TC of 6–7 years of age, standing may improve executive control compared with a sitting posture ( 32 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Influence of body mobility on attention networks in school-aged prematurely born children: A controlled trial

et al. 2022

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School-aged prematurely born children (PC) have a higher risk of academic difficulties, which may be partly explained by attention difficulties. It has been suggested that children’s attentional performance might be influenced by their body posture and spontaneous body motion. The aim of this study (ClinicalTrials.gov – NCT 03125447) was to test the influence of three body mobility conditions on the three functions of attention (alertness, orienting, and executive control) among school-aged PC vs. term-born children (TC). Notably, 21 PC and 21 TC performed the Attention Network Test for Children in three body mobility conditions, namely, sitting and standing imposed fixed postures and a free-to-move condition. The children’s median reaction times were compared between trials (1) with and without alerting cues, (2) with valid and invalid orienting cues, and (3) with and without distracting information, to calculate the performance of alertness, orienting, and executive control, respectively. Results showed that with distracting information, PC exhibited significantly slower responses in the standing-still posture than in the sitting-still posture (1,077 ± 240 vs. 1,175 ± 273 ms, p < 0.05), but not TC. No difference was observed with the free-to-move condition. PC and TC did not significantly differ in alertness or orienting, regardless of body mobility condition. These data suggest that PC must use executive resources to stand still and maintain position, which impairs their performance during executive tasks. We speculate that these results may be related to less developed postural control and motor inhibition in PC.

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Benefits associated with the standing position during visual search tasks

2022

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The literature on postural control highlights that task performance should be worse in challenging dual tasks than in a single task because the brain has limited attentional resources. Instead, in the context of visual tasks, we assumed that i) performance in a visual search task should be better when standing than when sitting and ii) when standing, postural control should be better when searching than performing the control task. 32 and 16 young adults participated in studies 1 and 2, respectively. They performed three visual tasks (searching to locate targets, free-viewing and fixating a stationary cross) displayed in small images (visual angle: 22°) either when standing or when sitting. Task performance, eye, head, upper back, lower back and center of pressure displacements were recorded. In both studies, task performance in searching was as good (and clearly not worse) when standing as when sitting. Sway magnitude was smaller during the search task (vs. other tasks) when standing but not when sitting. Hence, only when standing, postural control was adapted to perform the challenging search task. When exploring images, and especially so in the search task, participants rotated their head instead of their eyes as if they used an eye-centered strategy. Remarkably in Study 2, head rotation was greater when sitting than when standing. Overall, we consider that variability in postural control was not detrimental but instead useful to facilitate visual task performance. When sitting, this variability may be lacking, thus requiring compensatory movements.

show abstract

Does body posture reduce the Stroop effect? Evidence from two conceptual replications and a meta-analysis

Cited by 16 publications

References 43 publications

The Influence of Posture on Attention

The Influence of Posture on Attention

Influence of body mobility on attention networks in school-aged prematurely born children: A controlled trial

Benefits associated with the standing position during visual search tasks

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