Post-error slowing is associated with intelligence

There is considerable evidence showing that people slow down after making an error. The post-error slowing is typically interpreted as the result of adaptation processes raising response criteria in order to avoid future errors. Here we analyze performance results of a previous study examining the relation between intelligence and electrocortical concomitants of mental rotation. Participants performed a hybrid Choice/Go-NoGo task presenting stimuli upright or rotated (60, 120, or 180 degrees) in normal or mirror image. The results showed that low-ability participants responded slower overall and committed more errors—in particular on NoGo trials with 180 degrees rotated stimuli. We selected the error trials and 7 correct Go trials preceding the error trial and 3 correct Go trials following the error trial. The results showed considerable post-error slowing and revealed that this slowing was related to intelligence—low-ability participants showed greater slowing than high-ability participants. This finding was interpreted within the context of diffusion-modeling studies of post-error slowing and may suggest that the rate of evidence accumulation and, possibly, the setting of response thresholds on trials following an error is more vulnerable in low- relative to high-ability individuals.