Cognitive load modulates motor interference effect

A three-factor within-subjects design was adopted, orthogonally manipulating the following independent variables: (1) interfering stimulus valence and arousal (labeled as dangerousness in the dataset), with three levels: dangerous high-arousal, dangerous medium-arousal, and neutral low-arousal; (2) cognitive load (labeled as load), with two levels: high and low; and (3) response type (labeled as gonogo), with two levels: Go and NoGo.

The formal task consisted of two blocks corresponding to the high and low cognitive load conditions, with 144 trials per block. Each block comprised 3 levels of interfering stimulus danger and arousal × 2 levels of response type (Go/NoGo) × 24 repetitions. Prior to the formal experiment, participants completed 9 practice trials for each block to familiarize themselves with the task requirements.