Supine body posture reduces cognitive conflict processing: Evidence from N450 Stroop interference

Abstract Previous research has revealed that a supine body posture, as compared to a sitting upright posture, decreases approach motivation and cognitive dissonance reduction. The present research was designed to test whether a supine body posture would decrease cognitive conflict processing, the process that occurs prior to cognitive dissonance reduction. Previous research using the Stroop task has found event‐related potentials (N450, error‐related negativity [ERN]) that are associated with cognitive conflict processing. In the current experiment, participants ( N = 35) completed a color‐naming Stroop task while sitting upright or supine (within‐subjects, counterbalanced). Results revealed that as compared to the upright posture, the supine posture reduced the N450 Stroop interference effect but not the ERN.