Think of a stoplight. From top to bottom we have red, yellow, and then green. Imagine if the location of these colors were changed. Location of colors, from a big-picture perspective, may not matter as much. 

In this case having the order of the stoplight colors can help prevent accidents (when a spotlight changes from green to yellow, it tells the drivers to slow down). Because we have the spotlight colors in the order we have them today, we respond well, but if the order was changed (imagine green being at the top of the three colors) we'd probably be a bit confused. 

An Example of the Simon Effect

When someone responds to a stimulus because the location of the stimulus matches the location of the response, even if the location seems irrelevant.

Santa Clara University

- one study found that response inhibition had improved as it decreased false alarm rates and it had increased the processing of a stimulus that was focused on. 
- this study suggested that maybe taVNS might be effective during periods of higher cognitive demand. This was supported by another study which showed that the Simon effect increased during conflict-filled trials

Ridgewell's meta-analysis: Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Response inhibition

(No date/author) APA Dictionary of Psychology, Simon Effect. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/simon-effect.

APA Definition of the Simon Effect

When a participant incorrectly states that there is a signal present when the signal is in fact, absent.

What is a false alarm in psychology?

What is the Simon Effect in psychology?

- More than the difficulty level of a task.
- It is similar to the state of "flow".
- This type of demand is when someone is so engaged with what they are doing that they are able to find appropriate resources and they loose track of time.

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