Effects of Monetary Incentives on Task Switching

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kleinsorge ◽  
Gerhard Rinkenauer
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
General Level ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Expectancy Effect ◽  
Reward Expectancy ◽  
Trial Basis

In two experiments, effects of incentives on task switching were investigated. Incentives were provided as a monetary bonus. In both experiments, the availability of a bonus varied on a trial-to-trial basis. The main difference between the experiments relates to the association of incentives to individual tasks. In Experiment 1, the association of incentives to individual tasks was fixed. Under these conditions, the effect of incentives was largely due to reward expectancy. Switch costs were reduced to statistical insignificance. This was true even with the task that was not associated with a bonus. In Experiment 2, there was a variable association of incentives to individual tasks. Under these conditions, the reward expectancy effect was bound to conditions with a well-established bonus-task association. In conditions in which the bonus-task association was not established in advance, enhanced performance of the bonus task was accompanied by performance decrements with the task that was not associated with a bonus. Reward expectancy affected mainly the general level of performance. The outcome of this study may also inform recently suggested neurobiological accounts about the temporal dynamics of reward processing.

A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

2013 ◽  
Vol 221 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Jost ◽  
Wouter De Baene ◽  
Iring Koch ◽  
Marcel Brass
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Task Set ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Set Switching ◽  
Controversial Topic ◽  
Cue Encoding ◽  
Cue Processing

The role of cue processing has become a controversial topic in research on cognitive control using task-switching procedures. Some authors suggested a priming account to explain switch costs as a form of encoding benefit when the cue from the previous trial is repeated and hence challenged theories that attribute task-switch costs to task-set (re)configuration. A rich body of empirical evidence has evolved that indeed shows that cue-encoding repetition priming is an important component in task switching. However, these studies also demonstrate that there are usually substantial “true” task-switch costs. Here, we review this behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence. Moreover, we describe alternative approaches to the explicit task-cuing procedure, such as the usage of transition cues or the task-span procedure. In addition, we address issues related to the type of cue, such as cue transparency. We also discuss methodological and theoretical implications and argue that the explicit task-cuing procedure is suitable to address issues of cognitive control and task-set switching.

The Flip Side of the Auditory Spatial Selection Benefit

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iring Koch ◽  
Vera Lawo
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Attention Shifting ◽  
Gender Selection ◽  
Spatial Selection ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Mixing Costs ◽  
Experimental Group

In cued auditory task switching, one of two dichotically presented number words, spoken by a female and a male, had to be judged according to its numerical magnitude. One experimental group selected targets by speaker gender and another group by ear of presentation. In mixed-task blocks, the target-defining feature (male/female vs. left/right) was cued prior to each trial, but in pure blocks it remained constant. Compared to selection by gender, selection by ear led to better performance in pure blocks than in mixed blocks, resulting in larger “global” mixing costs for ear-based selection. Selection by ear also led to larger “local” switch costs in mixed blocks, but this finding was partially mediated by differential cue-repetition benefits. Together, the data suggest that requirements of attention shifting diminish the auditory spatial selection benefit.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: When Two Actors Perform Different Tasks: Still No Evidence for Shared Task-Sets in Joint Task Switching

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110315
Author(s):  
Motonori Yamaguchi ◽  
Husnain H. Shah ◽  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
The Other ◽  
Shared Task ◽  
Joint Condition ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Task Sets ◽  
Rule Out

Two different variations of joint task switching led to different conclusions as to whether co-acting individuals share the same task-sets. The present study aimed at bridging this gap by replicating the version in which two actors performed two different tasks. Experiment 1 showed switch costs across two actors in a joint condition, which agreed with previous studies, but also yielded even larger switch costs in a solo condition, which contradicted the claim that actors represent an alternative task as their own when it is carried out by the co-actor but not when no one carries it out. Experiments 2 and 3 further examined switch costs in the solo condition with the aim to rule out possible influences of task instructions for and experiences with the other task that was not assigned to the actor. Before participants were instructed on the second of the two tasks, switch costs were still obtained without a co-actor when explicit task names (“COLOUR” and “SHAPE”) served as go/nogo signals (Experiment 2), but not when arbitrary symbols (“XXXX” and “​​​​”) served as go/nogo signals (Experiment 3). The results thus imply that switch costs depend on participants’ knowledge of task cues being assigned to two different tasks, but not on whether the other task is performed by a co-actor. These findings undermine the assumption that switch costs in the joint conditions reflect shared task-sets between co-actors in this procedure.

scholarly journals The effort-doors task: Examining the temporal dynamics of effort-based reward processing using ERPs

NeuroImage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 228 ◽  
pp. 117656
Author(s):  
Colin Bowyer ◽  
C.J. Brush ◽  
Hunter Threadgill ◽  
Eddie Harmon-Jones ◽  
Michael Treadway ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Reward Processing

scholarly journals Psychometric proprieties of a color-shape version of the switch task

Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (23 Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. S4.1-S4
Author(s):  
Veronik Sicard ◽  
Alexe Simard ◽  
Robert Davis Moore ◽  
Gabriel Lavoie ◽  
Dave Ellemberg
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Switch Cost ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
The Impact

The impact of concussions on an individual's cognitive functioning has become a growing health concern over the past several years; however, the search for sensitive tests persists. The task-switching paradigm is known to be sensitive to various medical conditions, including concussion. Accordingly, we developed 2 versions of the color-shape switch task. Three different costs are computed from the raw scores: global switch cost, which is thought to be a measure of global cognitive control; local switch cost, which is believed to be a measure of cognitive flexibility; and working memory cost. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric characteristics of these costs. An ANOVA revealed a main effect of sex on local latency switch cost, with females exhibiting longer latencies than males, p = 0.05. No main effect of sex was observed on any other switch costs. Moreover, no main effect of experimenter or version of the task was observed. Local switch cost was significantly correlated with trails 4 and 5 of the Comprehensive Trail Making Test (rs > 0.21, ps < 0.04). No other significant correlation between costs and established neuropsychological tests was observed, indicating low convergent validity. The intraclass correlation coefficient estimates ranged from 0.23 to 0.77, suggesting low-to-moderate 1-week test-retest reliability. Results indicated a low switch costs; convergent validity. Moreover, results show that the traditionally computed switch costs are less reliable than the primary outcomes (i.e., reaction time and accuracy). Researchers and clinicians should rely on primary variables from the task-switching paradigm rather than computing the traditional switch costs to increase the psychometric properties of the tasks which is critical to advances in theoretical models of executive functions and evaluations of clinical populations.

scholarly journals The effect of performing versus preparing a task on the subsequent switch cost

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Swainson ◽  
Laura Prosser ◽  
Kostadin Karavasilev ◽  
Aleksandra Romanczuk
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Limited Extent ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Task Preparation ◽  
Switching Models ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Behaviour occurs not as isolated incidents, but within an ongoing sequence of events. The task-switching paradigm provides a useful way to investigate the impact of different events upon subsequent performance. An implication of two-stage task-switching models is that preparing a task without performing it might affect task readiness only to a limited extent. However, recent research has surprisingly shown larger switch costs following preparation (“cue-only” trials) than following performance (“completed” trials). We set out to conduct a rigorous comparison of the size of switch costs following cue-only versus completed trials. In Experiments 1 and 2, we controlled the timing between critical trial events. This had the effect of roughly equating, but not reversing, the relative size of switch costs. In Experiment 3, we restructured the paradigm to equate the predictability of cue and target events. Switch costs following cue-only trials were now smaller than those following completed trials. These studies confirm that task preparation alone is sufficient to drive subsequent switch costs. They also indicate that task performance might increase the size of these costs, consistent with two-stage task-switching models. Switch costs appear to be affected by both the timing and predictability of trial events.

Cue-switch costs in task-switching: cue priming or control processes?

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Grange ◽  
George Houghton
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Switch Costs

scholarly journals Contrasting hierarchical and multiple-demand accounts of frontal lobe functional organisation during task-switching

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Daws ◽  
Eyal Soreq ◽  
Yuqi Li ◽  
Stefano Sandrone ◽  
Adam Hampshire
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Functional Organisation ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Switching Attention ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
And Task

AbstractThere is an unresolved discrepancy between popular hierarchical and multiple-demand perspectives on the functional organisation of the human frontal lobes. Here, we tested alternative predictions of these perspectives with a novel fMRI switching paradigm. Each trial involved switching attention between stimuli, but at different levels of difficulty and abstraction. As expected, increasing response times were evident when comparing low-level perceptual switching to more abstract dimension, rule and task-switching. However, there was no evidence of an abstraction hierarchy within the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Nor was there recruitment of additional anterior PFC regions under increased switching demand. Instead, switching activated a widespread network of frontoparietal and cerebellar regions. Critically, the activity within PFC sub-regions uniformly increased with behavioural switch costs. We propose that both perspectives have some validity, but neither is complete. Too many studies have reported dissociations within MD for this volume to be functionally uniform, and the recruitment of more anterior regions with increased general difficulty cannot explain those results. Conversely, whilst reproducible evidence for a hierarchical functional organisation has been reported, this cannot be explained in terms of abstraction of representation or reconfiguration per se, because those interpretations generalise poorly to other task contexts.

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