Adjustments of task-set control processes: Effect of task switch frequency on task-mixing and task-switching costs

Models vary in the extent to which language control processes are domain general. Those that posit that language control is at least partially domain general insist on an overlap between language control and executive control at the goal level. To further probe whether or not language control is domain general, we conducted the first event-related potential (ERP) study that directly compares language-switch costs, as an index of language control, and task-switch costs, as an index of executive control. The language switching and task switching methodology were identical, except that the former required switching between languages (English or Spanish) whereas the latter required switching between tasks (color naming or category naming). This design allowed us to directly compare control processes at the goal level (cue-locked ERPs) and at the task performance level (picture-locked ERPs). We found no significant differences in the switch-related cue-locked and picture-locked ERP patterns across the language and task switching paradigms. These results support models of domain-general language control.

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A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000125 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

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.

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No-go trials in task switching: effects on the task-set and task-space level

Psychological Research ◽

10.1007/s00426-021-01566-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Juliane Scheil ◽

Thomas Kleinsorge

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

The Other ◽

Specific Task ◽

Task Space ◽

Response Level ◽

Task Set ◽

Common Marker ◽

Task Sets ◽

And Task

AbstractA common marker for inhibition processes in task switching are n − 2 repetition costs. The present study aimed at elucidating effects of no-go trials on n − 2 repetition costs. In contrast to the previous studies, no-go trials were associated with only one of the three tasks in the present two experiments. High n − 2 repetition costs occurred if the no-go task had to be executed in trial n − 2, irrespective of whether a response had to be withheld or not. In contrast, no n − 2 repetition costs were visible if the other two tasks were relevant in n − 2. Whereas this n − 2 effect was unaffected by whether participants could reliably exclude a no-go trial or not, effects of no-gos in trial n were determined by this knowledge. The results differ from effects of no-go trials that are not bound to a specific task. It is assumed that the present no-go variation exerted its effect not on the response level, but on the level of task sets, resulting in enhanced salience of the no-go task that leads to higher activation and, as a consequence, to stronger inhibition. The dissociation of the effects on no-gos in trials n − 2 and n as a function of foreknowledge suggests that the balance between activation and inhibition is shifted not only for single trials and tasks, but for the whole task space.

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Current Task Activation Predicts General Effects of Advance Preparation in Task Switching

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.53.4.260 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 260-267 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Edita Poljac ◽

Ab de Haan ◽

Gerard P. van Galen

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Task Switching ◽

Shape Matching ◽

Response Times ◽

Error Rates ◽

Matching Task ◽

Task Switch ◽

Current Task ◽

Within Subjects ◽

And Task

Two experiments investigated the way that beforehand preparation influences general task execution in reaction-time matching tasks. Response times (RTs) and error rates were measured for switching and nonswitching conditions in a color- and shape-matching task. The task blocks could repeat (task repetition) or alternate (task switch), and the preparation interval (PI) was manipulated within-subjects (Experiment 1) and between-subjects (Experiment 2). The study illustrated a comparable general task performance after a long PI for both experiments, within and between PI manipulations. After a short PI, however, the general task performance increased significantly for the between-subjects manipulation of the PI. Furthermore, both experiments demonstrated an analogous preparation effect for both task switching and task repetitions. Next, a consistent switch cost throughout the whole run of trials and a within-run slowing effect were observed in both experiments. Altogether, the present study implies that the effects of the advance preparation go beyond the first trials and confirms different points of the activation approach ( Altmann, 2002) to task switching.

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Investigating task and modality switching costs using bimodal stimuli

Seeing and Perceiving ◽

10.1163/187847612x646451 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 25 (0) ◽

pp. 22

Author(s):

Raj Sandhu ◽

Ben Dyson

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

Visual Stimulus ◽

Switching Costs ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Task Type ◽

Task Repetition ◽

Specific Combination ◽

Task Change ◽

Modality Switching ◽

And Task

Investigations of concurrent task and modality switching effects have to date been studied under conditions of uni-modal stimulus presentation. As such, it is difficult to directly compare resultant task and modality switching effects, as the stimuli afford both tasks on each trial, but only one modality. The current study investigated task and modality switching using bi-modal stimulus presentation under various cue conditions: task and modality (double cue), either task or modality (single cue) or no cue. Participants responded to either the identity or the position of an audio–visual stimulus. Switching effects were defined as staying within a modality/task (repetition) or switching into a modality/task (change) from trial n − 1 to trial n, with analysis performed on trial n data. While task and modality switching costs were sub-additive across all conditions replicating previous data, modality switching effects were dependent on the modality being attended, and task switching effects were dependent on the task being performed. Specifically, visual responding and position responding revealed significant costs associated with modality and task switching, while auditory responding and identity responding revealed significant gains associated with modality and task switching. The effects interacted further, revealing that costs and gains associated with task and modality switching varying with the specific combination of modality and task type. The current study reconciles previous data by suggesting that efficiently processed modality/task information benefits from repetition while less efficiently processed information benefits from change due to less interference of preferred processing across consecutive trials.

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Age-related differences in task switching and task preparation: Exploring the role of task-set competition

Acta Psychologica ◽

10.1016/j.actpsy.2016.06.008 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 170 ◽

pp. 66-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Patricia Hirsch ◽

Tina Schwarzkopp ◽

Mathieu Declerck ◽

Stefanie Reese ◽

Iring Koch

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

Task Set ◽

Task Preparation ◽

Age Related ◽

And Task

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How Task Set and Task Switching Modulate Perceptual Processes: Is Recognition of Facial Emotion an Exception?

Journal of Cognition ◽

10.5334/joc.179 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Heike Elchlepp ◽

Stephen Monsell ◽

Aureliu Lavric

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

Facial Emotion ◽

Task Set ◽

And Task

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Task set formation: Switching to a completely novel task enhances task-switching costs

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e520592012-213 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Michael W. Cole ◽

Todd S. Braver

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

Switching Costs ◽

Task Set

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Task Switching and Novelty Processing Activate a Common Neural Network for Cognitive Control

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2006.18.10.1734 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 18 (10) ◽

pp. 1734-1748 ◽

Cited By ~ 138

Author(s):

Francisco Barcelo ◽

Carles Escera ◽

Maria J. Corral ◽

Jose A. Periáñez

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Task Switching ◽

Response Selection ◽

Principal Component ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Task Switch ◽

Task Condition ◽

Novelty P3 ◽

Related Potentials ◽

And Task

The abrupt onset of a novel event captures attention away from, and disrupts, ongoing task performance. Less obvious is that intentional task switching compares with novelty-induced behavioral distraction. Here we explore the hypothesis that intentional task switching and attentional capture by a novel distracter both activate a common neural network involved in processing contextual novelty [Barcelo, F., Periáñez, J. A., & Knight, R. T. Think differently: A brain orienting response to task novelty. NeuroReport, 13, 1887–1892, 2002.]. Event-related potentials were recorded in two task-cueing paradigms while 16 subjects sorted cards following either two (color or shape; two-task condition) or three (color, shape, or number; three-task condition) rules of action. Each card was preceded by a familiar tone cueing the subject either to switch or to repeat the previous rule. Novel sound distracters were interspersed in one of two blocks of trials in each condition. Both novel sounds and task-switch cues impaired responses to the following visual target. Novel sounds elicited novelty P3 potentials with their usual peak latency and frontal-central scalp distribution. Familiar tonal switch cues in the three- and two-task conditions elicited brain potentials with a similar latency and morphology as the novelty P3, but with relatively smaller amplitudes over frontal scalp regions. Covariance and principal component analyses revealed a sustained frontal negative potential that was distorting concurrent novelty P3 activity to the tonal switch cues. When this frontal negativity was statistically removed, P3 potentials to novel sounds and task-switch cues showed similar scalp topographies. The degree of activation in the novelty P3 network seemed to be a function of the information (entropy) conveyed by the eliciting stimulus for response selection, over and above its relative novelty, probability of occurrence, task relevance, or feedback value. We conclude that novelty P3 reflects transient activation in a neural network involved in updating task set information for goal-directed action selection and might thus constitute one key element in a central bottleneck for attentional control.

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Minimal impact of consolidation on learned switch-readiness

10.31234/osf.io/5ewj6 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christina Bejjani ◽

Audrey Siqi-Liu ◽

Tobias Egner

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Task Switching ◽

Memory Consolidation ◽

Control Process ◽

Task Switch ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Task Set ◽

Minimal Impact ◽

Control Learning ◽

Frequent Switching

Adaptive behavior is characterized by our ability to create, maintain, and update (or switch) rules by which we categorize and respond to stimuli across changing contexts (cognitive flexibility). Recent research suggests that people can link the control process of task-switching to contextual cues through associative learning, whereby the behavioral cost of switching is reduced for contexts that require frequent switching. However, the conditions that govern such learned cognitive flexibility are poorly understood. One major unanswered question is whether this type of learning benefits from memory consolidation effects. To address this question, we manipulated whether task-sets and/or specific task stimuli were more frequently linked with task-switching (vs. repeating), and ran participants over two experimental sessions, separated by a twenty-four-hour delay. We expected that consolidation would facilitate learned cognitive flexibility, resulting in a greater reduction of switch costs with increasing task-switch likelihood on session 2 compared to session 1. Across two experiments, we observed robust learning of stimulus and task-set related cognitive flexibility in both sessions. However, we found little evidence for effects of consolidation on learned cognitive flexibility, as learned switch-readiness did not increase from session 1 to session 2 in either experiment. Taken together, our results suggest that people reliably and quickly acquire task-set and stimulus-based switch associations, but that this form of control learning – unlike many instances of reward-based learning – does not benefit from long-term memory consolidation. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.

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