Does Acute Exercise Switch Off Switch Costs? A Study With Younger and Older Athletes

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 609-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Pesce ◽  
Michel Audiffren
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Acute Exercise ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Older Athletes ◽  
Cognitive Expertise ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigated the effects of acute exercise on 53 young (16–24 years) and 47 older (65–74 years) adults’ switch-task performance. Participants practiced sports requiring either low or high cognitive demands. Both at rest and during aerobic exercise, the participants performed two reaction time tasks that differed in the amount of executive control involved in switching between global and local target features of visual compound stimuli. Switch costs were computed as reaction time differences between switch and nonswitch trials. In the low demanding task, switch costs were sensitive only to age, whereas in the high demanding task, they were sensitive to acute exercise, age, and sport-related cognitive expertise. The results suggest that acute exercise enhances cognitive flexibility and facilitates complex switch-task performance. Both young age and habitual practice of cognitively challenging sports are associated with smaller switch costs, but neither age nor cognitive expertise seem to moderate the relationship between acute exercise and switch-task performance.

scholarly journals On the connection between language control and executive control - An ERP study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-47
Author(s):  
Mathieu Declerck ◽  
Gabriela Meade ◽  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Ardi Roelofs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Goal Level ◽  
Language Control ◽  
And Task

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.

The Relationship between Task Performance, Reaction Time, and Perceived Urgency in Nonverbal Auditory Warnings

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (22) ◽  
pp. 674-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Edworthy ◽  
Elizabeth Hellier ◽  
Kathryn Walters ◽  
Ben Weedon ◽  
Austin Adams
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Tracking Task ◽  
High Urgency ◽  
Addition Task ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Task

Two experiments are described in which participants were required to respond to auditory warnings known to vary in their perceived urgency. In the first, they simply responded to a warning of high, medium or low urgency whilst performing a simultaneous tracking task. Responses to the high urgency warning were faster than to the others. In the second experiment participants carried out an addition task on hearing the warning, and the warnings were either matched or mismatched to the difficulty of the task. Results show that responses to the most urgent warnings were again faster, and also that the degree of mismatching between warning and task degraded performance in some conditions.

scholarly journals Executive control and felt concentrative engagement following intensive meditation training

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Paul Zanesco ◽  
Brandon King ◽  
Katherine A. MacLean ◽  
Clifford Saron
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Attentional Performance ◽  
The Stability

Various forms of mental training have been shown to improve performance on cognitively demanding tasks. Individuals trained in meditative practices, for example, show generalized improvements on a variety of tasks assessing attentional performance. A central claim of this training, derived from contemplative traditions, posits that improved attentional performance is accompanied by subjective increases in the stability and clarity of concentrative engagement with one’s object of focus, as well as reductions in felt cognitive effort as expertise develops. However, despite frequent claims of mental stability following training, the phenomenological correlates of meditation-related attentional improvements have yet to be characterized. In a longitudinal study, we assessed changes in executive control (performance on a 32-min response inhibition task) and retrospective reports of task engagement (concentration, motivation, and effort) following one month of intensive, daily Vipassana meditation training. Compared to matched controls, training participants exhibited improvements in response inhibition accuracy and reductions in reaction time variability. The training group also reported increases in concentration, but not effort or motivation, during task performance. Critically, increases in concentration predicted improvements in reaction time variability, suggesting a link between the experience of concentrative engagement and ongoing fluctuations in attentional stability. By incorporating experiential measures of task performance, the present study corroborates phenomenological accounts of stable, clear attentional engagement with the object of meditative focus following extensive training. These results provide initial evidence that meditation-related changes in felt experience accompany improvements in adaptive, goal-directed behavior, and that such shifts may reflect accurate awareness of measurable changes in performance.

Fitness Level Moderates Executive Control Disruption During Exercise Regardless of Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronique Labelle ◽  
Laurent Bosquet ◽  
Said Mekary ◽  
Thien Tuong Minh Vu ◽  
Mark Smilovitch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Task ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Acute Exercise ◽  
Cycle Ergometer ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Peak Power Output ◽  
Cardiovascular Exercise ◽  
Fitness Level ◽  
Modified Stroop ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of exercise intensity, age, and fitness levels on executive and nonexecutive cognitive tasks during exercise. Participants completed a computerized modified-Stroop task (including denomination, inhibition, and switching conditions) while pedaling on a cycle ergometer at 40%, 60%, and 80% of peak power output (PPO). We showed that a bout of moderate-intensity (60% PPO) to high-intensity (80% PPO) exercise was associated with deleterious performance in the executive component of the computerized modified-Stroop task (i.e., switching condition), especially in lower-fit individuals (p < .01). Age did not have an effect on the relationship between acute cardiovascular exercise and cognition. Acute exercise can momentarily impair executive control equivalently in younger and older adults, but individual’s fitness level moderates this relation.

scholarly journals Do People Mentally Represent Automated Tasks? Evidence from Task-Switching Costs Following Takeovers

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1227-1231
Author(s):  
Martina K. Hollearn ◽  
James D. Miles
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Indirect Measures ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Driving Task ◽  
New Challenges

Partially automated vehicles, in which automation performs parts of the driving task, introduce new challenges of automation monitoring and human-automation teaming to the driving experience. We describe a new method for measuring whether operators mentally represent automated task performance using a version of the joint task-switching (JTS) task paradigm. In the JTS task, an operator and a teammate take turns performing two intermixed tasks. Following takeover from the teammate, task-switching costs (slower responses following a task switch vs repetition) indicate that the operator mentally represents the teammate’s performance. We measured performance following task switches and repetitions with and without a takeover from automation. Switch costs disappeared following takeovers, indicating a lack of representation of the prior automated task. We discuss how task switch costs following takeovers can serve as indirect measures of whether operators mentally represent automated task performance in mixed automation situations.

Balancing cognitive and environmental constraints when deciding to switch tasks: Exploring self-reported task-selection strategies in self-organised multitasking

2020 ◽  
pp. 174702182097007
Author(s):  
Victor Mittelstädt ◽  
Insa Schaffernak ◽  
Jeff Miller ◽  
Andrea Kiesel
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Environmental Constraints ◽  
Task Selection ◽  
Cognitive Constraints ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Switching Behaviour

We investigated how people balance cognitive constraints (switch costs) against environmental constraints (stimulus availabilities) to optimise their voluntary task switching performance and explored individual differences in their switching behaviour. Specifically, in a self-organised task-switching environment, the stimulus needed for a task repetition was delayed by a stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) that increased with each consecutive repetition until a task switch reset the SOA. As predicted, participants switched tasks when the SOA in task switches approximately matched their individual switch costs and thus they optimised local task performance. Interestingly, self-reports (confirmed by behavioural switching patterns) revealed two individual strategies: some participants ( N = 34) indicated to guide their task selection behaviour based on preplanned task sequences over several trials, whereas others ( N = 42) indicated to primarily decide on a trial-by-trial basis whether to switch or to repeat tasks. Exploration of switching behaviour based on the two strategy groups revealed additional insights into how people achieved adaptive task selection behaviour in this task environment. Overall, the present findings suggest that individuals select tasks with the aim of improving task performance when dealing with multiple task requirements, but they differ in their preferred individual task selection strategies.

The Effect of Retest Practice on the Speed-Ability Relationship

2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sybille Rockstroh ◽  
Karl Schweizer
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
Letter Comparison ◽  
Sternberg Paradigm ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Elementary Cognitive Tasks

Effects of four retest-practice sessions separated by 2 h intervals on the relationship between general intelligence and four reaction time tasks (two memory tests: Sternberg's memory scanning, Posner's letter comparison; and two attention tests: continuous attention, attention switching) were examined in a sample of 83 male participants. Reaction times on all tasks were shortened significantly. The effects were most pronounced with respect to the Posner paradigm and smallest with respect to the Sternberg paradigm. The relationship to general intelligence changed after practice for two reaction time tasks. It increased to significance for continuous attention and decreased for the Posner paradigm. These results indicate that the relationship between psychometric intelligence and elementary cognitive tasks depends on the ability of skill acquisition. In the search for the cognitive roots of intelligence the concept of learning seems to be of importance.

Neuroticism and Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff in Self-Paced Speeded Mental Addition and Comparison

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagen C. Flehmig ◽  
Michael B. Steinborn ◽  
Karl Westhoff ◽  
Robert Langner
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Mental Addition ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Accuracy Tradeoff

Previous research suggests a relationship between neuroticism (N) and the speed-accuracy tradeoff in speeded performance: High-N individuals were observed performing less efficiently than low-N individuals and compensatorily overemphasizing response speed at the expense of accuracy. This study examined N-related performance differences in the serial mental addition and comparison task (SMACT) in 99 individuals, comparing several performance measures (i.e., response speed, accuracy, and variability), retest reliability, and practice effects. N was negatively correlated with mean reaction time but positively correlated with error percentage, indicating that high-N individuals tended to be faster but less accurate in their performance than low-N individuals. The strengthening of the relationship after practice demonstrated the reliability of the findings. There was, however, no relationship between N and distractibility (assessed via measures of reaction time variability). Our main findings are in line with the processing efficiency theory, extending the relationship between N and working style to sustained self-paced speeded mental addition.

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.

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