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Assembling a task space: global determination of local shift costs.

Thomas Kleinsorge1, Herbert Heuer, Volker Schmidtke

  • 1Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie, Universität Dortmund, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany. kleinsor@arb-phys.uni-dortmund.de

Psychological Research
|May 30, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Task switching costs are influenced by global task structures, not just local trial transitions. This study reveals that hierarchical representations emerge when task features vary independently, impacting cognitive flexibility.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

  • Task switching research traditionally focuses on local trial-to-trial transitions.
  • Global representational structures influencing task shift costs have been under-emphasized.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of global representational structures in task switching costs.
  • To determine if task features varying independently influence the emergence of hierarchical representations.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a set of four tasks from a factorial combination of two judgment types and two judgment-to-response mappings.
  • Compared shift costs in blocks with four tasks versus blocks with two tasks.

Main Results:

  • A characteristic shift cost profile, indicative of hierarchical representation, was observed only when all four tasks were present in a block.

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  • When only two tasks were used, shift costs did not reflect the relationship between successive tasks.

    • Conclusions:

    • Global representational structures significantly determine task shift costs, extending beyond local transitions.
    • Hierarchical representations are evident when task features (judgment and mapping) vary independently within a block.