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Modeling task switching without switching tasks: a short-term priming account of explicitly cued performance
Darryl W Schneider1, Gordon D Logan
1Departmentof Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. darryl.schneider@vanderbilt.edu
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|September 1, 2005
Summary
Task switching costs may not require executive control. A new short-term priming account explains performance, suggesting memory mechanisms, not task-set reconfiguration, drive these effects.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Performance
Background:
- Task switching costs are typically explained by executive control and task-set reconfiguration.
- The explicit task-cuing procedure is often used to study these costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose an alternative account for explicitly cued performance in task switching.
- To investigate the roles of short-term memory priming and long-term memory retrieval.
Main Methods:
- Developed a mathematical model based on a short-term priming account.
- Fit the model to data from three experimental studies on task performance.
Main Results:
- The short-term priming account successfully explained the repeated cue encoding benefit.
- The model accounted for switch costs and their reduction with preparation time.
- Demonstrated that basic psychological processes can simulate switch costs without actual task switching.
Conclusions:
- Explicitly cued performance may arise from priming and retrieval mechanisms, not solely executive control.
- Task-set reconfiguration might not be the necessary explanation for observed switch costs.
- The proposed priming account offers a parsimonious explanation for various task-switching phenomena.