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What matters in the cued task-switching paradigm: tasks or cues?
1Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene 97403, USA. mayr@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|March 3, 2007
Summary
Task-switch costs are driven by task-level adjustments, not just cue-priming. Cognitive psychology research confirms that sensitivity to task-switch probability, not cue-transition probability, dictates performance costs.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human Experimental Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Previous research suggested task-switch costs reflect cue-priming, based on probability of cue vs. task switches.
- This interpretation was challenged due to potential confounding of cue transition probabilities with task switch probabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate between the cue-priming account and the task-switch probability account of task-switch costs.
- To test whether task-switch costs are determined by the probability of specific cue-cue transitions or the overall probability of task switching.
Main Methods:
- An experiment with 80 participants was conducted.
- The study contrasted predictions from the cue-priming account (costs vary with cue-cue transition probability) against the switch-probability account (costs vary with task switch probability).
Main Results:
- The prediction derived from the cue-priming account was not supported.
- A specific aspect of the probability account was confirmed: participants are sensitive to the probability of a task switch occurring after a cue switch.
Conclusions:
- Task-switch costs are critically determined by task-level representations and the probability of switching between tasks.
- The findings indicate that actual task-switching operations, rather than mere cue-priming, are the primary drivers of observed cognitive costs.
