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Extensive practice does not eliminate human switch costs.

Gijsbert Stoet1, Lawrence H Snyder

  • 1Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, England. stoet@eye-hand.wustl.edu

Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
|November 13, 2007
PubMed
Summary
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Extensive practice in humans did not eliminate task-switching costs, unlike in monkeys. This suggests that prolonged training may not be the sole factor influencing decision-making efficiency in task switching.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Task-switching studies reveal decision-making is slower and less accurate after a task switch compared to repetition.
  • Previous research noted an absence of switch costs in rhesus monkeys, contrasting with human performance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if extensive practice can abolish task-switching costs in humans.
  • To test the hypothesis that greater practice, similar to that experienced by monkeys, might eliminate human switch costs.

Main Methods:

  • Four human subjects completed 23,000 trials in a task-switching paradigm.
  • Performance metrics (speed and accuracy) were analyzed to identify task-switching costs.

Main Results:

  • Despite extensive practice, human subjects continued to exhibit significant task-switching costs.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The amount of practice did not abolish the observed differences in decision-making speed and accuracy between task switches and repetitions.

    • Conclusions:

    • Extensive practice alone does not appear to eliminate task-switching costs in humans.
    • Human task-switching costs may be influenced by factors beyond practice duration, differing from monkey behavior.