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The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

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Published on: August 25, 2023

The bivalency effect in task switching: general and enduring.

Beat Meier¹, Todd S Woodward, Alodie Rey-Mermet

¹University of Bern, 3000 Bern 9, Switzerland. beat.meier@psy.unibe.ch

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology = Revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale

|September 11, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The bivalency effect in task switching, where occasional bivalent stimuli slow responses to univalent stimuli, is general and enduring. This cognitive control phenomenon persists across trials and intertrial intervals.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Human Performance
Neuroscience

Background:

Task switching involves cognitive control to shift between different tasks.
The bivalency effect describes performance decrements when stimuli possess multiple task-relevant features.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the generality of the bivalency effect across different tasks and stimulus types.
To investigate the temporal endurance of the bivalency effect over time and following bivalent stimulus presentations.

Main Methods:

A task-switching paradigm with predictable switches between three simple tasks was employed.
Bivalent stimuli were occasionally presented within one of the tasks.
Generality was tested using varied tasks and bivalent stimuli; endurance was assessed across intertrial intervals (ITIs) and post-bivalent trials.

Main Results:

A robust and general bivalency effect was observed across all tested intertrial interval conditions.
The bivalency effect demonstrated temporal endurance, remaining significant for approximately four trials after a bivalent stimulus.
While the effect size diminished across trials, its persistence highlights sustained cognitive load.

Conclusions:

The bivalency effect is a general and enduring phenomenon in task switching.
Findings underscore the critical role of top-down control mechanisms in managing task demands and stimulus processing.
The sustained impact of bivalent stimuli suggests ongoing attentional or control adjustments.