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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Published on: April 18, 2017

Task conflict effect in task switching.

Ami Braverman¹, Nachshon Meiran

¹Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel. amibr@bgu.ac.il

Psychological Research

|March 24, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Understanding task conflict is key to action preparation. Higher task conflict during preparation impairs performance, showing that deciding the task is a distinct step before selecting a response.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Human Factors

Background:

Action preparation involves determining the relevant task and selecting a response.
The process of task decision is considered conceptually separate from response selection.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of task conflict in action preparation.
To demonstrate that task decision is a distinct process from response selection.

Main Methods:

A spatial task-switching paradigm was employed.
Conflict stimuli were manipulated during trials with univalent targets.
Task conflict was introduced during target appearance or task preparation.

Main Results:

Poorer performance was observed in high task conflict trials compared to low task conflict trials.
The effect of task conflict decreased with increased task preparation time.

Conclusions:

Task conflict significantly impacts performance during action preparation.
Task preparation involves a distinct task decision process, separate from response selection.