Electrophysiological evidence for preparatory reconfiguration before voluntary task switches but not cued task
Min-Suk Kang1, Adrienne Diraddo, Gordon D Logan
1Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center & Center for Integrative and Cognitive, PMB 407817, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN, 37240-7817, USA, kangminsuk@skku.edu.
Abstract:
An unresolved issue in the task-switching literature is whether preparatory reconfiguration occurs before a change of task. In this study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to determine whether preparatory reconfiguration occurs during two different task-switching procedures: voluntary and cued task switching. We focused on two ERP components that index different cognitive operations. The contingent negative variation (CNV) is a sensitive measure of a participant's preparedness to use a specific stimulus-response mapping. In contrast, the P3 indexes memory updating. We found a pronounced modulation of the CNV before voluntary task switches, but not before cued task switches. Instead, cued task switches were preceded by a larger P3, as compared with task repetitions. Our findings suggest that task set reconfiguration is carried out prior to voluntary task switches, whereas memory processes dominate cued task switches.
