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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 18, 2026

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
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Cognitive control over prospective task-set interference.

Peter S Whitehead1, Tobias Egner1

  • 1Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
|November 21, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Prospective task-set interference in working memory (WM) is not obligatory. Strategic control can reduce or reverse this interference when incompatible trials are frequent, demonstrating cognitive flexibility.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Behavior

Background:

  • Maintaining task-sets in working memory (WM) can interfere with ongoing tasks.
  • This interference, termed prospective task-set interference, was previously thought to be an obligatory process.
  • The role of strategic control in mitigating this interference was not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether strategic control can modulate prospective task-set interference.
  • To determine if cognitive control can influence the impact of future task demands on current performance.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments utilized an inducer-diagnostic task design.
  • The proportion of incompatible trials in the ongoing task was manipulated.
  • Behavioral performance was analyzed to assess interference effects.

Main Results:

  • Prospective task-set interference was significantly modulated by strategic control.
  • Increased frequency of incompatible trials led to reduced, eliminated, or even reversed interference.
  • Participants demonstrated the ability to strategically suppress interference from WM.

Conclusions:

  • Prospective task-set interference is not an obligatory cognitive process.
  • Strategic control plays a crucial role in managing interference from working memory.
  • Cognitive flexibility allows for the adaptation of ongoing behavior based on task demands.