Stimulus- and response-based interference contributes to the costs of switching between cognitive tasks

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Factors

Background:

• Task switching involves cognitive control and managing interference.
• Understanding the interplay between stimulus and response interference in task switching is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interaction between stimulus- and response-based interference in cognitive task switching.
• To quantify the contribution of each interference type to switch costs.

Main Methods:

• A novel cued task-switching/card-matching paradigm was employed.
• Eligibility manipulations of stimulus and response features were used to isolate interference sources.
• A large study with 95 participants was conducted.

Main Results:

• No switch costs were observed when neither stimulus nor response features could retrieve prior task sets.
• Substantial switch costs emerged when either stimulus or response features maintained task set eligibility.
• Stimulus-induced switch costs were evident only when response retrieval was blocked.

Conclusions:

• Both stimulus-based and response-based interference comparably contribute to cognitive switch costs.
• The findings suggest that interference from previously active task sets is a significant factor in task switching.
• Further research is needed to explore non-additive interpretations of switch costs.