Stimulus-triggered task conflict affects task-selection errors in task switching: A Bayesian multinomial processing...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Task switching involves cognitive control to select and execute appropriate task sets.
• Understanding task conflict and response conflict is crucial for cognitive models of task switching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate multinomial processing tree (MPT) modeling for measuring task conflict in task switching.
• To independently assess task conflict and response conflict.
• To investigate the impact of irrelevant task feature saliency on these conflicts.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized bivalent stimuli and manipulated irrelevant-task difficulty.
• MPT modeling was employed to estimate probabilities of correct task and response selection.
• Response accuracy data across different experimental conditions were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Task conflict, but not response conflict, increased with higher saliency of task-irrelevant stimulus features.
• Both task conflict and response conflict were elevated during task switching compared to task repetition.
• MPT modeling successfully dissociated task conflict from response conflict.

Conclusions:

• MPT modeling provides a robust method for quantifying task conflict in task switching paradigms.
• Findings suggest that task-irrelevant features activate task sets rather than directly forming stimulus-response associations.
• This research refines theories of cognitive control and information processing in task switching.