Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness

Controlled processes in human consciousness represent high-alert mental states where individuals deliberately focus their attention on achieving specific goals. Controlled processes can be seen in situations like mastering new technology, where a person might become so absorbed that they ignore surrounding distractions. Such processes involve selective attention, requiring one to concentrate on particular elements of experience while disregarding others. These are governed by executive...

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...

Information Processing Approach

Information Processing Approach

The information-processing theory of cognitive development centers on fundamental mental processes, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Researchers in this field examine how cognitive abilities, such as working memory, evolve and influence children's overall development. Studies indicate that children with stronger working memory tend to excel in reading comprehension, math, and problem-solving compared to peers with less efficient memory skills. Low working memory is...

Decision Making

Decision Making

Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Self-Discrepancy Theory

One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Visual working memory for real-world objects is resistant to visual but vulnerable to semantic interference.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026

Same author

The puzzle of profitless pre-cues.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same author

When forewarned is not forearmed: No evidence for cue-based proactive control in the spatial Stroop task.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2026

Same author

Domain-specific cognitive flexibility: Shift-readiness adaptations for task- and attention-switching are non-transferrable.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2025

Same author

Modeling of control over task switching and cross-task interference supports a two-dimensional model of cognitive stability and flexibility.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2025

Same author

Heuristic satisficing inferential decision making in human and robot active perception.

Frontiers in robotics and AI·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

Principles of cognitive control over task focus and task switching.

¹Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University.

Nature Reviews Psychology

|September 20, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Adaptive behavior relies on cognitive stability to maintain focus and cognitive flexibility to switch tasks. This study proposes independent mechanisms for focus and switching, regulated by shared learning principles like recency and recognition heuristics.

More Related Videos

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

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

Published on: February 4, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

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

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

Published on: February 4, 2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology

Background:

Adaptive behavior necessitates both cognitive stability (task focus) and cognitive flexibility (task switching).
Existing research explores mechanisms for achieving task focus and readiness for task switching.
Understanding the interplay between stability and flexibility is crucial for explaining adaptive behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To integrate existing literature on cognitive stability and flexibility.
To propose a cognitive architecture and functional rules for regulating these two cognitive control functions.
To explore the learning principles governing the strategic regulation of cognitive stability and flexibility.

Main Methods:

Literature review and theoretical integration.
Development of a cognitive architecture model.
Discussion of algorithmic and neural implementations.

Main Results:

Task focus and task switch readiness are supported by independent mechanisms.
Strategic regulation of both mechanisms is governed by shared learning principles.
Proposed learning principles include a recency heuristic and a recognition heuristic (episodic reinstatement).

Conclusions:

The proposed cognitive architecture provides a framework for understanding cognitive stability and flexibility.
Shared learning principles offer a unified account of how these control functions are regulated.
The findings have implications for algorithmic, neural, and clinical perspectives on cognitive control.