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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

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Published on: December 5, 2025

Introspection without execution: Evidence for introspective switch costs in NoGo trials.

Jonathan Mendl¹, Gesine Dreisbach¹

¹University of Regensburg, Department of Psychology, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.

Consciousness and Cognition

|July 11, 2026

Summary

Introspective switch costs in task switching reflect both immediate experiences and theory-based knowledge. Participants accurately recognized task transitions, suggesting reliance on abstract knowledge for judgments.

Keywords:

Introspection NoGo Task switching Theory-based monitoring

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Task switching involves performance costs when shifting between tasks.
Introspective reports of reaction time (RT) estimations capture these switch costs.
The origin of introspective switch costs (experience-based vs. theory-based) remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the formation of introspective judgments during task switching.
Determine if awareness of task transitions is a prerequisite for theory-based knowledge.
Differentiate between experience-based and theory-based influences on introspective switch costs.

Main Methods:

Experiment 1: Assessed awareness of task transitions using short and long time windows.
Experiment 2: Introduced NoGo trials to minimize experience-based knowledge from responses.
Collected introspective RT estimations and task transition judgments.

Main Results:

Participants reliably recognized task transitions, even with limited time.
Introspective switch costs persisted in NoGo trials, indicating reliance on theory-based knowledge.
Both experience-based and theory-based factors likely contribute to introspective judgments.

Conclusions:

Awareness of task transitions is not solely based on deliberate decisions.
Theory-based knowledge plays a significant role in forming introspective switch costs.
Findings enhance understanding of introspection in task switching and its relation to decision-making.