Learned switch readiness via concurrent activation of task sets: Evidence from task specificity and memory load.

Cognitive flexibility increases when switch demands increase. In task switching experiments, repeated pairing of flexibility-demanding situations with specific contexts leads subjects to become more prepared to adapt to changing task demands in those contexts. One form of such upregulated cognitive...

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Publicado en:Memory & Cognition Vol. 52; no. 7; pp. 1510 - 1530
Autores principales: Nack, Corey A., Yu-Chin, Chiu
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Oct2024
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Oct2024
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      pub: Springer Nature
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        10.3758/s13421-024-01560-5
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        atl: Learned switch readiness via concurrent activation of task sets: Evidence from task specificity and memory load.
      aug:
        au:
          Nack, Corey A.
          Yu-Chin, Chiu
        affil: https://ror.org/02dqehb95 Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, 47907, West Lafayette, IN, USA
      su:
        Task performance
        Executive function
        Undergraduates
        Analysis of variance
        Descriptive statistics
        Psychology of movement
        Experimental design
        Short-term memory
        Associative memory (Psychology)
        Reaction time
        Cognitive flexibility
      sug:
        subj:
          Task performance
          Executive function
          Undergraduates
          Analysis of variance
          Descriptive statistics
          Psychology of movement
          Experimental design
          Short-term memory
          Associative memory (Psychology)
          Reaction time
          Cognitive flexibility
      keyword:
        Associative learning
        Context control
        Metacontrol
        Switch probability effects
        Associative learning
        Context control
        Metacontrol
        Switch probability effects
      ab: Cognitive flexibility increases when switch demands increase. In task switching experiments, repeated pairing of flexibility-demanding situations with specific contexts leads subjects to become more prepared to adapt to changing task demands in those contexts. One form of such upregulated cognitive flexibility has been demonstrated with a list-wide switch probability (LWSP) effect, where switch costs are smaller in lists with frequent switches than in lists with rare switches. According to a recent proposal, the LWSP effect is supported by a concurrent activation mechanism whereby both task rules are kept available simultaneously in working memory. We conducted four experiments to test two key features in this concurrent activation account of LWSP effects. First, we asked whether the LWSP effects are limited to only the trained tasks, and second, we asked whether concurrent working memory load would reduce the LWSP effects. In Experiment 1, we replicated and extended previous findings that the LWSP manipulation modulates both performance (switch costs) and voluntary switch rates, indicating that context-driven increases in flexibility are generalizable so long as the task-sets remain the same. Results of Experiments 2 and 3 showed that novel tasks do not benefit from the concurrent activation of the two other tasks, suggesting that the LWSP effect is task specific. Experiment 4 showed that holding additional information in working memory reduces the LWSP effect. While these findings support the hypothesis of concurrent activation underlying the increased flexibility in the LWSP effect, caveats remain; additional research is needed to further test this account.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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