Task-control adaptation in task switching: Uncovering the mechanisms behind the list-wide proportion valency effect.
The term conflict adaptation refers to the up- or down-regulation of control processes depending on the likelihood and recency of conflict occurrence. While most research on conflict adaptation has examined single-task settings (e.g., the Stroop paradigm), in a recent study we investigated whether s...
| Publicado en: | Memory & Cognition Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 813 - 835 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Apr2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193392418&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193392418 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0090502X MEG jtl: Memory & Cognition issn: 0090502X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 54 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 193392418 10.3758/s13421-025-01782-1 ppf: 813 ppct: 22 formats: tig: atl: Task-control adaptation in task switching: Uncovering the mechanisms behind the list-wide proportion valency effect. aug: au: Moretti, Luca Koch, Iring affil: https://ror.org/04xfq0f34 Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University, Jaegerstrasse 17/19, 52066, Aachen, Germany su: Task performance Executive function Psychological adaptation Attention Analysis of variance Cognition Descriptive statistics Experimental design Data analysis software Thought & thinking sug: subj: Task performance Executive function Psychological adaptation Attention Analysis of variance Cognition Descriptive statistics Experimental design Data analysis software Thought & thinking keyword: Conflict adaptation List-wide proportion of valency Task conflict Task switching Conflict adaptation List-wide proportion of valency Task conflict Task switching ab: The term conflict adaptation refers to the up- or down-regulation of control processes depending on the likelihood and recency of conflict occurrence. While most research on conflict adaptation has examined single-task settings (e.g., the Stroop paradigm), in a recent study we investigated whether similar phenomena are also present in task switching. In that study, we asked whether control over stimulus-induced task conflict is modulated depending on its frequency. We operationalized stimulus-induced task conflict with the valency effect, namely the performance difference between bivalent-congruent trials (i.e., stimuli affording two tasks but only one correct response) and univalent trials (i.e., stimuli affording one task). Manipulating the proportion of bivalent trials across blocks, we found that the valency effect was reduced in majority-bivalent blocks, suggesting that task-conflict control is upregulated under high-conflict conditions. Building on these findings, the present study presents three experiments designed to uncover the mechanisms behind task-conflict control adaptation in task switching. In particular, we aimed to assess whether task-conflict control is adapted in a transient or in a sustained fashion. In Experiment 1, we ruled out the possibility that control adaptation arises from transient increases in attentional biasing following cue onset. In Experiments 2a and 2b we found evidence that the mechanisms responsible for upregulating task-conflict control act in a task-specific fashion, suggesting that, contrary to single-task paradigms, control adaptation occurs transiently rather than sustainedly. We conclude that in task-switching contexts, conflict adaptation is achieved by modulating reactive control mechanisms triggered after stimulus onset. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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