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Iring Koch - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Evidence for a multicomponent hierarchical representation of dual tasks
Memory & Cognition, 2020Co-Authors: Patricia Hirsch, Clara Roesch, Iring KochAbstract:Recent dual-task studies observed worse performance in task-pair switches than in task-pair repetitions and interpreted these task-pair switch costs as evidence that the identity of the two individual tasks performed within a dual task is jointly represented in a single mental representation, termed “task-pair set.” In the present study, we conducted two experiments to examine (a) whether task-pair switch costs are due to switching cues or/and task pairs and (b) at which time task-pair sets are activated during dual-task processing. In Experiment 1 , we used two cues per task-pair and found typical dual-task interference, indicating that performance in the individual tasks performed within the dual task deteriorates as a function of increased temporal task overlap. Moreover, we observed cue switch costs, possibly reflecting perceptual cue priming. Importantly, there were also task-pair switch costs that occur even when controlling for cue switching. This suggests that task-pair switching per se produces a performance cost that cannot be reduced to costs of cue switching. In Experiment 2 , we employed a go/no-go-like manipulation and observed task-pair switch costs after no-go trials where subjects prepared for a task-pair, but did not perform it. This indicates that task-pair sets are activated before performing a dual task. Together, the findings of the present study provide further evidence for a multicomponent hierarchical representation consisting of a task-pair set organized at a hierarchically higher level than the task sets of the individual tasks performed within a dual task.
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Evidence for a multicomponent hierarchical representation of dual tasks
Memory & Cognition, 2020Co-Authors: Patricia Hirsch, Clara Roesch, Iring KochAbstract:Recent dual-task studies observed worse performance in task-pair switches than in task-pair repetitions and interpreted these task-pair switch costs as evidence that the identity of the two individual tasks performed within a dual task is jointly represented in a single mental representation, termed “task-pair set.” In the present study, we conducted two experiments to examine (a) whether task-pair switch costs are due to switching cues or/and task pairs and (b) at which time task-pair sets are activated during dual-task processing. In Experiment 1 , we used two cues per task-pair and found typical dual-task interference, indicating that performance in the individual tasks performed within the dual task deteriorates as a function of increased temporal task overlap. Moreover, we observed cue switch costs, possibly reflecting perceptual cue priming. Importantly, there were also task-pair switch costs that occur even when controlling for cue switching. This suggests that task-pair switching per se produces a performance cost that cannot be reduced to costs of cue switching. In Experiment 2 , we employed a go/no-go-like manipulation and observed task-pair switch costs after no-go trials where subjects prepared for a task-pair, but did not perform it. This indicates that task-pair sets are activated before performing a dual task. Together, the findings of the present study provide further evidence for a multicomponent hierarchical representation consisting of a task-pair set organized at a hierarchically higher level than the task sets of the individual tasks performed within a dual task.
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Auditory attention switching and judgment switching: Exploring multicomponent task representations.
Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 2018Co-Authors: Julia C. Seibold, Sophie Nolden, Josefa Oberem, Janina Fels, Iring KochAbstract:: An auditory attention-switching paradigm was combined with a judgment-switching paradigm to examine the interaction of a varying auditory attention component and a varying judgment component. Participants heard two dichotically presented stimuli-one spoken by a female speaker and one spoken by a male speaker. In each trial, the stimuli were a spoken letter and a spoken number. A visual explicit cue at the beginning of each trial indicated the auditory attention criterion (speaker sex/ear) to identify the target stimulus (Experiment 1) or the judgment that had to be executed (Experiment 2). Hence, the attentional selection criterion switched independently between speaker sexes (or between ears), while the judgment alternated between letter categorization and number categorization. The data indicate that auditory attention criterion and judgment were not processed independently, regardless of whether the attention criterion or the judgment was cued. The partial repetition benefits of the explicitly cued component suggested a hierarchical organization of the auditory attention component and the judgment component within the task set. We suggest that the hierarchy arises due to the explicit cuing of one component rather than due to a "natural" hierarchy of auditory attention component and judgment component.
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Exploringtemporal dissipationof attentionsettingsinauditory task switching
2014Co-Authors: Iring Koch, Vera LawoAbstract:Using a cued auditory Task-Switching variant of dichotic listening, we varied the response-cue interval (RCI) to examine temporal dissipation effects. On each trial, participants were presented with two different number words, onespokenbyafemalespeaker andanother byamalespeaker (dichotic listening), that served as competing targets for a numerical judgment. The gender of the task-relevant speaker was indicated by a visual task cue prior to each trial. Experiment 1A used two different cues for each task (i.e., gender) and showed only small cue repetition benefits (same cue vs. alternate cue) but large auditory switch costs (alternate cue vs. task switch). A replication without immediate cue repetitions (Experiment1B)showedvery similar switch costs, suggesting that immediate cue repetitions play a negligible role for the size of auditory task switch costs. Moreover, switch costs were reduced when the (entirely task-irrelevant) locationofthe task-relevant speaker changed,relativetowhen it was unchanged, suggesting an episodic feature-binding component in our dichotic-listening task. Importantly, both experiments showed no effect of RCI on auditory switch costs. Because statistical power for this null effect was reasonably high across experiments (n=50), this finding suggests that auditory attention settings do not dissipate quickly over time.
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control and interference in task switching a review
Psychological Bulletin, 2010Co-Authors: Andrea Kiesel, Andrea M. Philipp, Marco Steinhauser, Mike Wendt, Michael Falkenstein, Kerstin Jost, Iring KochAbstract:The Task-Switching paradigm offers enormous possibilities to study cognitive control as well as task interference. The current review provides an overview of recent research on both topics. First, we review different experimental approaches to task switching, such as comparing mixed-task blocks with singletask blocks, predictable Task-Switching and task-cuing paradigms, intermittent instructions, and voluntary task selection. In the 2nd part, we discuss findings on preparatory control mechanisms in task switching and theoretical accounts of task preparation. We consider preparation processes in two-stage models, consider preparation as an all-or-none process, address the question of whether preparation is switchspecific, reflect on preparation as interaction of cue encoding and memory retrieval, and discuss the impact of verbal mediation on preparation. In the 3rd part, we turn to interference phenomena in task switching. We consider proactive interference of tasks and inhibition of recently performed tasks indicated by asymmetrical switch costs and n-2 task-repetition costs. We discuss stimulus-based interference as a result of stimulus-based response activation and stimulus-based task activation, and response-based interference because of applying bivalent rather than univalent responses, response repetition effects, and carryover of response selection and execution. In the 4th and final part, we mention possible future research fields.
Nachshon Meiran - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Enhancing task-demands disrupts learning but enhances transfer gains in short-term Task-Switching training
Psychological Research, 2020Co-Authors: Katrina Sabah, Nachshon Meiran, Thomas Dolk, Gesine DreisbachAbstract:Content variability was previously suggested to promote stronger learning effects in cognitive training whereas less variability incurred transfer costs (Sabah et al. Psychological Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1006-7 , 2018 ). Here, we expanded these findings by additionally examining the role of learners’ control in short-term Task-Switching training by comparing voluntary Task-Switching to a yoked control forced Task-Switching condition. To this end, four training conditions were compared: (1) forced fixed content, (2) voluntary fixed content, (3) forced varied content, and (3) voluntary varied content. To further enhance task demands, bivalent stimuli were used during training. Participants completed baseline assessment commencing with Task-Switching and verbal fluency blocks, followed by seven training blocks and last by Task-Switching (near transfer) and verbal fluency (far transfer) blocks, respectively. For the baseline and transfer Task-Switching blocks, we used the exact same baseline and first transfer block from Sabah et al. (Psychological Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1006-7 , 2018 ), employing univalent stimuli and alternating-runs task sequence. Our results pointed again to the contribution of content variability to Task-Switching performance. No indications for far transfer were observed. Allowing for learners’ control was not found to produce additional transfer gains beyond content variability. A between-study comparison suggests that enhanced task demands, by means of bivalency, promoted higher transfer gains in the current study when compared to Sabah et al. (Psychological Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1006-7 , 2018 ). Taken together, the current results provide further evidence to the beneficial impact of variability on training outcomes. The lack of modulatory effect for learners’ control is discussed in relation to possible methodological limitations.
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Task-Switching Methodology
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 2013Co-Authors: Ofer Rahamim, Yoav Bar-anan, Golan Shahar, Nachshon MeiranAbstract:In this paper, the authors review studies involving switching between an evaluative task and a nonevaluative task as a means to indirectly assess evaluative processes in the context of research of attitudes, psychopathology, and personality traits. Two Task-Switching indices, Switching Cost and Task Rule Congruency Effect, which represent two distinct sets of processes, have been used so far and can be assessed simultaneously. The authors suggest that using Task-Switching methodology as a platform provides significant methodological as well as theoretical advantages, which they attribute to the heightened involvement of the individual’s goal system, characterizing the Task-Switching paradigm.
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Task switching training effects are mediated by working-memory management
Intelligence, 2013Co-Authors: Maayan Pereg, Nitzan Shahar, Nachshon MeiranAbstract:Abstract Task switching is an important executive function, and finding ways to improve it has become a major goal of contemporary scientists. Karbach and Kray (2009) found that training in the Alternating-Runs Task-Switching (AR-TS) paradigm (in which the task changed every second trial) reduced the costs of switching in untrained tasks, as well as led to far transfer to interference control ability and fluid intelligence. However, AR-TS is known to involve working memory updating (WMU). Therefore, we hypothesized that AR-TS training involves WMU and not Task-Switching proper. Participants were trained using Karbach and Kray's protocol. Results indicate a highly specific transfer pattern in which participants showed near transfer to switching cost in the AR-TS paradigm, but did not significantly improve in another version of the task switching paradigm in which the tasks were randomly ordered or a version in which the task changed every 3rd trial. The results suggest that what has been trained is not a broad Task-Switching ability but rather a specific skill related to the unique WMU requirements of the training paradigm.
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The cerebellum mediates conflict resolution
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2007Co-Authors: Tom A Schweizer, Nachshon Meiran, Chris Oriet, Michael D Cusimano, Michael P. Alexander, Donald T. StussAbstract:Regions within the frontal and parietal cortex have been implicated as important neural correlates for cognitive control during conflict resolution. Despite the extensive reciprocal connectivity between the cerebellum and these putatively critical cortical areas, a role for the cerebellum in conflict resolution has never been identified. We used a Task-Switching paradigm that separates processes related to task-set switching and the management of response conflict independent of motor processing. Eleven patients with chronic, focal lesions to the cerebellum and 11 healthy controls were compared. Patients were slower and less accurate in conditions involving conflict resolution. In the absence of response conflict, however, tasks-witching abilities were not impaired in our patients. The cerebellum may play an important role in coordinating with other areas of cortex to modulate active response states. These results are the first demonstration of impaired conflict resolution following cerebellar lesions in the presence of an intact prefrontal cortex.
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Component processes in task switching.
Cognitive psychology, 2000Co-Authors: Nachshon Meiran, Ziv Chorev, Ayelet SapirAbstract:Participants switched between two randomly ordered, two-choice reaction-time (RT) tasks, where an instructional cue preceded the target stimulus and indicated which task to execute. Task-Switching cost dissipated passively while the participants waited for the instructional cue in order to know which task to execute (during the Response-Cue Interval). Switching cost was sharply reduced, but not abolished, when the participants actively prepared for the task switch in response to the instructional cue (during the Cue-Target Interval). The preparation for a task switch has shown not to be a by-product of general preparation by phasic alertness or predicting target onset. It is suggested that Task-Switching cost has at least three components reflecting (1) the passive dissipation of the previous task set, (2) the preparation of the new task set, and (3) a residual component.
André Vandierendonck - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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task switching interplay of reconfiguration and interference control
Psychological Bulletin, 2010Co-Authors: André Vandierendonck, Baptist Liefooghe, Frederick VerbruggenAbstract:The Task-Switching paradigm is being increasingly used as a tool for studying cognitive control and task coordination. Different procedural variations have been developed. They have in common that a comparison is made between transitions in which the previous task is repeated and transitions that involve a change toward another task. In general, a performance switch cost is observed such that switching to a new task results in a slower and more error-prone execution of the task. The present article reviews the theoretical explanations of the switch cost and the findings collected in support of those explanations. Resolution and protection from interference by previous events explain part of the switching cost, but processes related to task setting and task preparation also play a prominent role, as testified by faster execution and lower switch costs when the preparation time is longer. The authors discuss the evidence in favor of each of these sets of accounts and raise a number of questions that situate task switching in a broader context of cognitive control processes. The role of several aspects of the task set, including task variations, task-set overlap, and task-set structure, is addressed, as is the role of knowledge about probability of task changes and about the structure of task sequences.
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Persisting activation in voluntary task switching: It all depends on the instructions
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2010Co-Authors: Baptist Liefooghe, Jelle Demanet, André VandierendonckAbstract:We tested the hypothesis that persisting activation from a previous task execution does not contribute to the switch cost in voluntary task switching. We reasoned that voluntary task switching requires the selection of random task sequences, which necessitates the active inhibition of previously executed tasks. The asymmetric switch cost was used as a marker for persisting activation. Participants switched voluntarily between color naming and word naming. One group was instructed to select unpredictable task sequences. The other group was not instructed to do so. When participants were instructed to be unpredictable, no asymmetric switch cost was observed. When participants were not instructed to be unpredictable, an asymmetric switch cost was observed. We conclude that the amount of persisting activation in voluntary task switching is limited and that the switch cost in voluntary task switching reflects the time needed for reconfiguring the cognitive system from one task to another rather than the time needed to compensate for persisting activation.
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Working Memory Costs of Task Switching.
Journal of experimental psychology. Learning memory and cognition, 2008Co-Authors: Baptist Liefooghe, Pierre Barrouillet, André Vandierendonck, Valérie CamosAbstract:Although many accounts of task switching emphasize the importance of working memory as a substantial source of the switch cost, there is a lack of evidence demonstrating that task switching actually places additional demands on working memory. The present study addressed this issue by implementing task switching in continuous complex span tasks with strictly controlled time parameters. A series of 4 experiments demonstrate that recall performance decreased as a function of the number of task switches and that the concurrent load of item maintenance had no influence on task switching. These results indicate that task switching induces a cost on working memory functioning. Implications for theories of task switching, working memory, and resource sharing are addressed.
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Executive Functions and Task Switching
Psychologica Belgica, 2000Co-Authors: André VandierendonckAbstract:In the last decade, the task switching paradigm has been rediscovered as a tool to investigate executive functions. The article presents an overview of experimental research on task switching. Special attention is given to the findings with respect to task switching costs that remain after a rather long preparation interval, the residual switch costs.
Gesine Dreisbach - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Enhancing task-demands disrupts learning but enhances transfer gains in short-term Task-Switching training
Psychological Research, 2020Co-Authors: Katrina Sabah, Nachshon Meiran, Thomas Dolk, Gesine DreisbachAbstract:Content variability was previously suggested to promote stronger learning effects in cognitive training whereas less variability incurred transfer costs (Sabah et al. Psychological Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1006-7 , 2018 ). Here, we expanded these findings by additionally examining the role of learners’ control in short-term Task-Switching training by comparing voluntary Task-Switching to a yoked control forced Task-Switching condition. To this end, four training conditions were compared: (1) forced fixed content, (2) voluntary fixed content, (3) forced varied content, and (3) voluntary varied content. To further enhance task demands, bivalent stimuli were used during training. Participants completed baseline assessment commencing with Task-Switching and verbal fluency blocks, followed by seven training blocks and last by Task-Switching (near transfer) and verbal fluency (far transfer) blocks, respectively. For the baseline and transfer Task-Switching blocks, we used the exact same baseline and first transfer block from Sabah et al. (Psychological Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1006-7 , 2018 ), employing univalent stimuli and alternating-runs task sequence. Our results pointed again to the contribution of content variability to Task-Switching performance. No indications for far transfer were observed. Allowing for learners’ control was not found to produce additional transfer gains beyond content variability. A between-study comparison suggests that enhanced task demands, by means of bivalency, promoted higher transfer gains in the current study when compared to Sabah et al. (Psychological Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1006-7 , 2018 ). Taken together, the current results provide further evidence to the beneficial impact of variability on training outcomes. The lack of modulatory effect for learners’ control is discussed in relation to possible methodological limitations.
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Keep flexible - Keep switching! The influence of forced task switching on voluntary task switching.
Cognition, 2017Co-Authors: Kerstin Fröber, Gesine DreisbachAbstract:Goal directed behavior depends on a dynamic balance between cognitive flexibility and stability. Identifying factors that modulate the balance between these control states is therefore of major interest for the understanding of human action control. In two experiments we used a hybrid paradigm combining forced- and free-choice task switching and measured spontaneous voluntary switch rate (VSR) as an indicator of cognitive flexibility. In Experiment 1 participants were free to choose a given task on 75%, 50%, or 25% of all trials. In the remaining forced-choice trials task repetitions and switches were roughly equally distributed. Results showed that VSR increases with increasing proportion of forced choices. To clarify whether the frequency of forced choices per se or the frequency of forced task switches in particular drives this effect we conducted Experiment 2. In a fully orthogonal between design participants were free to choose a given task on 75% or 25% of all trials with a predetermined switch rate in the remaining forced-choice trials of 75% or 25%, respectively. Results revealed an interaction of both manipulations: The highest VSR was found for the combination of 75% forced-choice trials with 75% forced switch rate, while VSR for 75% forced-choice trials with 25% forced switch rate was still higher than VSRs in both conditions with 25% forced-choice trials. This suggests that a context of frequent forced task switching changes global control parameters towards more flexible behavior.
Gordon D. Logan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Electrophysiological evidence for preparatory reconfiguration before voluntary task switches but not cued task switches
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2013Co-Authors: Min-suk Kang, Gordon D. Logan, Adrienne Diraddo, Geoffrey F. WoodmanAbstract:An unresolved issue in the Task-Switching literature is whether preparatory reconfiguration occurs before a change of task. In this study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to determine whether preparatory reconfiguration occurs during two different Task-Switching procedures: voluntary and cued task switching. We focused on two ERP components that index different cognitive operations. The contingent negative variation (CNV) is a sensitive measure of a participant’s preparedness to use a specific stimulus–response mapping. In contrast, the P3 indexes memory updating. We found a pronounced modulation of the CNV before voluntary task switches, but not before cued task switches. Instead, cued task switches were preceded by a larger P3, as compared with task repetitions. Our findings suggest that task set reconfiguration is carried out prior to voluntary task switches, whereas memory processes dominate cued task switches.
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The Target of Task Switching
Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale, 2010Co-Authors: Darryl W. Schneider, Gordon D. LoganAbstract:Task switching involves processing target stimuli in accordance with a frequently changing series of tasks. An outstanding issue is whether this processing is tailored to the perceptual or categorical representation of targets. To address this issue, the authors compared switch costs in responding to targets that were perceptually distinct (words and images) but associated with the same categories (colors and shapes). In four experiments that varied the degree to which words and images were mixed together, no differences in switch costs were observed. These results support the idea that categorical target representations are central to task switching.
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Task Switching Versus Cue Switching: Using Transition Cuing to Disentangle Sequential Effects in Task-Switching Performance
Journal of experimental psychology. Learning memory and cognition, 2007Co-Authors: Darryl W. Schneider, Gordon D. LoganAbstract:Recent methodological advances have allowed researchers to address confounds in the measurement of task-switch costs in Task-Switching performance by dissociating cue switching from task switching. For example, in the transition-cuing procedure, which involves presenting cues for task transitions rather than for tasks, cue transitions (cue switches and cue repetitions) and task transitions (task switches and task repetitions) can be examined in a complete factorial design. Transition cuing removes the confound between cue transitions and first-order task transitions, but it introduces a confound between cue transitions and longer task sequences. In the present study, transition cuing was studied with two cues per transition (REPEAT and AGAIN for task repetitions; SWITCH and CHANGE for task switches), enabling a partial deconfounding of cue transitions and task sequences. Two experiments revealed robust sequential effects, with higher order task transitions affecting performance when cue transitions were held constant and with cue transitions affecting performance when task sequences were held constant. Methodological and theoretical implications of these findings for research on task switching are discussed.
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Voluntary Task Switching: Chasing the Elusive Homunculus.
Journal of experimental psychology. Learning memory and cognition, 2005Co-Authors: Catherine M. Arrington, Gordon D. LoganAbstract:In the voluntary task switching procedure, subjects choose the task to perform on a series of bivalent stimuli, requiring top-down control of task switching. Experiments 1-3 contrasted voluntary task switching and explicit task cuing. Choice behavior showed small, inconsistent effects of external stimulus characteristics, supporting the assumption of top-down control of task choice. Switch costs were smaller when subjects chose to switch tasks than when instructed by an external cue. Experiments 4-6 separated choice costs from switch costs. These findings support models of task switching that incorporate top-down processes in accounts of switch costs. The degree to which task switching procedures capture top-down versus bottom-up processes may depend on the extent of environmental support provided by the procedure.
