Control of stimulus-set and response-set in task switching

Grange, Jim

Abstract

Successful goal directed behaviour requires not only selecting the correct response to an object in our environment, but also requires selecting the correct object in our environment upon which to act. Whilst most studies on task switching investigate the selection and maintenance of mental representations of response options (so-called response-sets) they often do not require the selection and maintenance of mental representations of object selection (so-called stimulus-sets). In the current study participants were exposed to a task switching paradigm with multiple stimuli in which the relevant stimulus-set (i.e., which object to respond to) and response-set (i.e., how to respond to that object) independently either repeated or switched on each trial. Of interest was the nature of the task-set representation required, and whether response-set and stimulus-set could be updated independently. Guided by predictions from a computational model of dual-task control (ECTVA; Logan & Gordon, 2001), seven experiments were conducted that evaluated the independence of task-set components. All experiments confirmed ECTVA's predictions of an under-additive interaction between response-set and stimulus-set sequence—diagnostic of independent reconfiguration. However, limitations to this independent updating were observed when participants were encouraged via preparation manipulations to selectively prioritise response-set or stimulus-set reconfiguration. The results are discussed in terms of various hypotheses on the structure of task-set representation.

Citation

Grange, J. Control of stimulus-set and response-set in task switching

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Deposit Date: Dec 11, 2024
• Keywords: cognitive control; task-set; task switching
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1014278
• Publisher URL: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/y9zh2