Response execution, selection, or activation: What is sufficient for response-related repetition effects under task shifting?

Hübner, Ronald; Druey, Michel D.

doi:10.1007/s00426-005-0219-8

Cited by 90 publications

(192 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This conclusion is consistent with previous research in the task-switching paradigm, which also observed the task-rule congruency effects with responses that only overlap conceptually (e.g., Gade & Koch, 2007;Hübner & Druey, 2006;Schuch & Koch, 2004). It is also in line with research on different types of congruency and compatibility effects that indicate a preference for rather abstract distal coding (for an overview, see Hommel et al, 2001).…”

Section: Instruction-based Task Rule Congruency Effectssupporting

confidence: 91%

Instruction-based task-rule congruency effects.

Liefooghe¹,

Wenke²,

Houwer³

2012

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

105

295

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The present study investigated the functional characteristics of task-sets that were never applied before and were formed only on the basis of instructions. We tested if such task-sets could elicit a task-rule congruency effect, which implies the automatic activation of responses in the context of another task. To this end, a novel procedure was developed that revealed instruction-based task-rule congruency effects in two experiments. Although the effect seems quite general (Experiment 1) it still necessitates the formation of a task-set as it cannot be induced by the mere maintenance of instructions in declarative working memory (Experiment 2). We conclude that a task-set representing only key features of an upcoming task can be formed on the basis of instructions alone to such a degree that it can automatically trigger a response tendency in another task. Implications of our results for the impact of instructions on performance in general, and for the occurrence of task-rule congruency effects in particular, are discussed.Keywords: task-set, task switching, task-rule congruency, instructions INSTRUCTION-BASED TASK-RULE CONGRUENCY EFFECTS 3 Instruction-based task-rule congruency effectsGoal-directed behavior is assumed to be based on task-sets that specify and group the control settings of different task-related processes, such as stimulus identification, response selection, and response execution (e.g., Vandierendonck, Liefooghe, & Verbruggen, 2010).While the functional properties of task-sets have been studied extensively in the taskswitching paradigm (see, Kiesel et al., 2010;Monsell, 2003;Vandierendonck et al., 2010 for reviews), only little is known on how task-sets are formed when the instructions of a particular task are presented. This is surprising because it seems obvious that instructions play an important role, for instance, by indicating which task to perform or how a task must be performed. Accordingly, the present study further investigated the functional characteristics of task-sets formed only on the basis of instructions. We tested if a task-set that is formed on the basis of instructions meant for a particular task that has not yet been executed, can elicit automatic response tendencies despite being irrelevant in the context of another task. This was done by using the task-rule congruency effect. Task-Rule CongruencyThe task-rule congruency effect is a robust finding in task-switching studies that require participants to switch between two tasks (e.g., shape or color judgment) that share stimuli (e.g., colored shapes) and responses (e.g., a left or right response key; see, Kiesel et al., 2010;Monsell, 2003; Vandierendonck et al., 2010 for reviews). Each response thus has two -meanings‖ (e.g., circle and red for the left response and square and green for the right response) and stimuli trigger these two meanings, with one related to the relevant task and the other related to the irrelevant task. The task-rule congruency effect refers to the finding that RTs are shorter when both respo...

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Section: Instruction-based Task Rule Congruency Effectssupporting

confidence: 91%

Instruction-based task-rule congruency effects.

Liefooghe¹,

Wenke²,

Houwer³

2012

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

105

295

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Meanwhile, this interaction between task switching and response repetition has been replicated in a number of subsequent studies (e.g. Hübner & Druey, 2006;Kleinsorge, 1999;Mayr & Kliegl, 2003;Meiran, 2000;Schuch & Koch, 2004), and several explanations have been suggested. Some researchers proposed that the eVects are due to the modulation of associations between stimulus categories and response categories (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Although the speciWc mechanism is relatively unimportant for the present objective, we nevertheless base our considerations on the response inhibition account because it has recently been supported by some of our own studies (e.g. Druey & Hübner, 2007b;Hübner & Druey, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather, it is suYcient that the response, or, more precisely, the corresponding response category, was suYciently activated (e.g. Hübner & Druey, 2006). Another Wnding, mainly investigated in dual-task studies applying the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) paradigm, was that repetition eVects occur even if diVerent eVectors are used for responding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiple response codes play specific roles in response selection and inhibition under task switching

Hübner

Druey

2007

Psychological Research

Self Cite

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Several task-switch studies show that response category repetition is favorable on task repetition trials, but disadvantageous on task switch trials. In the present study we investigated how this interaction depends on the type and number of involved response categories. In a dual-task number-categorization experiment, subjects had to respond to tasks T 1 and T 2 with one of the two Wngers of their left and right hand, respectively. For one group of participants, the use of spatial response categories, and for another group the use of Wnger-type categories was induced. It turned out that the interaction between task switching and response category repetition was clearly related to the induced response categories, but at the same time, the spatial categories nevertheless also aVected response selection in the Wnger-type group. However, these two eVects were additive. This shows that multiple response codes can simultaneously be involved in response selection, but that they aVect performance diVerentially.

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“…Voluntary task switching under load 10 be related to the response-inhibition account of Hübner and Druey (2006), which states that in a taskswitching context a response has to be inhibited in order to avoid its automatic re-execution on the following trial (for a similar idea, Logan & Gordon, 2001). In this perspective, the present study contributes by showing that when a response is inhibited less efficiently in a high demanding situation, the chance to re-execute this response on the next trial is increased on stimulus repetitions.…”

Section: R596bmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-modal approach to the study of attachment-related distress

Dewitte

Houwer

Goubert

et al. 2010

Biological Psychology

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The present study investigated the relative contribution of bottom-up and top-down control to task selection in the voluntary task switching (VTS) procedure. In order to manipulate the efficiency of top-down control, a concurrent working-memory load was imposed during VTS. In three experiments bottom-up factors such as stimulus repetitions, repetition of irrelevant information and stimulus-task associations were introduced to investigate their influence on task selection. We observed that the tendency to repeat tasks was stronger under load, suggesting that top-down control counteracts the automatic tendency to repeat tasks. The results also indicated that task selection can be guided by several elements in the environment, but that only the influence of stimulus repetitions depend on the efficiency of top-down control. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed within the interplay between top-down and bottom-up control that underlies the voluntary selection of tasks. R596BVoluntary task switching under load 3Many researchers assume that goal-directed behavior relies on the intentional and controlled activation of task goals (Baddeley, 1992;Logan & Gordon, 2001;Miller & Cohen, 2001). However, several studies demonstrated that task goals can also be activated automatically by information in the environment (e.g. Mattler, 2003;Mayr & Bryck, 2007;Verbruggen & Logan, 2009) or by the retrieval of previously formed associations between a stimulus and a particular goal (e.g. Verbruggen & Logan, 2008;Waszak, Hommel & Allport, 2003). In the present study we examined the contribution of top-down and bottom-up activation of task goals in voluntary task switching (VTS).In VTS, subjects switch between cognitive tasks. They are free to select the task to perform, as long as each task is selected an approximate equal number of times and subjects do not follow a predictable pattern of task selections (Arrington, 2008;Arrington & Logan, 2004;2005;Liefooghe, Demanet, & Vandierendonck, 2009;Mayr & Bell, 2006). A general finding is that subjects repeat tasks more often than they switch (Arrington & Logan, 2005). This task-repetition bias has been linked to the efficiency of top-down control processes involved in the voluntary selection of task goals. For example, Mayr and Bell (2006) argued that subjects tend to repeat tasks because the task of the previous trial is still the most active one when selecting a new task. In order to overcome this bias, the activated task has to be inhibited. Thus, selection of tasks would depend on top-down control processes (see also Arrington & Logan, 2004, 2005. However, several studies showed that bottomup processes also contribute to task selection in VTS (e.g. Arrington, 2008) and Mayr and Bell (2006) observed that the task-repetition bias was stronger when the stimulus of the previous trial was repeated compared to when the stimulus alternated. This stimulus-repetition effect suggests that voluntary task selection is not completely immune to bottom-up priming effects....

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Response execution, selection, or activation: What is sufficient for response-related repetition effects under task shifting?

Cited by 90 publications

References 34 publications

Instruction-based task-rule congruency effects.

Instruction-based task-rule congruency effects.

Multiple response codes play specific roles in response selection and inhibition under task switching

A multi-modal approach to the study of attachment-related distress

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