Abstract
When participants perform a sequence of different tasks, it is assumed that the engagement in one task leads to the inhibition of the previous task. This inhibition persists and impairs performance when participants switch back to this (still inhibited) task after only one intermediate trial. Previous task-switching studies on this issue have defined different tasks at the level of stimulus categorization. In our experiments we used different response modalities to define tasks. Participants always used the same stimulus categorization (e.g., categorize a digit as odd vs. even), but had to give a vocal, finger, or foot response (A, B, or C). Our results showed a higher reaction time and error rate in ABA sequences than in CBA sequences, indicating n − 2 repetition cost as a marker for persisting task inhibition. We assume that different response modalities can define a task and are inhibited in a “task switch” in the same way as stimulus categories are inhibited.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant KO 2045/4-1 and 4-2 to the second author. We would like to thank Nachshon Meiran, Thomas Kleinsorge, and an anonymous reviewer for comments on a previous version of this paper. We also would like to thank Miriam Gade, Peter Keller, and Stefanie Schuch for helpful discussions concerning this work, and Franziska Pöss, Sophie von Stumm, and the students of the experimental psychology course for conducting parts of the experiments.
Notes
Email: [email protected]