Do stimulus–response bindings survive a task switch?

Abstract

Experiencing a single stimulus–response cooccurrence leads to the creation of a binding between the codes of stimulus and response features: an event file. Here we investigate whether event files survive a switch to and from another task (ABBA) or whether task switching involves a suppression of stimulus-response bindings. Participants switched between responding to the colour or the identity of coloured letters, and the mapping of stimuli to response keys varied from trial to trial. Results show that responses were faster if the stimulus in trial matched the stimulus in trial n–3, but only if the stimulus–response mapping was repeated. This suggests that stimulus codes were still bound to the codes of the response they accompanied 3 trials earlier and 2 task switches ago. Thus, an event file can survive one or more task switches and, thus, may represent a first step towards a more enduring memory trace.

Notes

¹We did not consider trial-to-trial transitions of stimuli and responses because the effects of these transitions commonly interact with—and are thus often inflated by—the task-switching factor (Hommel, Pösse, & Waszak, 2000; Pösse, 2001; Rogers & Monsell, 1995). While supporting Waszak et al.'s (2003) claim that stimuli and responses engage in bindings with the task sets they accompany, this characteristic does not allow for a meaningful comparison of the respective outcomes with the longer distance effects of S–R bindings we are interested in.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bianca Pösse

Bianca Pösse is now at the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit, Psychologischer Dienst (ZAP), Nuremberg