Switching between tasks of unequal familiarity: the role of stimulus-attribute and response-set selection.
It has been reported that it is harder to switch to a strong, well-practiced task from a weaker, less-practiced task than vice versa. Three experiments replicated this surprising asymmetry and investigated how it is affected by a reduction in interference between tasks. Experiment 1 progressively delayed the onset of the stimulus attribute associated with the stronger task. Experiments 2 and 3 separated the response sets of the tasks. Both manipulations reduced, without eliminating, interference of the stronger with the weaker task but reversed the asymmetry of switch costs, resulting in a larger cost of switching to the weaker task. The results are interpreted in terms of a model of the interactions between control input, task strength, and task priming.
Yeung
Nick
N
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, England. nyeung@princeton.edu
Monsell
Stephen
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012718:Set, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology