title: The origin of switch costs: task preparation or task application?
abstract: Recent studies have shown that switch costs (i.e., slower responding on task-alternation trials than on task-repetition trials) are not observed when on the preceding trial a no-go signal instructed the participant to withhold the response to the target stimulus. This finding suggests that neither task set is inhibited on no-go trials, and that the origin of switch costs is located in the application of the task set to the target stimulus. However, these studies also showed that responding after a no-go trial is substantially slower than after a go trial. This suggests that both task sets are inhibited on no-go trials and that switch costs originate from the preparation of a task set. In two experiments we created conditions that revealed an absence of switch costs in conjunction with relatively fast responding after no-go trials. Together these findings confirm that switch costs originate from the application of the task set.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. sa.los@psy.vu.nl
authors.forename: Sander A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Los
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van der Burg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D003657:Decision Making; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult