title: Response-repetition costs in choice-RT tasks: biased expectancies or response inhibition?
abstract: Repetition effects are often viewed as informative regarding the cognitive mechanisms of action control. One particular finding, namely costs for repeating the same response in subsequent trials, especially challenges theorizing. Costs for response repetitions have recently been reported in task-switch studies on task-switch trials (whereas benefits usually arise in task-repetition trials), but also in some choice-RT task studies. In three experiments, two of the most successful accounts for the response-repetition costs in choice-RT task studies and task switching were tested: an expectancy-based explanation, and an inhibition-based account. Using a choice-RT task introduced by Smith (1968) and manipulating the response-stimulus interval (RSI) and the categorizability of the stimuli, some specific predictions of the two accounts were tested. The results clearly revealed that expectancy-based explanations fail to account for the observed patterns of effects, whereas they are well in line with the predictions from the inhibition-based account. Finally, the results are further discussed with respect to alternative accounts from the field of task switching.
authors.affiliation: University of Zurich, Department of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, Binzmühlestrasse 14/22, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: m.druey@psychologie.uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Michel D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Druey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011336:Probability; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: 2343 Learning & Memory; 2346 Attention; 2346 Motor Processes; Action control; Expectancy; Response inhibition; Sequential effects; Task switching