Working memory costs of task switching.

Liefooghe, Baptist; Barrouillet, Pierre; Vandierendonck, André; Camos, Valérie · 2008 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.34.3.478

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Summary

This study investigates the impact of task switching on working memory functioning, addressing a gap in the literature where theoretical accounts often posit working memory as a primary source of switch costs, yet empirical evidence for additional working memory demands during switching remains scarce. The authors aim to determine whether task switching imposes a specific cost on the concurrent maintenance of information within working memory, thereby testing the hypothesis that switching and storage share a common limited resource, specifically attention. To address this, the researchers conducted a series of four experiments utilizing continuous complex span tasks with strictly controlled time parameters. This methodology allows for the precise measurement of the "cognitive cost" of specific processes by observing their detrimental effect on the recall of concurrently maintained items. The design is grounded in the time-based resource sharing theory of working memory, which posits that attention is a limited resource that must be switched between processing tasks and the refreshing of decaying memory traces. By manipulating the number of task switches while controlling for other variables, the study isolates the specific contribution of switching to working memory load. The results demonstrate that recall performance significantly decreased as a function of the number of task switches performed. This finding provides direct evidence that task switching induces a measurable cost on working memory functioning, interfering with the maintenance of information. Crucially, the study found that the concurrent load of item maintenance had no influence on the task switching performance itself. This asymmetry suggests that while switching consumes attentional resources necessary for refreshing memory traces, the act of maintaining items does not hinder the switching process. These findings contradict previous studies, such as those by Logan (2004) and Kane et al. (2007), which suggested an independence between task switching and working memory maintenance. The significance of these findings lies in their support for a unitary view of working memory resources, specifically regarding the role of attention. The results imply that task switching and working memory maintenance do not rely on separate, independent resources but rather compete for a shared attentional capacity. This challenges accounts that attribute switch costs solely to priming effects or long-term memory retrieval without involving working memory resources. Instead, the study confirms that executive control processes involved in switching actively occupy attention, thereby preventing the frequent refreshing of memory traces and leading to decay. These conclusions have important implications for theories of cognitive control, suggesting that the flexibility to switch tasks comes at a direct cost to the stability of working memory contents.

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Topics

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• task switching
• dual task performance