Dynamics of task preparation processes revealed by effect course analysis on response times and error rates

Berger, Alexander; Kiefer, Markus · 2024 · OpenAlex

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54823-1

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Summary

This study investigates the plasticity of task preparation processes, addressing the gap in research regarding how cue-induced preparation changes with practice. While practice-related changes in task execution are well-documented, evidence for similar plasticity in preparation is scarce. The authors challenge the traditional assumption that cognitive processes remain stationary throughout an experimental session, arguing that aggregating data across trials obscures fine-grained, practice-induced modifications. To address this, the paper introduces and validates a new analytical method, the "effect course analysis," and applies it to examine how task cues modulate subsequent masked semantic priming over time. The effect course analysis is a model-free, non-parametric method designed to reveal effect changes on a continuous time scale. It utilizes smoothed response times (RTs) and error rates (ERs) calculated via moving averages to reduce single-trial variability, followed by cluster-based permutation tests to identify significant effects extending over multiple trials. The method was first validated in Study 1 by re-analyzing data from a large-scale lexical decision study. The analysis successfully recovered previously described effect courses: a word/nonword effect that increased then decreased, and a response repetition effect that emerged after initial trials. In Study 2, the authors applied this method to a task-switching paradigm where participants processed task cues (semantic or perceptual) followed by a masked primed lexical decision task, with task execution postponed. The results revealed that task cuing amplified task-relevant processing pathways (indicated by enhanced semantic priming) only at the beginning of the experiment. This modulation vanished after approximately 15–20 trials. Exploratory analyses based on prior practice performance showed that participants with better initial practice exhibited a stronger but more rapidly vanishing effect, whereas those with poorer practice showed a weaker but more sustained modulation. The findings demonstrate that task preparation processes are plastically modified during an experimental session. The authors conclude that participants initially activate full task sets in response to cues to facilitate later execution, but with practice, they shift to merely remembering task identity, postponing set activation until necessary. This qualitative change reduces interference with the concurrent lexical task. The study highlights the importance of analyzing the time course of experimental effects to detect such dynamic cognitive adaptations, which are missed by traditional aggregate analyses.

Key finding

Task-set cues boosted masked semantic priming early in practice but not after extended practice, showing that task-preparation effects are non-stationary across trials.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: N=67 (Study 2; 78 recruited, 11 excluded)

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• task switching