Separating cue encoding from target processing in the explicit task-cuing procedure: Are there "true" task switch effects?

Arrington, Catherine M.; Logan, Gordon D.; Schneider, Darryl W. · 2007 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.33.3.484

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Summary

This study investigates whether "true" task-switching costs exist independently of cue-encoding processes in the explicit task-cuing paradigm. Previous research struggled to distinguish between costs arising from switching tasks and benefits derived from repeating cues, as these factors were often confounded. The authors aimed to empirically separate cue encoding from target processing to determine if task-switch effects persist when cue encoding is isolated. Additionally, the study sought to identify the nature of cue representations, testing whether they are verbal/phonological or semantic/categorical. To achieve this separation, the authors conducted six experiments requiring participants to make an overt response to a cue before performing the cued task on a target stimulus. This procedure enforced serial processing, allowing the measurement of cue response times (RTs) and target RTs independently. The experiments manipulated the type of cue response: some required identifying the specific cue presented (1:1 mapping), while others required identifying the task associated with the cue (2:1 mapping). By analyzing transition effects (cue repetitions, task repetitions, and task alternations) in both cue and target RTs, the researchers could determine if cue encoding effects spilled over into target processing. The results demonstrated that cue encoding could be successfully separated from target processing only when the cue response required identifying the task (2:1 mapping), rather than the specific cue. In conditions where separation was successful, significant task-switch effects were observed in target RTs, indicating the existence of "true" task-switch costs independent of cue encoding. Conversely, when participants responded to the specific cue (1:1 mapping), cue-switch effects spilled over into target RTs, indicating that verbal or phonological representations were insufficient for complete cue encoding. The findings suggest that cue encoding produces a semantic, categorical representation of the task rather than a verbal representation of the cue itself. These findings challenge models that attribute all task-switch costs to cue-encoding priming or reconfiguration processes that occur solely during cue processing. Instead, the results support the existence of distinct target-processing costs associated with task switching. The study implies that cue encoding results in abstract semantic representations that facilitate task preparation, but that additional processing costs occur during target execution when tasks alternate. This distinction refines theoretical models of executive control, suggesting that task-switching performance involves both semantic cue encoding and independent target-processing mechanisms.

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• task switching