Modality compatibility in task switching depends on processing codes and task demands

Friedgen, Erik; Koch, Iring; Stephan, Denise Nadine · 2021 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01412-2

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates how modality compatibility—the match between the sensory modality of a stimulus and the anticipated sensory effect of a response—influences task-switching performance. Previous research indicated that switching between modality-incompatible mappings (e.g., auditory-manual and visual-vocal) incurs higher switch costs than switching between compatible mappings (e.g., auditory-vocal and visual-manual). The authors hypothesized that strengthening the coupling between stimulus processing codes and response effects would amplify this interference. Specifically, they tested whether using spatial-verbal stimuli (Experiment 1) or temporal discrimination tasks (Experiment 2) would increase modality-specific task interference compared to spatial-location stimuli or spatial localization tasks, respectively. In Experiment 1, 24 participants performed a spatial-discrimination task using either spatial-location stimuli (visual diamonds or auditory tones on left/right) or spatial-verbal stimuli (visual/spoken words “left”/“right”). Responses were either manual (button press) or vocal (saying “left”/“right”). The design included single-task and mixed-task blocks to assess mixing and switch costs. Results showed that spatial-verbal stimuli significantly increased the modality-compatibility effect on mixing costs. Mixing costs were substantially larger for modality-incompatible mappings than compatible ones when using spatial-verbal stimuli (121 ms vs. 36 ms), whereas the difference was smaller for spatial-location stimuli. This suggests that verbal processing codes strengthen the auditory-vocal coupling, leading to greater crosstalk between tasks in incompatible conditions. Experiment 2 replicated this design but replaced spatial-verbal stimuli with a temporal-duration discrimination task (short vs. long stimuli), aiming to leverage auditory dominance in temporal processing. The results mirrored Experiment 1: temporal discrimination tasks increased the modality-compatibility effect on mixing costs. Participants exhibited larger mixing costs for incompatible mappings compared to compatible ones under temporal demands, supporting the prediction that task demands influencing modality-specific processing codes affect interference levels. The findings demonstrate that modality compatibility effects in task switching are not static but depend on the strength of the association between stimulus processing codes and response effects. Strengthening the auditory-vocal link through verbal stimuli or temporal tasks increases task confusion and interference in modality-incompatible conditions. This provides further evidence for the modality-specificity of cognitive control processes, suggesting that visual-spatial and auditory-verbal subsystems operate with distinct resources and that interference arises from the specific overlap of these processing codes during task switching.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• task switching
• multisensory crossmodal