Succumbing to Bottom-Up Biases on Task Choice Predicts Increased Switch Costs in the Voluntary Task Switching Paradigm

Orr, Joseph M.; Weissman, Daniel H. · 2011 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00031

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Summary

This study investigates whether bottom-up biases influence voluntary task choice and whether succumbing to these biases reflects a reduction in top-down control that affects subsequent performance. Previous research suggested that an "availability heuristic" drives participants to repeat tasks, but definitive evidence was lacking because task choice and performance were typically confounded by a single response. To resolve this, Orr and Weissman employed a paradigm where task choice and task performance were temporally separated, allowing for independent measurement of decision-making and execution. The experiment involved 54 participants performing a voluntary task switching version of the numerical Stroop task. Participants chose between comparing digits by numerical size or physical size. Crucially, the central cue was flanked by distracter letters ("N" for numerical, "P" for physical, or "O" for neutral) that primed specific tasks via bottom-up associations. Task choice was indicated by a left-hand key press, while task performance (identifying the larger digit) was indicated by a right-hand key press. This design allowed the researchers to distinguish between "congruent" choices (choosing the task primed by the distracter) and "incongruent" choices. The results confirmed that bottom-up biases significantly influenced voluntary task choice. Participants were biased to choose the task associated with the distracter letters, evidenced by a positive task choice index for "N" distracters and a negative index for "P" distracters. This bias was stronger following explicit task choice trials than voluntary ones. Furthermore, succumbing to these bottom-up biases predicted increased switch costs during subsequent performance. Specifically, switch costs were significantly larger (70 ms) after congruent task choices compared to incongruent (47 ms) or neutral (50 ms) choices. This effect persisted even when isolating voluntary trials, where switch costs were 67 ms for congruent choices versus 33 ms for incongruent ones. These findings provide compelling evidence that bottom-up processes influence voluntary task selection through the availability heuristic. More importantly, the increased switch costs following congruent choices suggest that yielding to bottom-up biases reflects a transient reduction in top-down control. This reduction in control persists into the subsequent trial, impairing the ability to switch tasks efficiently. The study thus clarifies the mechanism behind task-repetition biases, demonstrating that they are not merely strategic choices but reflect a failure of top-down regulation that has measurable consequences for cognitive performance.

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• task switching