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Contextual Adaptation of Cognitive Flexibility is driven by Task- and Item-Level Learning.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Siqi-Liu, A; Egner, T
Published in: Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience
August 2020

Adaptive behavior requires finding, and adjusting, an optimal tradeoff between focusing on a current task-set (cognitive stability) and updating that task-set when the environment changes (cognitive flexibility). Such dynamic adjustments of cognitive flexibility are observed in cued task-switching paradigms, where switch costs tend to decrease as the proportion of switch trials over blocks increases. However, the learning mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, here referred to as the list-wide proportion switch effect (LWPSE), are currently unknown. We addressed this question across four behavioral experiments. Experiment 1 replicated the basic LWPSE reported in previous studies. Having participants switch between three instead of two tasks, Experiment 2 demonstrated that the LWPSE is preserved even when the specific alternate task to switch to cannot be anticipated. Experiments 3a and 3b tested for the generalization of list-wide switch-readiness to an unbiased "transfer task," presented equally often as switch and repeat trials, by intermixing the transfer task with biased tasks. Despite the list-wide bias, the LWPSE was only found for biased tasks, suggesting that the modulations of switch costs are task set and/or task stimulus (item)-specific. To evaluate these two possibilities, Experiment 4 employed biased versus unbiased stimuli within biased task sets and found switch-cost modulations for both stimuli sets. These results establish how people adapt their stability-flexibility tradeoff to different contexts. Specifically, our findings show that people learn to associate context-appropriate levels of switch readiness with switch-predictive cues, provided by task sets as well as specific task stimuli.

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Published In

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1531-135X

ISSN

1530-7026

Publication Date

August 2020

Volume

20

Issue

4

Start / End Page

757 / 782

Related Subject Headings

  • Transfer, Psychology
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual
  • Humans
  • Generalization, Psychological
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Executive Function
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Association
  • Adult
 

Citation

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Siqi-Liu, A., & Egner, T. (2020). Contextual Adaptation of Cognitive Flexibility is driven by Task- and Item-Level Learning. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 20(4), 757–782. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-020-00801-9
Siqi-Liu, Audrey, and Tobias Egner. “Contextual Adaptation of Cognitive Flexibility is driven by Task- and Item-Level Learning.Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience 20, no. 4 (August 2020): 757–82. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-020-00801-9.
Siqi-Liu A, Egner T. Contextual Adaptation of Cognitive Flexibility is driven by Task- and Item-Level Learning. Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience. 2020 Aug;20(4):757–82.
Siqi-Liu, Audrey, and Tobias Egner. “Contextual Adaptation of Cognitive Flexibility is driven by Task- and Item-Level Learning.Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 20, no. 4, Aug. 2020, pp. 757–82. Epmc, doi:10.3758/s13415-020-00801-9.
Siqi-Liu A, Egner T. Contextual Adaptation of Cognitive Flexibility is driven by Task- and Item-Level Learning. Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience. 2020 Aug;20(4):757–782.
Journal cover image

Published In

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1531-135X

ISSN

1530-7026

Publication Date

August 2020

Volume

20

Issue

4

Start / End Page

757 / 782

Related Subject Headings

  • Transfer, Psychology
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual
  • Humans
  • Generalization, Psychological
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Executive Function
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Association
  • Adult