Switching between tasks of unequal familiarity: the role of stimulus-attribute and response-set selection.

Journal article

It has been reported that it is harder to switch to a strong, well-practiced task from a weaker, less-practiced task than vice versa. Three experiments replicated this surprising asymmetry and investigated how it is affected by a reduction in interference between tasks. Experiment 1 progressively delayed the onset of the stimulus attribute associated with the stronger task. Experiments 2 and 3 separated the response sets of the tasks. Both manipulations reduced, without eliminating, interference of the stronger with the weaker task but reversed the asymmetry of switch costs, resulting in a larger cost of switching to the weaker task. The results are interpreted in terms of a model of the interactions between control input, task strength, and task priming.

Authors: Yeung, N; Monsell, S

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 455-469
• Publication date: 2003-04-01
• DOI: 10.1037/0096-1523.29.2.455
• EISSN: 1939-1277
• ISSN: 0096-1523
• Language: English
• Keywords: Psychological Theory; Adolescent; Cues; Male; Visual Perception; Reading; Humans; Color Perception; Time Factors; Choice Behavior; Set (Psychology); Verbal Behavior; Practice (Psychology); Problem Solving; Models, Psychological; Female; Inhibition (Psychology); Adult; Reaction Time; Attention