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Mendl, Jonathan ; Bratzke, Daniel ; Dreisbach, Gesine

Task switching promotes switch readiness: Evidence from forced and voluntary task switching

Mendl, Jonathan , Bratzke, Daniel und Dreisbach, Gesine (2026) Task switching promotes switch readiness: Evidence from forced and voluntary task switching. Cognition 271, S. 106458.

Veröffentlichungsdatum dieses Volltextes: 10 Feb 2026 10:56
Artikel
DOI zum Zitieren dieses Dokuments: 10.5283/epub.78631


Zusammenfassung

People find it harder to switch from one task to another than to repeat a task. One common explanation is that lingering activation of the just-executed task facilitates repetitions and impairs switching. However, beyond specific task sets, it is also conceivable that switching a task increases more abstract switch readiness, whereas repeating a task reduces switch readiness. To investigate ...

People find it harder to switch from one task to another than to repeat a task. One common explanation is that lingering activation of the just-executed task facilitates repetitions and impairs switching. However, beyond specific task sets, it is also conceivable that switching a task increases more abstract switch readiness, whereas repeating a task reduces switch readiness. To investigate switch readiness independent of task-set activation, we used consecutive chunks, each consisting of two tasks, with self-paced breaks between chunks. This way, the salient task transition happens within a chunk, independent of the task transition between chunks. In four experiments, we applied a (hybrid) task-switching paradigm with a mixture of forced choice (only one task presented) and free choice (participants can decide which task to perform). We expected an increased ability and willingness to switch (i.e., switch readiness) in the current chunk when the previous chunk entailed a task switch rather than a repetition. In line with a switch-readiness account, Experiments 1 and 2 showed reduced switch costs and increased voluntary switch rates (VSR) after a switch within the previous chunk. Furthermore, this effect transferred to new task pairs (only descriptively in Experiment 3, significantly in Experiment 4). Taken together, the present study uncovered a novel property of sequential control during task switching.



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Details

DokumentenartArtikel
Titel eines Journals oder einer ZeitschriftCognition
Verlag:Elsevier
Band:271
Seitenbereich:S. 106458
Datum4 Februar 2026
InstitutionenHumanwissenschaften > Institut für Psychologie > Lehrstuhl für Psychologie II (Allgemeine und Angewandte Psychologie) - Prof. Dr. Gesine Dreisbach
Identifikationsnummer
WertTyp
10.1016/j.cognition.2026.106458DOI
Stichwörter / KeywordsCognitive control, Voluntary task switching, Switch readiness
Dewey-Dezimal-Klassifikation100 Philosophie und Psychologie > 150 Psychologie
StatusVeröffentlicht
BegutachtetJa, diese Version wurde begutachtet
An der Universität Regensburg entstandenZum Teil
URN der UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-786314
Dokumenten-ID78631

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