ERIC Number: EJ1384734
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-May
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: EISSN-1939-1285
Task Foreknowledge Swallows Item-Specific but Not List-Wide Control Learning Effects
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v49 n5 p776-792 May 2023
Recent context-control learning studies have shown that switch costs are reduced in a particular context predicting a high probability of switching as compared to another context predicting a low probability of switching. These context-specific switch probability effects suggest that control of task sets, through experience, can become associated with a particular context cue and be retrieved subsequently to modulate task-switching efficiency. However, advanced task foreknowledge, mediated by top-down retrieval of a specific task set, also modulates switch costs, as shown in the task-switching literature. Here, we examined how the retrieval of task sets interacts with the retrieval of task control. In Experiments 1 and 2, we provided the task foreknowledge midway through the experiment and examined how it might alter the item-specific switch probability (ISSP) effect and the list-wide switch probability effect (LWSP). Both ISSP and LWSP effects were replicated with no task foreknowledge, demonstrating modulations of switch costs due to context-control learning. These modulations, however, were swallowed once task foreknowledge became available, likely due to the certainty of task foreknowledge overpowering learned probabilistic information. Experiment 3 provided task foreknowledge throughout and compared how it affects the list- versus the item-based control learning. In this case, we detected the LWSP but not the ISSP effect. Experiment 3's findings suggest that, with task foreknowledge, list-based context-control learning does modulate switch costs--likely because the switch probability associations are retrieved proactively. Together, these data suggest that task-switching performance benefits from multiple paths to retrieve information in memory, best if done proactively.
Descriptors: Learning Processes, Prior Learning, Task Analysis, Cognitive Ability, Probability, Item Analysis, Context Effect, Prediction, Cues, Correlation, Memory, Associative Learning, Professional Personnel, Information Technology, Undergraduate Students, Classification, Pictorial Stimuli, Reaction Time, Error Patterns
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Indiana
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/pg4es/