Task switching

Everyday life requires frequent shifts between cognitive tasks. Research reviewed in this article probes the control processes that reconfigure mental resources for a change of task by requiring subjects to switch frequently among a small set of simple tasks. Subjects' responses are substantial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTrends in cognitive sciences Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 134 - 140
Main Author Monsell, Stephen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2003
Elsevier
Subjects
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition. Intelligence
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Miscellaneous
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Human
Preparation
Topography
Central nervous system
Task switching
Activity
Cognition
Review
Change
Cognitive control
Brain (vertebrata)
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Summary:Everyday life requires frequent shifts between cognitive tasks. Research reviewed in this article probes the control processes that reconfigure mental resources for a change of task by requiring subjects to switch frequently among a small set of simple tasks. Subjects' responses are substantially slower and, usually, more error-prone immediately after a task switch. This ‘switch cost’ is reduced, but not eliminated, by an opportunity for preparation. It seems to result from both transient and long-term carry-over of ‘task-set’ activation and inhibition as well as time consumed by task-set reconfiguration processes. Neuroimaging studies of task switching have revealed extra activation in numerous brain regions when subjects prepare to change tasks and when they perform a changed task, but we cannot yet separate ‘controlling’ from ‘controlled’ regions.
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ISSN:1364-6613
1879-307X
1879-307X
DOI:10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00028-7