Repetition costs in sequence chunking

• Published in: Psychonomic bulletin & review Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 802 - 818
• Main Authors: Brown, Rachel M., Koch, Iring
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Brief Report; Cognitive Psychology; Costs; Efficiency; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Planning; Practice, Psychological; Psychology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Serial Learning - physiology; Young Adult; Sequence length; Chunking; Sequence production; Action switching; Action-effect compatibility
• ISSN: 1069-9384; 1531-5320
• DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02338-7

We examined how flexibly we plan sequences of actions when we switch between multiple action sequences. Mastering a sequential skill is assumed to involve integrating successive actions into groups known as chunks that can be efficiently planned and smoothly executed. Chunking is suggested by gains in planning efficiency for long compared to short action sequences following practice and learning associations between actions and perceptual outcomes. Less is understood about how efficiently we plan sequential chunks when we switch between multiple action sequences. Do we plan learned chunks less efficiently when we switch to a different action sequence? We examined this question by comparing the initiation and execution latencies of long versus short action sequences, performed from memory, when sequences switched or repeated across trials. Additionally, each action within the sequences generated predictable perceptual outcomes that were either spatially compatible or spatially incompatible with the action sequences. Results suggested repetition costs (instead of benefits) when performing long sequences. Repetition, as opposed to switching, prolonged initiation and increased the error rate of long compared to short sequences. We attribute these results to the flexible coordination of chunk planning and execution. Repetition may prolong advanced planning of long sequences in order to resolve conflict between multiple chunks, and switching may allow the planning of later chunks to be postponed until execution. We propose that the chunking of action sequences can both facilitate and interfere with action-switching performance.