You can't always get what you want: The influence of unexpected task constraint on voluntary task switching

• Published in: Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) Vol. 67; no. 11; pp. 2247 - 2259
• Main Authors: Weaver, Starla M., Foxe, John J., Shpaner, Marina, Wylie, Glenn R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Routledge 2014; SAGE Publications; Psychology Press
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Attention - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Choice Behavior; Cognition. Intelligence; Cues; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Miscellaneous; Photic Stimulation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Reproducibility of Results; Task preparation; Task switching; Time Factors; Voluntary task switching; Task switching; Task preparation; Voluntary task switching; Intellectual flexibility; Human; Preparation; Cognition; Experimental study
• ISSN: 1747-0218; 1747-0226
• DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2014.917115

The current study assessed the effect that unexpected task constraint, following self-generated task choice, has on task switching performance. Participants performed a modified double-registration voluntary task switching procedure in which participants specified the task they wanted to perform, were presented with a cue that, on the majority of trials, confirmed the choice, and then performed the cued task. On a small portion of trials, participants were cued to perform a task that did not match their choice. Trials on which cues unexpectedly failed to match the chosen task were associated with costs. These costs were particularly large when participants chose to switch tasks but had to unexpectedly repeat the previous task. The results suggest that when participants choose to switch tasks, they prepare for that switch in anticipation of the stimulus, and the preparation is durable such that it cannot be readily undone.