Commentary: Task-Switching in Pigeons: Associative Learning or Executive Control?

Frontiers in Psychology

Xiangqian Li¹ 

关键词: task switching;    executive control;    associative learning;    monkey;    pigeon;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01420

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Switching between two tasks impairs human performance—resulting in what is known as task-switching costs (TSCs): Human participants perform more slowly and are more error-prone in switch trials compared to repeat trials (Vandierendonck et al., 2010). One of the most prominent theories, the task-set reconfiguration account suggests that switching to a new task-set involves a rule-based cognitive process (Monsell et al., 2003). Task-set reconfiguration requires executive control (EC) that is not necessary when repeating tasks. Although “task-set” and “EC” are not well-defined concepts, subjects must understand the task rules before they can reconfigure a task-set. Consequently, this account predicts that TSCs should disappear if subjects switch between tasks without applying task rules. In contrast to this prediction, it was found that bivalent stimuli triggered TSCs even when participants had no explicit understanding of the task rules (Forrest et al., 2014). This suggests that processes other than reconfiguration and EC contribute to TSCs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY