The Role of Adaptive Cognitive Control in Voluntary Task Selection.

Cognitive Control;Task Switching;Performance Monitoring;Psychology;Social Sciences;Psychology

Orr, Joseph MichaelJonides, John ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Cognitive Control;    Task Switching;    Performance Monitoring;    Psychology;    Social Sciences;    Psychology;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/89740/oricon_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Adaptive control processes underlie our ability to flexibly guide behavior in pursuit of our current goals. An important aspect of adaptive control is monitoring for signs of poor performance (e.g., interference or errors) which may indicate that increased control is needed. Current models of control posit that when poor performance is detected, control mechanisms enhance the representation of the current task in working memory. While these control mechanisms are largely understood in terms of their effects on task performance, it is unclear how they influence task selection in multitasking environments. Detecting poor performance in the current task may provide an important signal that more resources should be dedicated to the task at hand, rather than switching to a different task. We predicted that 1) resolving interference during task selection would recruit control to improve subsequent performance; 2) detecting interference or errors during task performance would lead to an enhancement of the current task which would bias subsequent task choices; and 3) the amount of resources dedicated to processing a task would predict whether participants would repeat or switch tasks on the next trial. Findings from Chapters 2 and 3 supported the first prediction: when conflict during task selection was successfully resolved, subsequent task performance was improved relative to when there was no conflict or when the conflict was not resolved. The findings of Chapter 3 also demonstrate that there are robust bottom-up biases on task choice, and that overcoming these biases relies on the recruitment of control. The second prediction was supported in Chapter 4, we found that while both response conflict interference and errors were associated with a bias to repeat tasks on the next trial, only response conflict appeared to be resolved by control. Finally, in Chapter 5, we found that the strength of a task’s representation, as measured by the P3 component, predicted whether participants would repeat or switch on the next trial. In line with previous studies, repeating tasks (versus switching tasks) was associated with a stronger task representation on the previous trial. Together, these studies demonstrate the importance of adaptive control in mediating task selection.