Across-task conflict regulation: a replication failure.

Fernandez-Duque and Knight (2008, Experiment 4) described an across-task effect of endogenously generated, anticipatory control: A cue that predicted conflict in an upcoming Eriksen flanker task modulated conflict regulation in a subsequent number Stroop task. In 3 experiments, 1 of which included an exact replication condition, we failed to observe the expected across-task effect. However, a reanalysis of our data revealed a conflict adaptation effect: Number task processing on incongruent trials was influenced by random fluctuations in flanker task performance. Our findings, alongside reports of reactive across-task conflict regulation (Freitas, Bahar, Yang, & Banai, 2007), challenge Fernandez-Duque and Knight's claim that across-task effects are a distinctive feature of anticipatory cognitive control.