Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
Psychol Bull. 2010 Sep;136(5):849-74. doi: 10.1037/a0019842.
The task-switching paradigm offers enormous possibilities to study cognitive control as well as task interference. The current review provides an overview of recent research on both topics. First, we review different experimental approaches to task switching, such as comparing mixed-task blocks with single-task blocks, predictable task-switching and task-cuing paradigms, intermittent instructions, and voluntary task selection. In the 2nd part, we discuss findings on preparatory control mechanisms in task switching and theoretical accounts of task preparation. We consider preparation processes in two-stage models, consider preparation as an all-or-none process, address the question of whether preparation is switch-specific, reflect on preparation as interaction of cue encoding and memory retrieval, and discuss the impact of verbal mediation on preparation. In the 3rd part, we turn to interference phenomena in task switching. We consider proactive interference of tasks and inhibition of recently performed tasks indicated by asymmetrical switch costs and n-2 task-repetition costs. We discuss stimulus-based interference as a result of stimulus-based response activation and stimulus-based task activation, and response-based interference because of applying bivalent rather than univalent responses, response repetition effects, and carryover of response selection and execution. In the 4th and final part, we mention possible future research fields.
任务转换范式为研究认知控制和任务干扰提供了巨大的可能性。本综述概述了这两个主题的最新研究。首先，我们回顾了任务转换的不同实验方法，例如将混合任务块与单一任务块进行比较、可预测的任务转换和任务提示范式、间歇性指令和自愿任务选择。在第 2 部分中，我们讨论了任务转换中预备控制机制的发现和任务准备的理论解释。我们考虑了两阶段模型中的准备过程，将准备视为全有或全无的过程，探讨了准备是否针对特定的转换，反思了准备作为提示编码和记忆检索的相互作用，以及讨论了言语中介对准备的影响。在第 3 部分，我们转向任务转换中的干扰现象。我们考虑了任务的前摄干扰和最近执行任务的抑制，表现为不对称的转换成本和 n-2 任务重复成本。我们讨论了基于刺激的干扰，这是由于基于刺激的反应激活和基于刺激的任务激活，以及基于反应的干扰，这是由于应用双价而不是单价反应、反应重复效应以及反应选择和执行的延续。在第 4 部分和最后一部分，我们提到了可能的未来研究领域。
