Department of Psychology.
School of Psychology.
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2019 Nov;45(11):2051-2071. doi: 10.1037/xlm0000692. Epub 2019 Feb 7.
In experiments with univalent target stimuli, task-switching costs can be eliminated if participants are unaware of the task rules and apply cue-target-response associations. However, in experiments with bivalent target stimuli, participants show task-switching costs. Participants may exhibit switch costs even when no task rules are provided in the instructions because they can infer the task rules. We tested this prediction by controlling the meaningfulness of cues and targets and therefore the ability to apply the task rules in 2 groups of participants. We compared the performance of Chinese and non-Chinese participants, who responded to Chinese numerals in an odd/even and high/low number task. In Experiment 1, Chinese participants, who knew Chinese characters and understood the task rules, showed task-switching costs. Non-Chinese participants on the other hand, who did not know Chinese characters, exhibited no switch costs. They applied a "target-first" strategy which means that they processed the target stimulus before the cue. In Experiment 2, we confirmed the absence of task-switching costs in Chinese participants using traditional Chinese numerals as target stimuli. Further, to determine how the target-first strategy affects switch costs, we manipulated the sequence of cue and target presentations. We conclude that task-switching costs can be eliminated more easily than previously thought, even for bivalent stimuli. The occurrence of task-switching costs depends on the approach used by participants and this may answer the puzzling question why humans typically do show task-switching costs whereas pigeons and monkeys do not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
在使用单价目标刺激的实验中，如果参与者不知道任务规则并且应用线索-目标-反应关联，那么任务转换成本可以消除。然而，在使用双价目标刺激的实验中，参与者会表现出任务转换成本。即使在指令中没有提供任务规则，参与者也可能表现出转换成本，因为他们可以推断出任务规则。我们通过控制线索和目标的意义，从而控制在两组参与者中应用任务规则的能力，来检验这一预测。我们比较了中国和非中国参与者的表现，他们在奇数/偶数和高/低数字任务中对中文数字做出反应。在实验 1 中，知道汉字并理解任务规则的中国参与者表现出任务转换成本。另一方面，不知道汉字的非中国参与者则没有转换成本。他们应用了“目标优先”策略，这意味着他们在线索之前处理目标刺激。在实验 2 中，我们使用传统的中文数字作为目标刺激，确认了中国参与者不存在任务转换成本。此外，为了确定目标优先策略如何影响转换成本，我们操纵了线索和目标呈现的顺序。我们得出结论，任务转换成本可以比以前想象的更容易消除，即使是对于双价刺激。任务转换成本的发生取决于参与者使用的方法，这可能回答了一个令人困惑的问题，即为什么人类通常会表现出任务转换成本，而鸽子和猴子则不会。（PsycINFO 数据库记录（c）2019 APA，保留所有权利）。
