Department of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstr. 31, 93053, Regensburg, Germany.
Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Psychol Res. 2021 Apr;85(3):1066-1083. doi: 10.1007/s00426-020-01297-1. Epub 2020 Feb 17.
Task performance improves when the required tasks are predicted by the preceding time intervals, suggesting that participants form time-based task expectancies. In the present study, we pursued the question whether temporal predictability of tasks can also influence task choice. For this purpose, we conducted three experiments using a hybrid task-switching paradigm (with two tasks) combining forced-choice and free-choice trials. Each trial was preceded by either a short (500 ms) or a long (1500 ms) foreperiod. In forced-choice trials, the instructed task was predicted by the length of the foreperiod (Exp. 1A and 1B: 100% foreperiod-task contingencies; Exp. 2: 80% foreperiod-task contingencies). In the remaining trials, participants were free to choose which task to perform. In all three experiments, we found that participants' task choice was influenced by the foreperiod-task contingencies implemented in forced-choice trials. Specifically, participants were overall biased to choose tasks compatible with these contingencies; these compatible choice rates were larger for the short compared to the long foreperiod. Our findings suggest that learned time-based task expectancies influence subjects' voluntary task choice and that an initially present task bias toward the "short" task is not always overcome at the long foreperiod. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms against the background of voluntary task switching and interval timing.
当所需任务可以被前一时间间隔预测时，任务表现会提高，这表明参与者形成了基于时间的任务期望。在本研究中，我们探讨了任务的时间可预测性是否也会影响任务选择。为此，我们使用了一种结合了强制选择和自由选择试验的混合任务转换范式（有两个任务）进行了三项实验。每个试验之前都有一个短（500 毫秒）或长（1500 毫秒）的预备期。在强制选择试验中，预备期的长度预测了被指示的任务（实验 1A 和 1B：100%预备期-任务关联；实验 2：80%预备期-任务关联）。在其余的试验中，参与者可以自由选择要执行的任务。在所有三个实验中，我们发现参与者的任务选择受到了强制选择试验中预备期-任务关联的影响。具体来说，参与者总体上倾向于选择与这些关联一致的任务；与长预备期相比，短预备期的这种兼容选择率更大。我们的发现表明，基于时间的习得任务期望会影响受试者的自愿任务选择，并且在长预备期时，对“短”任务的初始任务偏向并不总是被克服。我们在自愿任务转换和间隔计时的背景下讨论了潜在的潜在机制。
