Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University.
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2021 Oct;47(10):1329-1347. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000942.
Current cognitive control accounts view goal-directed behavior as striking a balance between two antagonistic control demands: Stability, on the one hand, reflects a rigid, focused state of control and flexibility, while on the other, reflects a relaxed, distractible state, whereby goals can be rapidly updated to meet unexpected changes in demands. In the current study, we sought to test whether the avoidance of cognitive demand could motivate people to dynamically regulate control along the stability-flexibility continuum. In both cued (Experiment 1) and voluntary (Experiment 2) task-switching paradigms, we selectively associated either task-switches or task-repetitions with high cognitive demand (independent of task identity), and measured changes in performance in a following phase after the demand manipulation was removed. Contrasting performance with a control group, across both experiments, we found that selectively associating cognitive demand with task repetitions increased flexibility, but selectively associating cognitive demand with task switches failed to increase stability. The results of the current study provide novel evidence for avoidance-driven modulations of control regulation along the stability-flexibility continuum, while also highlighting some limitations in using task-switching paradigms to examine motivational influences on control adaptation. Data, analysis code, experiment code, and preprint available at osf.io/7rct9/. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
当前的认知控制理论认为，目标导向行为是在两种对立的控制需求之间取得平衡的结果：一方面，稳定性反映了一种僵化、专注的控制状态，而灵活性则反映了一种放松、易分散注意力的状态，从而可以快速更新目标以适应需求的意外变化。在当前的研究中，我们试图测试避免认知需求是否会促使人们沿着稳定性-灵活性连续体动态地调节控制。在提示（实验 1）和自愿（实验 2）任务转换范式中，我们选择性地将任务转换或任务重复与高认知需求相关联（与任务身份无关），并在需求操作消除后测量后续阶段的性能变化。与对照组进行对比实验 1 和实验 2 的结果均表明，选择性地将认知需求与任务重复相关联会增加灵活性，但选择性地将认知需求与任务转换相关联并不能提高稳定性。本研究的结果为避免认知需求驱动的控制调节沿着稳定性-灵活性连续体提供了新的证据，同时也强调了使用任务转换范式来研究控制适应的动机影响的一些局限性。数据、分析代码、实验代码和预印本可在 osf.io/7rct9/ 上获取。
