Abstract
In this paper, we aimed to investigate the role of self-generated predictions in the flexible control of behavior. Therefore, we ran a task switching experiment in which participants were asked to try to predict the upcoming task in three conditions varying in switch rate (30, 50, and 70%). Irrespective of their predictions, the color of the target indicated which task participants had to perform. In line with previous studies (Mayr, 2006; Monsell and Mizon, 2006), the switch cost was attenuated as the switch rate increased. Importantly, a clear task repetition bias was found in all conditions, yet the task repetition prediction rate dropped from 78 over 66 to 49% with increasing switch probability in the three conditions. Irrespective of condition, the switch cost was strongly reduced in expectation of a task alternation compared to the cost of an unexpected task alternation following repetition predictions. Hence, our data suggest that the reduction in the switch cost with increasing switch probability is caused by a diminished expectancy for the task to repeat. Taken together, this paper highlights the importance of predictions in the flexible control of behavior, and suggests a crucial role for task repetition expectancy in the context-sensitive adjusting of task switching performance.
Highlights
A hallmark of human cognition lies in the ability to proactively anticipate relevant future events and steer both action and perception
The analysis revealed a two-way interaction between Sequence and Condition, F (2, 43) = 11.05, p < 0.0001, implying that the size of the switch cost was significantly affected by the transitional manipulation
Apart from the main effect of Sequence, F (1, 43) = 59.89, p < 0.0001, reflecting a switch cost, the analysis revealed a marginally significant main effect of Prediction, F (1, 43) = 3.87, p = 0.056, indicating that number targets were responded to 17 ms slower following alternation predictions than following repetition predictions
Summary
A hallmark of human cognition lies in the ability to proactively anticipate relevant future events and steer both action and perception . Current influential theories of cognition advance this proactive prediction generation ability as a central mechanism of brain functioning, marking a shift away from the view of the brain passively reacting to incoming stimulation. Predictive representations of both visual (e.g., Bar, 2007; Summerfield and Egner, 2009), auditory (Kumar et al, 2011), and olfactory (Zelano et al, 2011) information have been shown to guide and prepare the brain for a forthcoming stimulus, aiding information processing in a noisy and unpredictable environment. In line with the conception of the predictive brain, this paper aimed to investigate how selfgenerated predictions can flexibly steer attentional control through advance preparation, by referring to recent empirical work in the Stroop conflict task (Duthoo et al, submitted) and providing new evidence from a task switching experiment
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