Control in context: The theta rhythm provides evidence for reactive control but no evidence for proactive control.

A prime goal of psychological science is to understand how humans can flexibly adapt to rapidly changing contexts. The foundation of this cognitive flexibility rests on contextual adjustments of cognitive control, which can be tested using the list-wide proportion congruency effect (LWPC). Blocks with mostly incongruent (MI) trials show smaller conflict interference effects compared to blocks with mostly congruent (MC) trials. A critical debate is how proactive and reactive control processes drive contextual adjustments. In this preregistered study (N = 30), we address this conundrum, by using the theta rhythm as a key neural marker for cognitive control. In a confound-minimized Stroop paradigm with short alternating MC and MI blocks, we tested reaction times, error rates, and participants' individualized theta activity (2-7 Hz) in the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram. An LWPC effect was found for both, reaction times and error rates. Importantly, the results provided clear evidence for reactive control processes in the theta rhythm: Theta power was higher in rare incongruent compared with congruent trials in MC blocks, but there was no such modulation in MI blocks. However, regarding proactive control, there were no differences in sustained theta power between MC and MI blocks. A complementary analysis of the alpha activity (8-14 Hz) also revealed no evidence for sustained attentional resources in MI blocks. These findings suggest that contextual adjustments rely mainly on reactive control processes in the theta rhythm. Proactive control, in the present study, may be limited to a flexible attentional shift but does not seem to require sustained theta activity.

Flexibility by association? No evidence for an influence of cue-transition associations on voluntary task switching.

Some situations require cognitive flexibility, whereas others call for cognitive stability. Recent theories posit lower-level associative learning processes as the basis of contextual control. The present study incorporates six experiments to investigate whether cognitive flexibility can be triggered by task-irrelevant color cues in the task-switching paradigm. In the first learning phase, the cue colors were repeatedly paired with certain task transitions (repetition, switch) without explicit instruction. In the following test phase, voluntary trials were intermixed (where participants can freely choose the task) to measure the voluntary switch rate (VSR) in response to the color cues. For Experiment 2a, cue size and duration were increased, and the learning phase was extended. Additionally, in Experiment 2b, the second half of the test phase consisted of 100% free choices. Experiment 3 contained catch trials to ensure cue processing. In Experiment 4, two tasks of unequal difficulty were used. Experiments 1-4 provided evidence for the null hypothesis indicating no effect of the transition association on the VSR (all BF10 < 0.265). The control Experiment 5 ruled out that the null effect was due to the insensitivity of the paradigm. Therefore, flexibility by association appears to be harder to achieve than recent accounts suggest. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of objective and introspective switch costs in voluntary task choice.

Human beings are cognitive misers. One facet of this effort avoidance is the reluctance to voluntarily switch tasks when repeating the same task is allowed. Yet participants voluntarily switch despite the resulting costs. This paradox might be resolved if the individual switching ability or sensitivity is considered. Here, we investigated whether the voluntary switch rate (VSR) is governed by the objective or the subjective (introspective) switch costs. Three experiments were conducted utilizing voluntary task switching with forced and free task choices intermixed. In Experiments 1 and 3, objective switch costs were measured on forced tasks, and subjective switch costs were calculated from (introspectively) estimated reaction times in a separate phase. In Experiment 2, objective and subjective costs were measured in the same phase. In Experiments 2 and 3, we additionally manipulated the forced switch rate. Results show that objective and subjective switch costs were lower in blocks with higher forced switch rates. The objective switch costs predicted VSR in Experiments 1 and (partially) 3. The subjective switch costs predicted the VSR only in Experiment 3 (the lower the costs, the higher the VSR). Hence, the present study offers first insight into under which circumstances introspection guides decision-making during voluntary task switching. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigating anticipatory processes during sequentially changing reward prospect: An ERP study.

Performance-contingent reward prospect modulates the stability-flexibility balance in voluntary task switching. High reward prospect typically increases stability, indicated by a low voluntary switch rate (VSR). But this effect depends on the immediate reward history: Only when a high reward repeats (reward remains high), stability is increased. In contrast, when reward increases (high reward following low reward) cognitive flexibility is promoted, indicated by a relatively high VSR. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of changing reward expectations during voluntary task choice, we conducted two experiments and measured reward cue-locked event-related potentials (P2, P3b, CNV). The experiments yielded consistent findings: The P2 was stronger in response to high vs. low reward reflecting an early attentional boost by high reward anticipation. The P3b was highest in increase, intermediate in remain-high, and lowest in low reward trials suggesting responsiveness to working memory updating and motivational arousal. Finally, the CNV increased over time and was sensitive to both reward magnitude and sequence with the lowest amplitude in reward remain-low trials suggesting that preparatory control only increases when worth the effort. Taken together, early attentional processes (P2) were boosted by mere reward magnitude, while later processes (P3b, CNV) were sensitive to both reward magnitude and its sequence.

Are You Keeping an Eye on Me? The Influence of Competition and Cooperation on Joint Simon Task Performance.

Social interaction plays an important role in human life. While there are instances that require cooperation, there are others that force people to compete rather than to cooperate, in order to achieve certain goals. A key question is how the deployment of attention differs between cooperative and competitive situation; however, empirical investigations have yielded inconsistent results. By manipulating the (in-)dependence of individuals via performance-contingent incentives, in a visual go-nogo Simon task the current study aimed at improving our understanding of complementary task performance in a joint action context. In the independent condition each participant received what s/he achieves; in the cooperative condition each participant received the half of what both achieved, and in the competitive condition participants were instructed that the winner takes it all. Extending previous findings, we found sequential processing adjustments of the Simon effect as a function of the interdependency (i.e., competition, cooperation) and transition between (i.e., go-nogo requirements) interacting individuals. While sequential processing adjustments of the Simon effect in both the competition and cooperation condition were unaffected when alternating between responsible actors (i.e., nogo-go transition), sequential processing adjustments were enlarged under competition for repeating responsibilities of one and the same actor (i.e., go-go transitions). In other words, the prospect of performance-contingent reward in a competitive context exclusively impacts flexible behavioral adjustments of one's own actions. Rather than fostering the consideration and differentiation of the other actor, pushing one's own performance to the limit appears to be the suitable strategy in competitive instances of complementary tasks. Therefore, people keep their eyes on themselves when aiming at beating a co-actor and emerging as the winner.