Previous work demonstrated task cues to trigger task set activation. Furthermore, activated task sets were shown to influence masked semantic priming according to the attentional sensitization model of unconscious cognition. In a paradigm combining induction task trials (cued task sets actually had to be performed) and task cue-only trials (task sets were merely cued but not performed), subsequent masked semantic priming in a lexical decision task (LDT) was larger for a semantic compared to a perceptual task set in induction task trials. However, in task cue-only trials the opposite pattern was observed: Priming was larger following perceptual than semantic task sets in task cue-only trials. This indicates that task sets were suppressed, if the cued task had not to be applied (Berger, Kunde, & Kiefer, 2022).
In the present work, we studied how the previously observed data pattern is shaped by manipulating the time point of task set application. The paradigm was similar to earlier studies, but the induction task was delayed after the LDT, i.e. the task sets had to remain activated during the LDT to perform a possibly following induction task. Summarizing the results, we observed larger masked semantic priming following a merely cued semantic task set compared to a perceptual one, indicating task sets to remain activated if task set application is not completed. This suggests a crucial role of task demands for determining the time course of task set activation / de-activation.