Submission 126
Independent Mechanisms of Cognitive Control in Dual-Task Settings: Evidence from Task-Pair Sequence and Response-Conflict Manipulations
SymposiumTalk-05
Presented by: Patricia Hirsch
In dual-task situations, the two component tasks are assumed to be represented jointly within a single cognitive representation, termed task-pair set. Switching between task-pairs typically incurs performance costs, reflecting the need to reconfigure the active task-pair set or to overcome proactive interference. Recent findings have shown that these task-pair switch costs are smaller after a task-pair switch than after a task-pair repetition, reflecting a sequential modulation of task-pair switch costs. The present study investigated whether this modulation is influenced by adaptive control adjustments to response-level conflict. To this end, we varied the proportion of incongruent trials within a block. Incongruent trials required spatially distinct responses in the component tasks, whereas congruent trials required spatially overlapping responses. We replicated the standard task-pair switch costs and their sequential modulation. However, neither effect was influenced by the proportion of incongruent trials. This finding suggests that when participants engage more proactive control to handle frequent response conflicts, task-pair set control remains unaffected. Thus, adaptive control over response conflict and task-pair selection appear to rely on independent mechanisms.