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The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue

Considerable fundamental studies have focused on the mechanisms governing cognitive flexibility and the associated costs of switching between tasks. Task-switching costs refer to the phenomenon that reaction times and accuracy decrease briefly following the switch from one task to another. However,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hinss, Marcel F., Brock, Anke M., Roy, Raphaëlle N.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9955658/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36827288
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279021
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author Hinss, Marcel F.
Brock, Anke M.
Roy, Raphaëlle N.
author_facet Hinss, Marcel F.
Brock, Anke M.
Roy, Raphaëlle N.
author_sort Hinss, Marcel F.
collection PubMed
description Considerable fundamental studies have focused on the mechanisms governing cognitive flexibility and the associated costs of switching between tasks. Task-switching costs refer to the phenomenon that reaction times and accuracy decrease briefly following the switch from one task to another. However, cognitive flexibility also impacts day-to-day life in many complex work environments where operators have to perform several different tasks. One major difference between typical tasks examined in fundamental studies and real-world applications is that fundamental studies often rely on much more similar tasks, which is not the case for real-world applications. In the latter, operators may switch between vastly dissimilar tasks. Therefore, this behavioural study aims to test if task-switching costs are different for switches between similar and dissimilar tasks. The proposed protocol has participants switch between 2 pairs of two tasks each. Between pairs, there is more dissimilarity, while the two tasks within each pair are more similar. In addition, this study examines the impact of mental fatigue and interference in form of confounding information on cognitive flexibility. To induce mental fatigue the participants’ breaks between blocks will be limited. We expect that dissimilarity between tasks will result in greater task-switching costs.
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spelling pubmed-99556582023-02-25 The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue Hinss, Marcel F. Brock, Anke M. Roy, Raphaëlle N. PLoS One Registered Report Protocol Considerable fundamental studies have focused on the mechanisms governing cognitive flexibility and the associated costs of switching between tasks. Task-switching costs refer to the phenomenon that reaction times and accuracy decrease briefly following the switch from one task to another. However, cognitive flexibility also impacts day-to-day life in many complex work environments where operators have to perform several different tasks. One major difference between typical tasks examined in fundamental studies and real-world applications is that fundamental studies often rely on much more similar tasks, which is not the case for real-world applications. In the latter, operators may switch between vastly dissimilar tasks. Therefore, this behavioural study aims to test if task-switching costs are different for switches between similar and dissimilar tasks. The proposed protocol has participants switch between 2 pairs of two tasks each. Between pairs, there is more dissimilarity, while the two tasks within each pair are more similar. In addition, this study examines the impact of mental fatigue and interference in form of confounding information on cognitive flexibility. To induce mental fatigue the participants’ breaks between blocks will be limited. We expect that dissimilarity between tasks will result in greater task-switching costs. Public Library of Science 2023-02-24 /pmc/articles/PMC9955658/ /pubmed/36827288 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279021 Text en © 2023 Hinss et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Registered Report Protocol
Hinss, Marcel F.
Brock, Anke M.
Roy, Raphaëlle N.
The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
title The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
title_full The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
title_fullStr The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
title_full_unstemmed The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
title_short The double task-switching protocol: An investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
title_sort double task-switching protocol: an investigation into the effects of similarity and conflict on cognitive flexibility in the context of mental fatigue
topic Registered Report Protocol
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9955658/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36827288
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279021
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