Cognitive control over learning: Creating, clustering, and generalizing task-set structure.

Anne G. E. Collins; Michael J. Frank

doi:10.1037/a0030852

A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000125 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Kerstin Jost ◽

Wouter De Baene ◽

Iring Koch ◽

Marcel Brass

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Task Switching ◽

Task Switch ◽

Task Set ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Set Switching ◽

Controversial Topic ◽

Cue Encoding ◽

Cue Processing

The role of cue processing has become a controversial topic in research on cognitive control using task-switching procedures. Some authors suggested a priming account to explain switch costs as a form of encoding benefit when the cue from the previous trial is repeated and hence challenged theories that attribute task-switch costs to task-set (re)configuration. A rich body of empirical evidence has evolved that indeed shows that cue-encoding repetition priming is an important component in task switching. However, these studies also demonstrate that there are usually substantial “true” task-switch costs. Here, we review this behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence. Moreover, we describe alternative approaches to the explicit task-cuing procedure, such as the usage of transition cues or the task-span procedure. In addition, we address issues related to the type of cue, such as cue transparency. We also discuss methodological and theoretical implications and argue that the explicit task-cuing procedure is suitable to address issues of cognitive control and task-set switching.

Download Full-text

Who Comes First? The Role of the Prefrontal and Parietal Cortex in Cognitive Control

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/0898929054985400 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 17 (9) ◽

pp. 1367-1375 ◽

Cited By ~ 143

Author(s):

Marcel Brass ◽

Markus Ullsperger ◽

Thomas R. Knoesche ◽

D. Yves von Cramon ◽

Natalie A. Phillips

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Parietal Cortex ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Brain Regions ◽

High Temporal Resolution ◽

Cortical Region ◽

Task Set ◽

Related Potentials

Cognitive control processes enable us to adjust our behavior to changing environmental demands. Although neuropsychological studies suggest that the critical cortical region for cognitive control is the prefrontal cortex, neuro-imaging studies have emphasized the interplay of prefrontal and parietal cortices. This raises the fundamental question about the different contributions of prefrontal and parietal areas in cognitive control. It was assumed that the prefrontal cortex biases processing in posterior brain regions. This assumption leads to the hypothesis that neural activity in the prefrontal cortex should precede parietal activity in cognitive control. The present study tested this assumption by combining results from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) providing high spatial resolution and event-related potentials (ERPs) to gain high temporal resolution. We collected ERP data using a modified task-switching paradigm. In this paradigm, a situation where the same task was indicated by two different cues was compared with a situation where two cues indicated different tasks. Only the latter condition required updating of the task set. Task-set updating was associated with a midline negative ERP deflection peaking around 470 msec. We placed dipoles in regions activated in a previous fMRI study that used the same paradigm (left inferior frontal junction, right inferior frontal gyrus, right parietal cortex) and fitted their directions and magnitudes to the ERP effect. The frontal dipoles contributed to the ERP effect earlier than the parietal dipole, providing support for the view that the prefrontal cortex is involved in updating of general task representations and biases relevant stimulus-response associations in the parietal cortex.

Download Full-text