The nature of residual cost in regular switch response factors

Two experiments are presented that compare the residual cost found when switching from one task to another under predictable conditions. The aim of the study was to explore the roles played by the stimulus, the response, or both in the process of the mental set reconfiguration necessary to switch between two tasks. The experiments tested [Rogers, R. D., & Monsell, S. (1995). Cost of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, 207–231] stimulus-cued-completion hypothesis and [Schuch, S., & Koch, I. (2003). The role of response selection for inhibition of task sets in task shifting. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 29, 92–105] hypothesis of response selection as the key factor in the nature of switch cost. In the first experiment, two conditions were created that varied in terms of a Go/No-Go signal: The Go trials were a replication of [Tornay, F. J., & Milán, E. G. (2001). A more complete task-set reconfiguration in random than in predictable task switch. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 785–803 Experiment 3]; The No-Go trials were identical to the first condition, except that participants did not execute a response in the trial n − 1 (Schuch & Koch, 2003). In addition, the percentage of Go and No-Go trials was manipulated. The results showed that the cost was significant only in the high Go signal-frequency case (Experiment 2), with an abrupt offset in Go trials and a gradual offset in No-Go trials. Based on the results of these experiments, it was concluded that the crucial factor to complete a mental set reconfiguration is response-related and not stimulus-related.