Investigating task preparation and task performance as triggers of the backward inhibition effect.

ABSTRACT: Backward inhibition is posited to aid task switching by counteracting the tendency to repeat a recent task. Evidence that factors such as cue transparency affect backward inhibition seems to imply that it is generated during task preparation, making its absence following trials on which a prepared task was not performed (nogo trials) surprising. However, the nogo method used in previous studies might have prevented detection of preparation-driven effects. We used a truncated-trial method instead, omitting stages of a trial with no need for a nogo signal. In Experiment 1, an n - 2 repetition cost (suggested to indicate backward inhibition) followed trials truncated after response selection, indicating that response execution is not necessary to trigger backward inhibition. In Experiments 2

SUBMITTER: Prosser LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10366292 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature