Cognitive control protects processing of relevant information from interference by irrelevant information. The level of this processing selectivity can be flexibly adjusted to different control demands (e.g., frequency of conflict) associated with a certain context, leading to the formation of specific context-control associations. In the present study we investigated the robustness and transferability of the acquired context-control demands to new situations. In three experiments, we used a version of the context-specific proportion congruence (CSPC) paradigm, in which each context (e.g., location) is associated with a specific conflict frequency, determining high and low control demands. In a learning phase, associations between context and control demands were established. In a subsequent transfer block, stimulus-response mappings, whole task sets, or context-control demands changed. Results showed an impressive robustness of context-control associations, as context-specific adjustments of control from the learning phase were virtually unaffected by new stimuli and tasks in the transfer block. Only a change of the context-control demand eliminated the context-specific adjustment of control. These findings suggest that context-control associations that have proven to be adaptive in the past are continuously applied despite major changes in the task structure as long as the context-control associations remain the same.

No abstract

No abstract

Urgent calls by the younger generation and the scientific community to approach sustainability only seem to scratch the surface of individuals’ awareness while ecological destruction moves forward. In this regard, current dominant mindsets claiming a human–nature separation appear to hamper change by not granting nature dignity and her own voice. Therefore, the scientific community is inviting us to embrace Indigenous ontologies and an overall spiritual connectedness with nature in our lives. Yet, in times of crisis, it is unclear how individuals can overcome prevailing mind-action gaps—and instead turn towards sustainable caring human–nature relationships. Against this background, this conceptual paper elaborates, in a first step, individual human–nature resonance as a relational integrative framework to study psychological transformation processes and their supporting capabilities. In a second step, a ritual-based intervention is elaborated to nurture the quality of this relationship between human and nonhuman nature which is experientially enriched with insights from psychotherapy. Transdisciplinary research in the form of self-experience completes the research process. Eventually, we plead for openness in favor of adopting “lived wholeness” as a solution for sustainability transformations—of ourselves, science, and our relationship with nonhuman nature. Graphical abstract Including icons (concept: Müller, design: Bongaerts; IOER 2022)