Individual differences in task switching

The Relationship Between Individual Differences in Switching Performance and Task Engagement

“…One important future direction is to follow up the assumed foundation that greater task switching frequency in these high demand, complex tasks is a proxy for some underlying ability. There is some evidence of a unified underlying ability in voluntary task switching (e.g., Wasylyshyn, 2007), and that there can be systematic differences in the ability to shift between two tasks that is unrelated to simultaneous task performance (Alzahabi & Becker, 2013). However, the current data offer no direct evidence of which differences in cognitive mechanisms support effective and efficient strategic task switching.…”

Processing Speed Predicts Mean Performance in Task-Switching but Not Task-Switching Cost

“…Participants who showed faster processing speeds tend to have better task-switching abilities resulting in a negative association between processing speed and task-switching costs (r = À.69 in Salthouse et al, 1998;β = À0.23 in Moretti et al, 2018). Similarly, Wasylyshyn (2007) reported that processing speed accounted for 36%∼42% of the variance in inter-individual taskswitching abilities.…”

“…2) measuring "task-switching" taps into visuomotor processing speed. For example, both Salthouse et al (1998) and Wasylyshyn (2007) used a same/different pattern comparison task to assess processing speed. Participants were asked to discriminate whether patterns presented side by side were the same or different from each other.…”

“…Task-switching is a core aspect of human cognitive control (Diamond, 2013; Miyake et al, 2000; Miyake & Friedmen, 2012). Previous studies have shown considerable individual differences in task-switching abilities: For some participants shifting between different tasks is almost effortless, whereas for other participants shifting between different tasks can seriously impair performance (e.g., Li, et al, 2019; Li et al, 2020; Lindsen & De Jong, 2010); Salthouse, et al, 1998, Stoet & Snyder, 2007; Umemoto & Holroyd, 2016; Wasylyshyn, 2007).…”

“…Since performing in pattern comparison tasks requires a certain degree of “task-switching” and performance in task-switching requires a certain degree of “pattern comparison,” performances in these tasks may be correlated. Therefore, processing speed may account for task-switching ability in these tasks (i.e., Moretti et al, 2018; Salthouse et al, 1998; Wasylyshyn, 2007).…”