The influence of response conflict on voluntary task switching: a novel test of the conflict monitoring model

Orr, Joseph M.; Carp, Joshua; Weissman, Daniel H.

doi:10.1007/s00426-011-0324-9

Cited by 28 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The main effect of agency was significant ( F (1,27) = 6.4, p < .05), as participants were faster to voluntarily choose the next task (767 ms) than they were to confirm processing of the explicit task cues (800 ms). In line with previous findings (Arrington & Logan, 2005; Orr et al, 2012; Orr & Weissman, 2011), participants were faster to choose to repeat tasks (778 ms) than to switch tasks (788 ms; F (1,27) = 4.9, p < .05). Further, there was a main effect of choice congruency ( F (1,27) = 7.7, p = .001).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

The neural mechanisms underlying internally and externally guided task selection

Orr

Banich

2014

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While some prior work suggests that medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) regions mediate freely chosen actions, other work suggests that the lateral frontal pole (LFP) is responsible for control of abstract, internal goals. The present study uses fMRI to determine whether the voluntary selection of a task in pursuit of an overall goal relies on MFC regions or the LFP. To do so, we used a modified voluntary task switching (VTS) paradigm, in which participants choose an individual task to perform on each trial (i.e., a subgoal), under instructions to perform the tasks equally often and in a random order (i.e. the overall goal). In conjunction, we examined patterns of activation in the face of irrelevant, but task-related external stimuli that might nonetheless influence task selection. While there was some evidence that the MFC was involved in voluntary task selection, we found that the LFP and anterior insula (AI) were crucial to task selection in the pursuit of an overall goal. In addition, activation of the LFP and AI increased in the face of environmental stimuli that might serve as an interfering or conflicting external bias on voluntary task choice. These findings suggest that the LFP supports task selection according to abstract, internal goals, and leaves open the possibility that MFC may guide action selection in situations lacking in such top-down biases. As such, the current study represents a critical step towards understanding the neural underpinnings of how tasks are selected voluntarily to enable an overarching goal.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

The neural mechanisms underlying internally and externally guided task selection

Orr

Banich

2014

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“…Intuitively one would think that free choices are mostly determined by our own intentions and internal goals. Previous research, however, suggests that free choices may not be as free as they seem to be, and are strongly influenced by cues from the environment or past experiences (Bargh et al, 2001;Arrington & Logan, 2005;Arrington, Weaver & Pauker, 2010;Wenke, Fleming & Haggard, 2010;Orr & Weissman, 2011;Orr, Carp, & Weissman, 2012;Demanet et al, 2013;Orr & Banich, 2014). Wenke and colleagues (2010), for example, found that subliminal primes influence the responses on free choice trials in such a way that people responded significantly more slowly when they chose to act against the prime (in a prime-incompatible way).…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of unconscious priming on voluntary actions: Role of the rostral cingulate zone

et al. 2016

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The ability to make voluntary, free choices is fundamental to what it means to be human. A key brain region that is involved in free choices is the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ), which is part of the medial frontal cortex. Previous research has shown that activity in this brain region can be modulated by bottom-up information while making free choices. The current study extends those findings, and shows, for the first time, that activation in the RCZ can also be modulated by subliminal information. We used a subliminal response priming paradigm to bias free and cued choices. We observed more activation in the RCZ when participants made a choice that went against the prime's suggestion, compared to when they chose according to the prime. This shows that the RCZ plays an important role in overcoming externally-triggered conflict between different response options, even when the stimuli triggering this conflict are not consciously perceived. Our results suggest that an important mechanism of endogenous action in the RCZ may therefore involve exerting an internally-generated action choice against conflicting influences, such as external sensory evidence. We further found that subliminal information also modulated activity in the anterior insula and the supramarginal gyrus.

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“…In these studies, the focus is generally on measures of task choice rather than performance and they address questions related to why subjects select to perform a given task on the current trial when it is not uniquely specified by the characteristics of the experimental environment. Task choice is influenced by many factors including preparation time (Arrington & Logan, 2005), concurrent working memory load (Demanet, Verbruggen, Liefooghe, & Vandierendonck, 2010; Weaver & Arrington, 2010; Weywadt & Butler, 2013), stimulus repetition (Mayr & Bell, 2006), task difficulty (Liefooghe, Demanet, & Vandierendonck, 2010; Orr, Carp, & Weismann, 2011; Yeung, 2010), and individual differences in executive control (Arrington & Yates, 2009). Looking across these various studies, it is apparent that task choice involves both internally- and externally-driven processes.…”

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Rethinking volitional control over task choice in multitask environments: Use of a stimulus set selection strategy in voluntary task switching

Arrington

Weaver

2015

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Under conditions of volitional control in multitask environments, subjects may engage in a variety of strategies to guide task selection. The current research examines whether subjects may sometimes use a top-down control strategy of selecting a task-irrelevant stimulus dimension, such as location, to guide task selection. We term this approach a stimulus set selection strategy. Using a voluntary task switching procedure, subjects voluntarily switched between categorizing letter and number stimuli that appeared in two, four, or eight possible target locations. Effects of stimulus availability, manipulated by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony between the two target stimuli, and location repetition were analyzed to assess the use of a stimulus set selection strategy. Considered across position condition, Experiment 1 showed effects of both stimulus availability and location repetition on task choice suggesting that only in the 2-position condition, where selection based on location always results in a target at the selected location, subjects may have been using a stimulus set selection strategy on some trials. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these findings in a visually more cluttered environment. These results indicate that, contrary to current models of task selection in voluntary task switching, the top-down control of task selection may occur in the absence of the formation of an intention to perform a particular task.

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The influence of response conflict on voluntary task switching: a novel test of the conflict monitoring model

Cited by 28 publications

References 38 publications

The neural mechanisms underlying internally and externally guided task selection

The neural mechanisms underlying internally and externally guided task selection

Influences of unconscious priming on voluntary actions: Role of the rostral cingulate zone

Rethinking volitional control over task choice in multitask environments: Use of a stimulus set selection strategy in voluntary task switching

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