Examining binding effects on task switch costs and response-repetition effects: Variations of the cue modality and stimulus modality in task switching

Abstract

Typically, response-repetition effects are obtained in task-switching experiments: In task repetitions, performance is enhanced when the response, too, repeats (response-repetition benefits), whereas in task switches, performance is impaired when the response repeats (response-repetition costs). A previous study introduced cue modality switches in a cued task-switching paradigm with visual stimuli and obtained enhanced response-repetition benefits when the cue modality repeated (Koch, Frings, & Schuch Psychological Research, 82, 570–579, 2018). In the present study, we aimed to replicate this finding with auditory stimuli (Exp. 1), and further examined whether response-repetition effects could be modulated by introducing stimulus modality switches (Exp. 2). We found clear evidence that the cue modality and stimulus modality affect task switch costs. The task switch costs were higher with a repeated cue modality or stimulus modality. However, cue modality switches or stimulus modality switches did not affect the response-repetition effects. We suggest that response-repetition effects are elicited by response-associated bindings, which are not necessarily affected by all episodic task features to the same extent. Our results are also in line with theoretical accounts that assume a hierarchical organization of task selection and response selection.