ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1536926
Exploring the ERP Trace of Task-set Control in the Composite Design Task-switching Paradigm
Provisionally accepted
- Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
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In task-switching paradigms, Switch Positivity, the N2 difference wave, and the P3 difference wave are typically observed in the cue-target interval (CTI) design, where the cue precedes the target. The ERP components are indicative of task-set control processes (i.e., task-set reconfiguration and task-set inertia). However, in the composite design, where the cue and target appear simultaneously, these components are absent. Previous research has hypothesized that in the composite design task-switching experiments, participants may employ compound retrieval strategies based on associative learning to complete the tasks. This strategy circumvents task rules, thereby eliminating ERP components related to task-set control. This study aims to examine whether the use of compound retrieval strategies affects the task-set related ERP components. In Experiment 1, we manipulated participants' semantic understanding of the target stimuli to control their strategies. Participants in the compound retrieval group exclusively used the compound retrieval strategy, while those in the control group could employ both the compound retrieval strategy and task rules. In Experiment 2, we varied the number of target stimuli to influence participants' strategies, with participants in the task rule group utilizing task rules, and those in the control group permitted to use both task rules and the compound retrieval strategy. The results revealed that Switch Positivity, the N2 difference wave, and the P3 difference wave were absent across all group conditions, regardless of the strategies employed. These findings suggest that the disappearance of these ERP components in the composite design is not attributable to the use of compound retrieval strategies.
Keywords: task-set control, compound retrieval strategies, task-switching, switch positivity, N2, P3
Received: 29 Nov 2024; Accepted: 18 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Tian and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fangyuan Zhou, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200072, Shanghai Municipality, China
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