Task Switching
Two simple judgements (e.g. is a digit odd/even, or less/greater than five) share the same two response keys; on each trial a cue indicates which judgement to make. Responses are slower and more error-prone on trials where the required task differs from the previous trial (a switch) than where it repeats — the switch cost — indexing the cost of reconfiguring task set. Whether a trial is a switch or a repeat is not a property of its stimulus but of its position in the sequence, which is what makes this its own family.
- Defining contrast
switch-cost-rt (condition-difference)- Family
- task-switching
- Human review
- sourced — unreviewed
- Executable test
- verify:task — an implementation can be driven and judged against this spec
- Schema
- spec version 5
- Catalog entry
- Task Switching in the paradigm catalog
Where this spec stands
This record is sourced. The ladder below is the human-review axis
only — a passing executable test never moves a record up it.
sourcedLiterature-linked, drafted with LLM assistance or by a contributor, and unreviewed. The honest default.corroboratedIndependently cross-checked against the cited sources, but not signed by a named expert.expert-annotatedAll three claims attested by named experts. Derived, never self-declared.contestedA named expert disputes at least one claim. A real outcome, kept visible.
Origin reference
- Rogers, R. D., & Monsell, S. (1995). Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124(2), 207-231. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207
Review this specification
Three separable claims: does the contrast identify the paradigm, is it a defensible measure of the named construct, and are the psychometric numbers correctly conditioned? Attest one, contest another — a split outcome is a real result.