Task-set decay, response set, and action monitoring

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Cognitive control is assumed to establish context-specific representations of tasks ( task sets ) in task switching. Current theories assume a task-set decay process after task performance and prior to performing the subsequent task. However, this decay process has remained functionally underspecified. The aim of the present project is to specify the functional target of decay in task switching. The first hypothesis is that decay refers to the response set , which represents the cognitive meaning of the responses according to the current task goal. The second hypothesis is that the process of response-set biasing continues even after response execution, so that the onset of decay is related to the completion of response-set biasing rather than to the completion of the overt response. Finally, it is hypothesized that response- set biasing in task switching is related to reinforcement learning based on a generic action monitoring system. The project aims to provide empirical evidence for these hypotheses concerning functionally specified cognitive mechanisms. On the theoretical level, this project also aims to connect theories of response set in task switching to theories of action (or error ) monitoring in single-task situations.