Control and interference in task switching: A review
Kiesel and colleagues review research that uses task switching to study cognitive control and task interference. They cover experimental designs such as mixed against single-task blocks, predictable switching, task cuing and voluntary task selection, and then preparatory control, including whether preparation is specific to switching and how it relates to cue encoding and memory retrieval. On interference, they cite asymmetrical switch costs and n-2 repetition costs as evidence of proactive inhibition, and distinguish stimulus-based from response-based interference. The review closes with directions for future research.
Kiesel and colleagues review research that uses task switching to study cognitive control and task interference. They cover experimental designs such as mixed against single-task blocks, predictable switching, task cuing and voluntary task selection, and then preparatory control, including whether preparation is specific to switching and how it relates to cue encoding and memory retrieval. On interference, they cite asymmetrical switch costs and n-2 repetition costs as evidence of proactive inhibition, and distinguish stimulus-based from response-based interference. The review closes with directions for future research.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-26 via OpenAlex.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Kiesel, A., Steinhauser, M., Wendt, M., Falkenstein, M., Jost, K., Philipp, A. M., & Koch, I. (2010). Control and interference in task switching: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(5), 849-874. doi:10.1037/a0019842