Clever homunculus: is there an endogenous act of control in the explicit task-cuing procedure?

Abstract

Does the explicit task-cuing procedure require an endogenous a act of control? In 5 experiments, cues indicating which task to perform preceded targets by several stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). Two models were developed to account for changes in reaction time (RT) with SOA. Model 1 assumed an endogenous act of task switching for cue alterations but not for cue repetitions. Model 2 assumed no such act. In Experiments 1 and 2, the cue was masked or not masked. Masking interacted underadditively with repetition and alternation, consistent with Model 2 but not Model 1. In Experiments 3 and 4, 2 cues were used for each task. RT was slower for task repetition than for cue repetition and about the same as RT for task alternation, consistent with Model 2 but not Model 1. The results suggest that the explicit task-cuing procedure does not require an endogenous act of control.