Persisting inhibition biases efficient rule inference under uncertainty

Abstract

Introduction: Task set inhibition supports optimal switching among tasks by actively suppressing the interference from recently executed competing task sets. It is typically studied in cued task-switching paradigms where there is no uncertainty about the task set or rule to prepare for on each trial. While inhibition has been shown to influence the speed and the accuracy of task execution, affecting task set retrieval, preparation, or implementation in conditions of task set switching, it remains uninvestigated whether it also affects rule selection under uncertainty.

Methods: We implemented an ad-hoc four-rule card sorting task and categorized the rules selected by participants after a rule shift according to the recency of their last usage. We included a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) to control for its involvement in the rule selection process.

Results: Participants exhibited a reduced preference for recently abandoned rules than less recently abandoned ones. Furthermore, we found that such a preference was not associated with WMC.

Discussion: The results suggest that decision-making processes underlying rule inference and selection may be influenced by task-set inhibition, configuring as a conflict adjustment mechanism to the sequential history of rules application.

Keywords: cognitive control; decision making; inhibition; rule inference; set shifting; task set; task switching.