Item-specific priming of voluntary task switches

The ability to switch efficiently between different tasks underpins cognitive flexibility and is impaired in various psychiatric disorders. Recent research has suggested that the control processes mediating switching can be subject to learning, because "switch readiness" can become associated with, and primed by, specific stimuli. In cued task switching, items that are frequently associated with the need to switch incur a smaller behavioral switch cost than do items associated with a low probability of switching, known as the item-specific switch probability (ISSP) effect (Chiu & Egner, 2017). However, it remains unknown whether ISSP associations modulate the efficiency of only cued switching or also impact people's voluntary choice to switch tasks. Here, we addressed this question by combining an ISSP manipulation with a protocol that mixed 75% standard cued task trials with 25% free choice trials, allowing us to measure the effect of ISSP on voluntary switch rate (VSR). We observed robust ISSP effects on cued trials, replicating previous findings. Crucially, we also found that the VSR was greater for items associated with a high than with a low switch likelihood. We thus demonstrate that associating specific stimuli with frequent switch requirements not only reduces switch costs but also enhances participants' tendency to switch voluntarily. Public Significance Statement A hallmark of human cognition is people's cognitive flexibility, reflected in the ability to efficiently switch between different tasks, which is impaired by many psychiatric disorders. A recent study demonstrated that the efficiency with which people switch tasks, or "switch readiness," can be improved through learning: People become better at switching tasks for stimuli that are frequently associated with the need to switch compared to stimuli that are rarely associated with switching. In the present study, we show that frequent-switch stimuli also increase people's tendency to switch tasks when they are allowed to choose which task to perform. This finding suggests that it might be possible to employ stimulus-specific cuing of switch readiness to enhance both the ability and the choice to behave more flexibly in clinical populations with deficits in cognitive flexibility.