Random rewards reduce task-switch costs.

Task switching is effortful as it requires overcoming habitual task sets and reconfiguring new ones. Smaller switch costs can facilitate productivity and efficiency in modern work environments, where multitasking is crucial. However, the mechanisms to reduce switch costs are not fully understood, limiting reliable enhancement of this skill through interventions.

Learned switch readiness via concurrent activation of task sets: Evidence from task specificity and memory load.

Cognitive flexibility increases when switch demands increase. In task switching experiments, repeated pairing of flexibility-demanding situations with specific contexts leads subjects to become more prepared to adapt to changing task demands in those contexts. One form of such upregulated cognitive flexibility has been demonstrated with a list-wide switch probability (LWSP) effect, where switch costs are smaller in lists with frequent switches than in lists with rare switches.