It's Hard to Prepare for Task Novelty: Cueing the Novelty of Upcoming Tasks Does Not Facilitate Task Performance.

Rapidly learning new tasks, such as using new technology or playing a new game, is ubiquitous in our daily lives. Previous studies suggest that our brain relies on different networks for rapid task learning versus retrieving known tasks from memory, and behavioral studies have shown that novel versus practiced tasks may rely on different task configuration processes. Here, we investigated whether explicitly informing about the novelty of an incoming task would help participants prepare for different task configuration processes, such as pre-adjusting working memory gating functions.

Dynamic changes in task preparation in a multi-task environment: The task transformation paradigm.

A key element of human flexible behavior concerns the ability to continuously predict and prepare for sudden changes in tasks or actions. Here, we tested whether people can dynamically modulate task preparation processes and decision-making strategies when the identity of a to-be-performed task becomes uncertain. To this end, we developed a new paradigm where participants need to prepare for one of nine tasks on each trial.