Learning and Using Different Task Rule Updating Strategies Require Extensive Practice

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Abstract
People adjust how fast they update task rules, depending on the volatility of their environment, by regulating cognitive control accordingly. We investigated whether this adaptation is primarily driven by recently experienced volatility in task demands, or can also be shaped by learned environmental knowledge indicating expected levels of volatility. To this end, we trained participants on a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test task where different environments required different speeds of task rule updating. We demonstrate that, initially, participants adopted task rule updating strategies depending on the most recently experienced levels of volatility and feedback (Experiment 1). However, after extensive (4 days) training (Experiment 2), participants updated task rules using strategies based on developed environmental knowledge. We also show how participants fine‐tuned their task rule updating strategies over learning. In sum, our findings provide important insights into how humans update task rules using different strategies and highlight the importance of multiday training in developing environmental knowledge for the regulation of cognitive control.
Funding Information
  • Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (G010319N)
  • HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council (852570)

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