Motivation Science, Vol 10(4), Dec 2024, 290-298; doi:10.1037/mot0000347
Human decision making is often described in terms of economic cost–benefit analyses. In voluntary task switching, the typical avoidance of task switches (repetition bias) has been primarily explained by effort costs. The present study investigated whether temporal costs independent of effort also guide the decision to switch. In two preregistered experiments (NE1 = 86; NE2 = 85), we used a hybrid task-switching paradigm with a mixture of predetermined (forced-choice) and voluntary (free-choice) trials. The duration of the intertrial interval after a switch was manipulated between blocks to be either always longer or always shorter than after a repetition. The results showed increased voluntary switch rates in blocks with a shorter interval following switches whereas the performance was not affected. Moreover, the effect was still evident in Experiment 2, where the interval was manipulated only after forced-choice task switches. This suggests that the temporal costs associated with switching contribute to the switch avoidance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)