Task uncertainty can account for mixing and switch costs in task-switching
Our everyday world is bubbling with information; from commuter timetables and text messages to advertisements and infotainment. How do our brains sieve through this information and select where to allocate precious cognitive resources?
PhD students in the School of Psychology, Patrick Cooper and Jaime Rennie, and Honours student, Paul Garrett, are certain that uncertainty plays an important part. In this paper, they mathematically quantified the amount of uncertainty present in different stimuli and examined whether this affected the resources needed to process these stimuli. They then applied this algorithm to many different studies. Regardless of the source of uncertainty, similar levels of equivocation affected performance in the same way, with more 'uncertain' stimuli requiring more cognitive resources. These findings suggest that a simple and parsimonious process of resolution of uncertainty may help explain how the brain allocates cognitive resources.
Contact
- Ami Eidels
- Phone: (02) 4921 7089
Related news
- Launch of the School Students’ Statement on the Right to a Healthy Environment
- Funding boost to technology for lower emission steel
- Newcastle team on mission to improve childhood cancer outcomes
- Shanae’s passion for caring delivers her dream to work in health
- Food and nutrition degree serves Keren a rewarding career
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.