The Contextual Specificity of Backward Compatibility Effects

Abstract

Dual task studies have found that Task 2 response information is activated during Task 1 response selection, and can have a priming effect on Task 1. This is called the backward compatibility effect (BCE). Giammarco et al. (2016) found that single-task practice of Task 2 in the context of a random, filler task (Practice-T2 condition) extinguished BCE development in a subsequent dual-task. On the other hand, practicing Task 2 in the context of Task 1 (Practice-Both condition) promoted BCE development in subsequent dual-tasks. Experiment 1a sought to replicate this context-specific disruption of BCE development by presenting participants with a single-task practice phase where they practiced Task 2 along with a filler task, and then observed BCE development in a subsequent dual-task phase. Experiment 1b addressed a counterbalancing issue in Experiment 1a. Experiment 2 was an exact replication of the Practice-T2 condition used in Giammarco et al. (2016). Overall, we conceptually replicated the context-specific disruption of BCE in Experiment 2, but not in Experiments 1a and 1b. Further study is warranted to determine the effect of specific response features on the learning context of Task 2.