Neural Interference Between Tasks Predicts Training Transfer
Poster No:
867
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Yuxuan Wang1, Yuxin Zhou1, Ying Cai1
Institutions:
1Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
First Author:
Yuxuan Wang
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Training transfer indicates that training on one task can improve other untrained tasks. Accumulating studies suggested that greater similarities between trained and untrained tasks led to larger probabilities of training transfer, while how to qualify task similarity that can predict training transfer remains unclear. This study explored this question from a novel perspective of task interference (Cohen et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2020).
Methods:
Forty-one subjects participated in our study (21 females, mean age = 20.35 ± 0.89). On Day 1, participants completed color and orientation change detection tasks (Figure 1A; Cai, 2022). In each trial, four stimuli were presented for 200 ms, either from the same category (4 colors or 4 orientations, "4O" or "4C") or a mixed category (2 colors and 2 orientations, "2O2C"). After a 1000 ms delay, participants judged whether the probed stimulus had changed. Before the normal experiment, task difficulties were matched by adjusting the changed degrees of colors or orientations (F_1,160=0.008，p=0.276). To estimate the behavioral interference (BI), we computed the accuracy differences between the same and mixed category conditions for two tasks, then subtracted these differences from 1. As a result, larger BIs indicate stronger resource competition between tasks. On Day 2, participants completed similar tasks when EEGs were recorded. The experiment included only same-category trials, where two blocks included both color and orientation trials ("switch condition"), and the other two blocks included only color or orientation trials ("repeat condition"). To obtain the neural interference (NI), we computed the ERP differences between the switch and repeat conditions for two tasks and subtracted these differences from 1. Thus, larger NIs indicate greater neural similarities between tasks. Finally, participants were randomly assigned to two groups for difficulty-adaptive color or orientation recall training (5 days, 1h per day; Figure 1A). In the recall tasks, participants recalled either the color or orientation based on a response wheel. Participants completed independent color and orientation recall tasks before and after the training to access training transfer.
Results:
First, we found that accuracies were higher in mixed-category conditions than in same-category conditions (〖Fs 〗_1,160>20.53，ps<.001), with a larger BI in the orientation task than in the color task (t(40) = 4.05, p < .001; Figure 1B). Meanwhile, during the recall period in the color task, the amplitude of the frontal ERP was larger under the switch condition compared to the repetition condition (p = 0.042), with a larger NI in the orientation task than in the color task (t(40) = 2.24, p = 0.031; Figure 1C). Both behavioral and neural results indicated that the orientation task was more strongly interfered with by the color task than vice versa. Consistently, using the percentage change in recall error on untrained tasks before and after training as the transfer index, we found that training on the color task transferred to the orientation task (t(19) = 3.16, p = 0.005) while the reverse transfer was not significant (t(20) = 0.80, p = 0.429; Figure 1D). This result aligns with predictions from both interference findings, suggesting that tasks with greater interference are more likely to reveal transfer. Notably, although there was no transfer at the group level in the orientation-training group, we found a positive correlation between BI and NI in the color task (r = 0.318, p = 0.042), and the NI predicted the individual transfer effect in the color task (r = 0.483, p = 0.027; Figure 1E). However, these correlations were not observed in the color-training group.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that neural interference predicts the transferability of training at both the group and individual levels, providing novel insights into the nature of transfer and enlightening future educational and clinical practices.
Learning and Memory:
Working Memory 1
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
EEG 2
Keywords:
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
Memory
Other - training transfer
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Cohen, M. A., Konkle, T., Rhee, J. Y., Nakayama, K., & Alvarez, G. A. (2014). Processing multiple visual objects is limited by overlap in neural channels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(24), 8955-8960.
Zhou, Y., Gao, T., Zhang, T., Li, W., Wu, T., Han, X., & Han, S. (2020). Neural dynamics of racial categorization predicts racial bias in face recognition and altruism. Nature human behaviour, 4(1), 69-87.