INSTRUCTION-BASED TASK-RULE CONGRUENCY EFFECTS 1 Instruction-based task-rule congruency effects

The present study investigated the functional characteristics of task-sets that were never applied before and were formed only on the basis of instructions. We tested if such task-sets could elicit a task-rule congruency effect, which implies the automatic activation of responses in the context of another task. To this end, a novel procedure was developed that revealed instruction-based task-rule congruency effects in two experiments. Although the effect seems quite general (Experiment 1) it still necessitates the formation of a task-set as it cannot be induced by the mere maintenance of instructions in declarative working memory (Experiment 2). We conclude that a task-set representing only key features of an upcoming task can be formed on the basis of instructions alone to such a degree that it can automatically trigger a response tendency in another task. Implications of our results for the impact of instructions on performance in general, and for the occurrence of task-rule congruency effects in particular, are discussed.