Liefooghe, B. 1 , Wenke, D. 2, 1 & De Houwer, J. 1
1 Ghent University
2 Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig
The present study investigated the functional characteristics of task-sets that were never applied before and that were only formed on the basis of instructions. We tested if such task-sets could elicit a task-rule congruency effect, which consists of the automatic activation of responses in the context of another task. A series of experiments indicate that task-sets, which are formed on the basis of instructions, can elicit a task-rule congruency effect. A finding challenging recent accounts of this effect. Additional experiments further investigated the functional properties of this instruction-based task-rule congruency effect. Implications for research on task-set formation and for research on the implementation of instructions are considered.