Task switching and across-trial distance priming are independent

The present study investigated the possible influence of stimulus-task associations in cued task switching designs using small numbers as stimuli. To this end, cued task switching was combined with across-trial distance priming. Across-trial distance priming is based on the organisation of numbers along a mental number line. In a series of three experiments it was observed that across-trial distance priming resulted in faster response repetitions and slower response alternations but that it did not influence the switch cost. These results indicated that stimulus-task associations are not generalised to adjacent numbers.