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Task switching, or set-shifting, is an executive function that involves the ability to unconsciously shift attention between one task and another. In contrast, cognitive shifting is a very similar executive function, but it involves conscious (not unconscious) change in attention.
Cognitive shifting is the core process of all meditation, especially in Kundalini meditation but also in Zen meditation and even in Christian mysticism where the mind's attention is re-directed (or shifted) toward particular theologically-determined focal points. Recent books have spoken directly of cognitive shifting as a meditative procedure.
[2] [3] Task switching costs occur when performance on a task suffers due to the increased effort added in shifting attention. [1] There are competing theories that attempt to explain why and how attention is shifted as well as how attention is moved through space in attentional control.
Cognitive flexibility [note 1] is an intrinsic property of a cognitive system often associated with the mental ability to adjust its activity and content, switch between different task rules and corresponding behavioral responses, maintain multiple concepts simultaneously and shift internal attention between them. [1]
Task switching involves shifting one’s attention from one thing to another. Dual tasking, on the other hand, is when attention is divided among multiple things at once. Studies have been done to specifically examine the brain when one is engaged in either type of multitasking.
First, updating is defined as the continuous monitoring and quick addition or deletion of contents within one's working memory. Second, inhibition is one's capacity to supersede responses that are prepotent in a given situation. Third, shifting is one's cognitive flexibility to switch between different tasks or mental states.
A cognitive shift can occur when a person undergoes a new experience, such as some astronauts experiencing the overview effect when launched into space. [2]Cognitive shifts can occur with or without the aid of an externally ingested psychoactive substance such as LSD or peyote.
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological test of set-shifting, which is the capability to show flexibility when exposed to changes in reinforcement. [1] [2] The WCST was written by David A. Grant and Esta A. Berg.