Fig 2. Reaction time as a function of information entropy for each trial type in A) the standard, and B) the distractor cued-trials task switching paradigms.

Information processing requirements (in bits) were assumed to differ based on an increased entropy for mixed blocks in contrast to single blocks, with the addition of an extra degree of uncertainty for switching within a mixed-task block. The above algorithm strongly predicted mixing and switch costs for RT in both Experiment 1 (A: r² = .934, p = .002) and Experiment 2 (B: r² = .924, p = .002). SBR; single block repeat, MR; mixed repeat, ST; switch-to, SA; switch-away, NR; non-informative repeat, NS; non-informative switch. –D denotes distractor paradigm trials.