Switching to semantic flexibility: fine-grained effects and the interplay with executive flexibility in task-switching

Cognitive flexibility is a fundamental component of executive control, allowing individuals to adapt behavior in response to changing task demands. While extensive research has explored executive flexibility using task-switching paradigms, the role of semantic flexibility—the ability to shift between different meanings of concepts—remains underexplored. This study introduces a novel semantic task-switching paradigm to directly compare executive and semantic flexibility, investigating their interplay. In two behavioral experiments, participants completed both a visuospatial task-switching paradigm (assessing executive flexibility) and a semantic task-switching paradigm (assessing semantic flexibility). Results revealed significant switch costs in both domains, with a moderate-to-strong correlation between executive and semantic flexibility effects, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms. Additionally, semantic performance was influenced by linguistic and semantic properties, highlighting the complexity of semantic processing. These findings contribute to our understanding of cognitive flexibility, supporting a domain-general mechanism that adapts to specific task demands while revealing unique characteristics of semantic control.