Can't wait to relax: First-time evidence for a prospective relaxation of control as revealed by a future-based congruency sequence effect

There is a growing interest in how cognitive control is regulated when explicit knowledge about upcoming conflict is available. In conflict tasks (e.g., Stroop), this regulation has been examined by cueing whether the distractor and the target in the upcoming trial will be congruent (e.g., the word RED in the color red) or incongruent (e.g., RED in blue). However, how this preparation impacts ongoing control recruitment has thus far been neglected. In the present study, we hypothesised that preparing a control state relevant for a future event (i.e., relaxed/tightened control for a future congruent/incongruent trial) would impact control recruitment in the present. We tested this idea by presenting trials of a conflict task in pairs. Before each pair, a cue either signalled Trial 2 congruency (with 100% validity) or provided no information. Even though the cue and Trial 2 were separated by an intervening trial, cueing benefits in Trial 2 suggested that cues were effectively used, expanding previous literature on congruency cues. More importantly, the congruency effect in Trial 1 was modulated by Trial 2 congruency when the latter was known. Specifically, the congruency effect was larger when Trial 2 was cued to be congruent vs. incongruent, a pattern similar to the congruency-sequence effect, but based on future, instructed (rather than past, experienced) congruency. These results suggest that preparing for a future event induces a prospective anticipation of the future-relevant control state. We discuss the roles of working memory and motivation in the emergence of such prospective control recruitment.