What cognitive process does shifting refer to?

• A. Switching attention between tasks or mental sets.
• B. Maintaining focus on a single task.
• C. Encoding long-term memory stores.
• D. Suppressing responses to familiar cues.

Answer: (A)

Shifting is the ability to switch attention between tasks or mental sets. In the Working Memory Model, this is a function of the central executive, which coordinates the subsystems and reconfigures how we process information when demands change. When you shift, you stop applying the rules of one task and start applying the rules of another, redirecting resources accordingly. For example, changing from sorting items by color to sorting by shape requires a new mental set and a reallocation of attention.

This is distinct from simply maintaining focus on one task, which is about sustaining attention and continuing to rehearse or monitor information without changing what you’re doing. It’s also different from encoding information into long-term memory, which involves forming durable representations, or from inhibiting responses to familiar cues, which is about filtering habitual reactions rather than reconfiguring the task at hand.