{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7154603571","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","title":"Attention to task structure for cognitive flexibility","display_name":"Attention to task structure for cognitive flexibility","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-04-14","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7154603571","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5133771416","display_name":"Xiaoyu K. Zhang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhang, Xiaoyu K.","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5066572762","display_name":"Mehdi Senoussi","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9896-4235"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Senoussi, Mehdi","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5054766869","display_name":"Tom Verguts","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7783-4754"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Verguts, Tom","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T13219","display_name":"Mind wandering and attention","score":0.07259999960660934,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2805","display_name":"Cognitive Neuroscience"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/28","display_name":"Neuroscience"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/1","display_name":"Life Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T13219","display_name":"Mind wandering and attention","score":0.07259999960660934,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2805","display_name":"Cognitive Neuroscience"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/28","display_name":"Neuroscience"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/1","display_name":"Life Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11605","display_name":"Visual Attention and Saliency Detection","score":0.06889999657869339,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.0575999990105629,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/flexibility","display_name":"Flexibility (engineering)","score":0.6877999901771545},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/task","display_name":"Task (project management)","score":0.6800000071525574},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cognition","display_name":"Cognition","score":0.6190000176429749},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/generalization","display_name":"Generalization","score":0.6169999837875366},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/stability","display_name":"Stability (learning theory)","score":0.5992000102996826},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cognitive-architecture","display_name":"Cognitive architecture","score":0.5275999903678894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/task-switching","display_name":"Task switching","score":0.4462999999523163}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7020000219345093},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780598303","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65921492","display_name":"Flexibility (engineering)","level":2,"score":0.6877999901771545},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780451532","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q759676","display_name":"Task (project management)","level":2,"score":0.6800000071525574},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C169900460","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2200417","display_name":"Cognition","level":2,"score":0.6190000176429749},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177148314","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170084","display_name":"Generalization","level":2,"score":0.6169999837875366},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C112972136","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7595718","display_name":"Stability (learning theory)","level":2,"score":0.5992000102996826},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C20854674","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4386060","display_name":"Cognitive architecture","level":3,"score":0.5275999903678894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.5094000101089478},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.48240000009536743},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C93500599","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7687352","display_name":"Task switching","level":3,"score":0.4462999999523163},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C175154964","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q380077","display_name":"Task analysis","level":3,"score":0.42399999499320984},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C66102695","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5141208","display_name":"Cognitive flexibility","level":3,"score":0.3741999864578247},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C180747234","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23373","display_name":"Cognitive psychology","level":1,"score":0.36489999294281006},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.35589998960494995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C161407221","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4382939","display_name":"Cognitive model","level":3,"score":0.3488999903202057},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C163504300","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2364925","display_name":"Causal structure","level":2,"score":0.30309998989105225},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C28006648","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6934509","display_name":"Multi-task learning","level":3,"score":0.29010000824928284},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119653847","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1327780","display_name":"Elementary cognitive task","level":3,"score":0.2874000072479248},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26760741","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q160402","display_name":"Perception","level":2,"score":0.27079999446868896},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C188147891","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q147638","display_name":"Cognitive science","level":1,"score":0.25450000166893005},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C170494330","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1778434","display_name":"Cognitive map","level":3,"score":0.2529999911785126}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2604.13281","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Humans":[0],"and":[1,7,72,115,125,147,158,169,193,217,225],"artificial":[2],"agents":[3],"must":[4],"often":[5],"learn":[6],"switch":[8],"between":[9,183],"multiple":[10],"tasks":[11,36,91,122,185],"in":[12,16,89,138,156,186,220],"dynamic":[13],"environments.":[14],"Success":[15],"such":[17],"settings":[18],"requires":[19],"cognitive":[20,70,211],"flexibility:":[21],"the":[22,46,63,66,105,134,139,184,187,205],"ability":[23],"to":[24,34,51,103,130,143],"retain":[25],"prior":[26],"knowledge":[27],"(cognitive":[28,37],"stability)":[29],"while":[30],"also":[31,111,214],"transferring":[32],"it":[33,57,74],"novel":[35,175],"generalization).":[38],"Cognitive":[39],"flexibility":[40],"research":[41],"has":[42],"largely":[43],"focused":[44],"on":[45],"role":[47],"of":[48,65,97,207],"model":[49,77],"architecture":[50],"achieve":[52],"these":[53],"complementary":[54],"goals.":[55],"However,":[56],"is":[58,177],"less":[59],"well":[60],"understood":[61],"how":[62,73],"structure":[64,216],"environment":[67,88,106,142,188],"itself":[68],"influences":[69],"flexibility,":[71],"interacts":[75],"with":[76,107,195],"architecture.":[78],"To":[79],"address":[80],"this":[81],"gap,":[82],"we":[83],"design":[84],"a":[85,95,173],"multi-task":[86,140,222],"learning":[87,141],"which":[90],"are":[92,149],"defined":[93],"by":[94],"combination":[96],"two":[98],"cue":[99],"dimensions,":[100],"allowing":[101],"us":[102],"characterize":[104],"graph-theory":[108],"methods.":[109],"We":[110,132,161],"introduce":[112],"gating-based":[113],"(multiplicative)":[114],"concatenation-based":[116],"attention":[117,129],"models":[118],"that":[119,154,163,178],"can":[120,126],"decompose":[121],"into":[123],"components":[124],"sequentially":[127],"allocate":[128],"them.":[131],"compare":[133],"attention-based":[135,200],"models'":[136],"performance":[137],"multilayer":[144],"perceptrons.":[145],"Generalization":[146],"stability":[148,192],"systematically":[150],"evaluated":[151],"across":[152],"environments":[153,165],"vary":[155],"richness":[157],"task":[159],"connectivity.":[160],"observe":[162],"richer":[164],"improve":[166],"both":[167,191],"generalization":[168],"stability.":[170,226],"In":[171],"addition,":[172],"critical":[174],"observation":[176],"(graph":[179],"theory":[180],"based)":[181],"connectivity":[182],"strongly":[189],"modulates":[190],"generalization,":[194,224],"especially":[196],"pronounced":[197],"benefits":[198],"for":[199],"models.":[201],"These":[202],"findings":[203],"underscore":[204],"importance":[206],"considering":[208],"not":[209],"only":[210],"architectures":[212],"but":[213],"environmental":[215],"their":[218],"interaction":[219],"shaping":[221],"learning,":[223]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-28T07:46:37.118299","created_date":"2026-04-17T00:00:00"}
