Flexible Changes in Attentional Focus and Task Rules Rely on A Shared Set of Frontoparietal Oscillatory Dynamics.

Flexible changes in behavior can involve changes in the processing of external information (i.e., shifts in attention between different stimuli) or internal information (i.e., shifts in task rules stored in memory). However, it is unclear if different types of flexible change rely on separate, domain-specific neural processes or on a domain-general system, which enables flexible actions independent of the type of change needed. In the current study, participants performed a task switching procedure while we measured neural oscillations via EEG. Importantly, we independently manipulated the need to switch attention between 2 types of stimuli, as well as the need to switch between two sets of stimuli-response rules stored in memory. Both attentional and rule switches significantly increased error rates and RTs. On a neural level, both types of changes were associated with a widespread decrease in alpha power, predominantly over the parietal cortex. Attentional switches and rule switches showed a subadditive interaction effect on both participants' performance as well as on their alpha power reactivity. This indicates that implementing both changes at the same time was more efficient than implementing each individual change separately. Independent of the presence or absence of either attentional or rule switches, higher frontal theta power and lower parietal/posterior alpha power predicted faster responses on correct trials. Our study suggests that flexible behavior relies on domain-general frontal and parietal oscillatory dynamics, which enable efficient implementation of goal-directed actions independent of which aspects of the task change.

The psychology and policy of overcoming economic inequality.

Recent arguments claim that behavioral science has focused - to its detriment - on the individual over the system when construing behavioral interventions. In this commentary, we argue that tackling economic inequality using both framings in tandem is invaluable. By studying individuals who have overcome inequality, "positive deviants," and the system limitations they navigate, we offer potentially greater policy solutions.

The persistence of cognitive biases in financial decisions across economic groups.

While economic inequality continues to rise within countries, efforts to address it have been largely ineffective, particularly those involving behavioral approaches. It is often implied but not tested that choice patterns among low-income individuals may be a factor impeding behavioral interventions aimed at improving upward economic mobility. To test this, we assessed rates of ten cognitive biases across nearly 5000 participants from 27 countries. Our analyses were primarily focused on 1458 individuals that were either low-income adults or individuals who grew up in disadvantaged households but had above-average financial well-being as adults, known as positive deviants. Using discrete and complex models, we find evidence of no differences within or between groups or countries. We therefore conclude that choices impeded by cognitive biases alone cannot explain why some individuals do not experience upward economic mobility. Policies must combine both behavioral and structural interventions to improve financial well-being across populations.