Context-specific adaptation of cognitive processing in changing virtual environments

Human cognition is sensitive to context cues, as indicated by the context-specific proportion congruency (CSPC) effect. This effect demonstrates that individuals implicitly adapt their cognitive processing to contextual cues that predict the likelihood of conflict. However, CSPC paradigms typically rely on simple, two-dimensional context cues, raising questions about their validity for complex, real-life environments. In this preregistered study, we examined whether CSPC effects emerge in three-dimensional, naturalistic contexts delivered via virtual reality (VR). We presented a numerical Stroop task in two virtual environments—a forest and an office—alternating on a trial-by-trial basis. Unbeknownst to participants, each environment was paired with either a high (80%; mostly congruent/MC context) or low (20%; mostly incongruent/MI context) proportion of incongruent trials (counter-balanced). Our results show the typical CSPC effect: reduced response time differences between incongruent and congruent trials in the MI environment relative to the MC environment. This finding indicates that context-dependent adjustments of cognitive processing extend to complex, semantically meaningful virtual environments. This supports the ecological validity of CSPC learning and highlights the importance of context cues in real-life cognitive processing. Further, our study highlights how VR opens up new avenues for studying context-dependent cognition beyond conventional laboratory stimuli.