1. Causal evidence of task-switching costs in organ transplantation

Working Paper

Jiayi Liu, Yiwen Jin, Joel T. Adler
Under Revision at Nature Human Behavior, 2025

Cite

APA Click to copy
Liu, J., Jin, Y., & Adler, J. T. (2025). 1. Causal evidence of task-switching costs in organ transplantation. Under Revision at Nature Human Behavior.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Liu, Jiayi, Yiwen Jin, and Joel T. Adler. “1. Causal Evidence of Task-Switching Costs in Organ Transplantation.” Under Revision at Nature Human Behavior (2025).

MLA Click to copy
Liu, Jiayi, et al. “1. Causal Evidence of Task-Switching Costs in Organ Transplantation.” Under Revision at Nature Human Behavior, 2025.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{jiayi2025a,
  title = {1. Causal evidence of task-switching costs in organ transplantation},
  year = {2025},
  journal = {Under Revision at Nature Human Behavior},
  author = {Liu, Jiayi and Jin, Yiwen and Adler, Joel T.}
}

Experimental psychology has long demonstrated that task switching imposes cognitive demands and increases error rates, yet its real-world impact in high-stakes work environments remains unclear. Here, we provide the first causal evidence of switching costs in the context of organ transplantation. Leveraging the effectively random timing of donor-organ arrivals as a natural experiment, we analyze national registry data on 316,743 U.S. transplants from 2007 to 2019. We find that switching organ types (e.g., from liver to kidney) increases one-year post-transplant mortality by 0.66 percentage points, a 14.8% increase relative to the baseline. These risks can be mitigated through structured scheduling, longer recovery intervals between procedures, and greater surgeon experience. Our findings identify task switching as a modifiable risk factor in expert performance and offer actionable strategies to improve outcomes in high-stakes settings.