The authors tested the hypothesis of a close relationship between the inten
tional component of task-set switching ("advance reconfiguration;" R. D. Ro
gers & S. Monsell, 1995) and long-term memory (LTM) retrieval. Consistent w
ith this hypothesis, switch costs are reported to be larger when the switch
ed-to task involves high retrieval demands (i.e., retrieval of episodic inf
ormation) than when it involves low retrieval demands (i.e., retrieval of s
emantic information). In contrast, switch costs were not affected by a prim
ary-task difficulty manipulation unrelated to intentional retrieval demands
(Experiment 2). Also, the retrieval-demand effect on switch costs was elim
inated when time for advanced preparation or task cues explicitly specifyin
g the task rules were provided (Experiment 3). Overall, results were consis
tent with the hypothesis that the intentional switch-cost component reflect
s the time demands of retrieving appropriate task rules from LTM.