scholarly journals A test of interference versus decay in working memory: Varying distraction within lists in a complex span task

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 66-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Farrell ◽  
Klaus Oberauer ◽  
Martin Greaves ◽  
Kazimir Pasiecznik ◽  
Stephan Lewandowsky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task

scholarly journals Measuring the development of working memory capacity: 
Example of an adaptive complex span task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Aubry ◽  
Corentin Gonthier ◽  
Mathieu Hainselin ◽  
Béatrice Bourdin
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task ◽  
Cognitive Aptitude ◽  
Discriminating Power

The aim of this current article is to provide a reflection on how to estimate working memory capacity (WMC), and to investigate its developmental trajectory from eight to twenty-three years-old with a single adaptive and multimodal task. WMC is defined as both storage and manipulation of the information during a cognitive activity. This cognitive aptitude is crucial for the learning and play an important role in the intellectual functioning. WMC is strongly related to some cognitives activities such as the language comprehension, the problems solving or the mathematics. The assessment of WMC therefore seems to be essential throughout lifespan. Although WMC is domain-general, most assessments WMC are based on verbal tasks only. Furthermore, WMC measurement in the developmental studies is limited by the need to preserve discriminating power at all possible ages. The use of a short and composite complex span task adapting itself to the individual’s performance seems meet both requirements. Thus, we created a computerized task that is both multimodal (with verbal and nonverbal subtests) and adaptive to the individual’s abilities: the Adaptive Composite Complex Span (ACCES). With a sample of 724 participants aged between 8 and 23 years-old, our findings show ACCES retains high discriminating power at all chronological ages with no ceiling effect or floor effect. Theoretical and clinical implication are discussed.

scholarly journals The Digit Span Backwards Task

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Hilbert ◽  
Tristan T. Nakagawa ◽  
Patricia Puci ◽  
Alexandra Zech ◽  
Markus Bühner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Presentation Modality ◽  
Clinical Neuropsychology ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Dual Task Condition ◽  
Complex Span Task

Abstract. The “digit span backwards” (DSB) is the most commonly used test in clinical neuropsychology to assess working memory capacity. Yet, it remains unclear how the task is solved cognitively. The present study was conducted to examine the use of visual and verbal cognitive strategies in the DSB. Further, the relationship between the DSB and a complex span task, based on the Simultaneous Storage and Processing task ( Oberauer et al., 2003 ), was investigated. Visualizers performed better than verbalizers in the dual task condition (rPB = .23) only when the relevant digits were presented optically. Performance in the DSB correlated only weakly with the complex span task in all conditions (all τ ≤ .21). The results indicate that the processing modality is determined by the preference for a cognitive strategy rather than the presentation modality and suggest that the DSB measures different working aspects than commonly used experimental working memory tasks.

scholarly journals Are working memory training effects paradigm-specific?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joni Holmes ◽  
Francesca Woolgar ◽  
Adam Hampshire ◽  
Susan E. Gathercole
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Stimulus Category ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Verbal Complex

AbstractA randomized controlled trial compared complex span and n-back training regimes to investigate the generality of training benefits across materials and paradigms. The memory items and training intensities were equated across programs, providing the first like-with-like comparison of transfer in these two widely-used training paradigms. The stimuli in transfer tests of verbal and visuo-spatial n-back and complex span differed from the trained tasks, but were matched across the untrained paradigms. Pre-to-post changes were observed for untrained n-back tasks following n-back training. Following complex span training there was equivocal evidence for improvements on a verbal complex span task, but no evidence for changes on an untrained visuo-spatial complex span activity. Relative to a no intervention group, the evidence supported no change on an untrained verbal complex span task following either n-back or complex span training. Equivocal evidence was found for improvements on visuo-spatial complex span and verbal and visuo-spatial n-back tasks following both training regimes. Evidence for selective transfer (comparing the two active training groups) was only found for an untrained visuo-spatial n-back task following n-back training. There was no evidence for cross-paradigm transfer. Thus transfer is constrained by working memory paradigm and the nature of individual processes executed within complex span tasks. However, within-paradigm transfer can occur when the change is limited to stimulus category, at least for n-back.

scholarly journals Reactivated visual masks do not disrupt serial recall. A failed Replication of Rey et al. 2018.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Maria Bartsch ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Free Time ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Impaired Memory ◽  
Complex Span Task ◽  
Visual Mask ◽  
Novel Approach

The process of spontaneous refreshing plays a central role in current models of working memory but is yet to be observed directly. In a recent study, Rey and colleagues (Rey, Versace, & Plancher, 2018) introduced a novel approach to investigate the mechanisms underlying refreshing: They presented tones previously associated with a visual mask during the free time of a complex span task, and found that this impaired memory, presumably because reactivation of the masks disrupts refreshing. Here we aimed to replicate their finding under more controlled settings with more observations per participant. We failed to replicate the previous findings, thereby questioning the robustness of the original effect.

scholarly journals Reactivated Visual Masks Do Not Disrupt Serial Recall

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-185
Author(s):  
Lea M. Bartsch ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Free Time ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Impaired Memory ◽  
Complex Span Task ◽  
Visual Mask ◽  
Novel Approach

Abstract. The process of spontaneous refreshing plays a central role in current models of working memory but is yet to be observed directly. In a recent study, Rey, Versace, and Plancher (2018) introduced a novel approach to investigate the mechanisms underlying refreshing: They presented tones previously associated with a visual mask during the free time of a complex span task and found that this impaired memory, presumably because reactivation of the masks disrupts refreshing. Here, we aimed to replicate their finding under more controlled settings with more observations per participant. We failed to replicate the previous findings, thereby questioning the robustness of the original effect.

When a Reactivated Visual Mask Disrupts Serial Recall

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 263-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine E. Rey ◽  
Rémy Versace ◽  
Gaën Plancher
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Control Stimulus ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task ◽  
Memory Traces ◽  
Visual Mask

Abstract. To prevent forgetting in working memory, the attentional refreshing is supposed to increase the level of activation of memory traces by focusing attention. However, the involvement of memory traces reactivation in refreshing relies in the majority on indirect evidence. The aim of this study was to show that refreshing relies on the reactivation of memory traces by investigating how the reactivation of an irrelevant trace prevents the attentional refreshing to take place, and (2) the memory traces reactivated are sensorial in nature. We used a reactivated visual mask presented during the encoding (Experiment 1) and the refreshing (Experiment 2) of pictures in a complex span task. Results showed impaired serial recall performance in both experiments when the mask was reactivated compared to a control stimulus. Experiment 3 confirmed the refreshing account of these results. We proposed that refreshing relies on the reactivation of sensory memory traces.

Training and Transfer Effects Using a Working Memory Complex Span Task

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra B. Morrison ◽  
Ingrid R. Olson ◽  
Jason M. Chein
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task

Measuring working memory in the spanish population: Validation of a multiple shortened complex span task.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-279
Author(s):  
Mireia Felez-Nobrega ◽  
Jeffrey L. Foster ◽  
Anna Puig-Ribera ◽  
Christopher Draheim ◽  
Charles H. Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Spanish Population ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task

The relationship between working memory capacity and simultaneous interpreting performance

Interpreting ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Native Signers ◽  
The Relationship

This experimental study investigated the relationship between signed language interpreters’ working memory capacity (WMC) and their simultaneous interpreting performance. Thirty-one professional Auslan (Australian Sign Language)/English interpreters participated: 14 native signers and 17 non-native signers. They completed simultaneous interpreting tasks from English into Auslan and vice versa, an English listening span task and an Auslan working memory span task; each interpreting task was followed by a short semi-structured interview. Quantitative results for the sample as a whole showed no significant correlations between bilingual WMC and overall simultaneous interpreting performance in either direction. The same trend was established for both the native signers and the non-native signers, considered as two separate groups. The findings thus suggest that professional signed language interpreters’ WMC as measured by complex span tasks is not closely associated with the overall quality of their simultaneous interpreting performance. Data regarding educational and professional background showed mixed patterns in relation to participants’ interpreting performance in each language direction. In the interviews, participants reported various triggers of cognitive overload in the simultaneous interpreting tasks (e.g. numbers, lists of items, a long time lag, dense information, fatigue) and mentioned their coping strategies (e.g. strategic omissions, summarization, generalization, adjusting time lag).

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