scholarly journals Selective interference with image retention and generation: Evidence for the workspace model

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1568-1580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian van der Meulen ◽  
Robert H. Logie ◽  
Sergio Della Sala

We address three types of model of the relationship between working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM): (a) the gateway model, in which WM acts as a gateway between perceptual input and LTM; (b) the unitary model, in which WM is seen as the currently activated areas of LTM; and (c) the workspace model, in which perceptual input activates LTM, and WM acts as a separate workspace for processing and temporary retention of these activated traces. Predictions of these models were tested, focusing on visuospatial working memory and using dual-task methodology to combine two main tasks (visual short-term retention and image generation) with two interference tasks (irrelevant pictures and spatial tapping). The pictures selectively disrupted performance on the generation task, whereas the tapping selectively interfered with the retention task. Results are consistent with the predictions of the workspace model.

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
I.E. Rzhanova ◽  
O.S. Alekseeva ◽  
Yu.A. Burdukova

The article provides an overview of modern works devoted to the study of the relationship between fluid intelligence and working memory. Recently, the world of psychological science has been actively discussing the topic of fluid intelligence and its impact on the academic achievements in childhood. One of the main cognitive characteristics most clearly associated with fluid intelligence is working memory. Working memory is a complex integrative function, in the implementation of which short-term and long-term memory, as well as executive control of attention, are involved. Until now, the debatable question remains, which of the components of working memory is most closely related to fluid intelligence. A number of studies conclude that the role of short-term memory is predominant, while in others executive control is called the most important component. A special place in the study of the relationship between working memory and fluid intelligence is occupied by scientific works which raise the question of the possibilities of improvement of fluid intelligence using working memory training series. In a number of training experiments, it was possible to obtain an improvement in the participants' fluid intelligence indicators after a series of working memory trainings.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Potter

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.


Author(s):  
Angela A. Manginelli ◽  
Franziska Geringswald ◽  
Stefan Pollmann

When distractor configurations are repeated over time, visual search becomes more efficient, even if participants are unaware of the repetition. This contextual cueing is a form of incidental, implicit learning. One might therefore expect that contextual cueing does not (or only minimally) rely on working memory resources. This, however, is debated in the literature. We investigated contextual cueing under either a visuospatial or a nonspatial (color) visual working memory load. We found that contextual cueing was disrupted by the concurrent visuospatial, but not by the color working memory load. A control experiment ruled out that unspecific attentional factors of the dual-task situation disrupted contextual cueing. Visuospatial working memory may be needed to match current display items with long-term memory traces of previously learned displays.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 2997-3014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kowialiewski ◽  
Laurens Van Calster ◽  
Lucie Attout ◽  
Christophe Phillips ◽  
Steve Majerus

Abstract An influential theoretical account of working memory (WM) considers that WM is based on direct activation of long-term memory knowledge. While there is empirical support for this position in the visual WM domain, direct evidence is scarce in the verbal WM domain. This question is critical for models of verbal WM, as the question of whether short-term maintenance of verbal information relies on direct activation within the long-term linguistic knowledge base or not is still debated. In this study, we examined the extent to which short-term maintenance of lexico-semantic knowledge relies on neural activation patterns in linguistic cortices, and this by using a fast encoding running span task for word and nonword stimuli minimizing strategic encoding mechanisms. Multivariate analyses showed specific neural patterns for the encoding and maintenance of word versus nonword stimuli. These patterns were not detectable anymore when participants were instructed to stop maintaining the memoranda. The patterns involved specific regions within the dorsal and ventral pathways, which are considered to support phonological and semantic processing to various degrees. This study provides novel evidence for a role of linguistic cortices in the representation of long-term memory linguistic knowledge during WM processing.


2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1536) ◽  
pp. 3755-3771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prahlad Gupta ◽  
Jamie Tisdale

Word learning is studied in a multitude of ways, and it is often not clear what the relationship is between different phenomena. In this article, we begin by outlining a very simple functional framework that despite its simplicity can serve as a useful organizing scheme for thinking about various types of studies of word learning. We then review a number of themes that in recent years have emerged as important topics in the study of word learning, and relate them to the functional framework, noting nevertheless that these topics have tended to be somewhat separate areas of study. In the third part of the article, we describe a recent computational model and discuss how it offers a framework that can integrate and relate these various topics in word learning to each other. We conclude that issues that have typically been studied as separate topics can perhaps more fruitfully be thought of as closely integrated, with the present framework offering several suggestions about the nature of such integration.


Author(s):  
Stoo Sepp ◽  
Steven J. Howard ◽  
Sharon Tindall-Ford ◽  
Shirley Agostinho ◽  
Fred Paas

In 1956, Miller first reported on a capacity limitation in the amount of information the human brain can process, which was thought to be seven plus or minus two items. The system of memory used to process information for immediate use was coined “working memory” by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram in 1960. In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed their multistore model of memory, which theorized that the memory system was separated into short-term memory, long-term memory, and the sensory register, the latter of which temporarily holds and forwards information from sensory inputs to short term-memory for processing. Baddeley and Hitch built upon the concept of multiple stores, leading to the development of the multicomponent model of working memory in 1974, which described two stores devoted to the processing of visuospatial and auditory information, both coordinated by a central executive system. Later, Cowan’s theorizing focused on attentional factors in the effortful and effortless activation and maintenance of information in working memory. In 1988, Cowan published his model—the scope and control of attention model. In contrast, since the early 2000s Engle has investigated working memory capacity through the lens of his individual differences model, which does not seek to quantify capacity in the same way as Miller or Cowan. Instead, this model describes working memory capacity as the interplay between primary memory (working memory), the control of attention, and secondary memory (long-term memory). This affords the opportunity to focus on individual differences in working memory capacity and extend theorizing beyond storage to the manipulation of complex information. These models and advancements have made significant contributions to understandings of learning and cognition, informing educational research and practice in particular. Emerging areas of inquiry include investigating use of gestures to support working memory processing, leveraging working memory measures as a means to target instructional strategies for individual learners, and working memory training. Given that working memory is still debated, and not yet fully understood, researchers continue to investigate its nature, its role in learning and development, and its implications for educational curricula, pedagogy, and practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-583
Author(s):  
Hamdollah Manzari Tavakoli

The relationship between children’s accuracy during numerical magnitude comparisons and arithmetic ability has been investigated by many researchers. Contradictory results have been reported from these studies due to the use of many different tasks and indices to determine the accuracy of numerical magnitude comparisons. In the light of this inconsistency among measurement techniques, the present study aimed to investigate this relationship among Iranian second grade children (n = 113) using a pre-established test (known as the Numeracy Screener) to measure numerical magnitude comparison accuracy. The results revealed that both the symbolic and non-symbolic items of the Numeracy Screener significantly correlated with arithmetic ability. However, after controlling for the effect of working memory, processing speed, and long-term memory, only performance on symbolic items accounted for the unique variances in children’s arithmetic ability. Furthermore, while working memory uniquely contributed to arithmetic ability in one-and two-digit arithmetic problem solving, processing speed uniquely explained only the variance in single-digit arithmetic skills and long-term memory did not contribute to any significant additional variance for one-digit or two-digit arithmetic problem solving.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Nathaniel Lintz ◽  
Matthew Johnson

Researchers have investigated “refreshing” of items in working memory (WM) as ameans of preserving them, while concurrently, other studies have examined “removal” of items from WM that are irrelevant. However, it is unclear whether refreshing and removal in WM truly represent different processes, or if participants, in an effort to avoid the to-be-removed items, simply refresh alternative items. We conducted two experiments to test whether these putative processes can be distinguished from one another. Participants were presented with sets of three words and then cued to either refresh one item or remove two items from WM, followed by a lexical decision probe containing either one of the just-seen words or a non-word. In Experiment 1, all probes were valid and in Experiment 2, probes were occasionally invalid (the probed word was one of the removed/non-refreshed items). In both experiments, participants also received a subsequent surprise long-term memory test. Results from both experiments suggested the expected advantages for refreshed (or non-removed) items in both short-term response time and long-term recognition, but no differences between refresh and remove instructions that would suggest a fundamental difference in processes. Thus, we argue that a functional distinction between refreshing and removal may not be necessary, and propose that both of these putative processes could potentially be subsumed under an overarching conceptual perspective based on the flexible reallocation of mental or reflective attention.


Author(s):  
Sieak Ling-Teo ◽  
Kee Jiar-Yeo

Deficit in working memory is common among young children across multiple abilities. Teachers have pointed to poor memory as one contributing factor to inattentiveness and short attention spans as well as some behavioural problems among students. This study aimed to explore the relationship among working memory, externalizing and internalizing behavioural problems and Malay language (writing). A total of 469 children (aged 8 and 11 year-old) and 17 school teachers were involved in the current study. It was found that working memory, externalizing behavioural problems and internalizing behavioural problems played critical roles in affecting the scores of Malay language (writing) at school. Specifically, there were five predictor variables being found in the regression model namely verbal short-term memory, inattention, somatic complaints, visuospatial working memory and aggression. As a whole, the correlation for the fivefactor model yielded a great result of 0.987.


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