An Investigation of the Slope Parameters of Reaction Times and P3 Latencies in the Sternberg Memory Scanning Task – A Fixed-Links Model Approach

The study investigates the problem of information displacement from short-term memory. In two experiments, reaction times for recent negative probes were analyzed in the Sternberg’s memory scanning task. The diffusion model of reaction times was used with parameters estimated with the fast-dm software. It was found (experiment 1) that recent negative probes are characterized by a reduction in the speed of information accumulation (drift rate). This suggests residual activation of irrelevant cognitive representation in memory after they have been displaced from short-term memory. It was also found (experiment 2) that negative probes semantically related to items in a preceding target set (semantic recent negative probes) are characterized by a similar decrease in the drift rate. This suggests activation spreading from irrelevant cognitive representations displaced from short-term memory along semantic connections and identifies activated long-term memory as the target of information displacement from short-term memory. Additional mechanisms of short-term memory scanning (negative priming and dynamic decision thresholds) are discussed.

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An Investigation of the Slope Parameters of Reaction Times and P3 Latencies in the Sternberg Memory Scanning Task – A Fixed-Links Model Approach

10.31234/osf.io/38gys ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Henrike Maria Jungeblut ◽

Dirk Hagemann ◽

Christoph Löffler ◽

Anna-Lena Schubert

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processes ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Linear Increase ◽

Slope Parameter ◽

Memory Scanning ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Set Size ◽

Scanning Task

The speed of retrieving information from short-term memory is thought to be captured in the slope of the linear function of reaction times (RTs) regressed on set size in the Sternberg memory scanning task (SMST). Individual differences in the slope parameter have been hypothesized to correlate with general intelligence (g). However, this correlation can usually not be found. This present study chose a fixed-links model (FLM) approach to re-evaluate the RT slope parameter on a latent level in a sample of 98 participants aged 18 to 61 years. The same was tried for P3 latencies to investigate whether or not both parameters measure the same cognitive processes in the SMST, and to assess the usability of both slopes to predict g. For RTs, a linear increase with set size was found. The RT slope correlated with g on a manifest level already. The FLM approach could significantly increase the relationship between the slope and g. For P3 latencies, no evidence for a linear increase was found. This indicates that RTs and P3 latencies do not measure the same cognitive processes in the SMST. The FLM proved suitable to investigate the association between the speed of short-term memory scanning and intelligence.

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