Slipping through the Cracks: The Peril of Unexpected Interruption on the Contents of Working Memory

Autor/inn/en	O'Donnell, Ryan E.; Wyble, Brad
Titel	Slipping through the Cracks: The Peril of Unexpected Interruption on the Contents of Working Memory
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 49 (2023) 6, S.990-1003 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (O'Donnell, Ryan E.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0001214
Schlagwörter	Short Term Memory; Comparative Analysis; Alphabets; Reading Processes; Task Analysis; Interference (Learning); Cues; Reinforcement; Neurological Impairments; Cognitive Processes; Undergraduate Students; Reaction Time; Accuracy; Identification; Pennsylvania + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Buchstabenschrift; Leseprozess; Aufgabenanalyse; Stichwort; Positive Verstärkung; Neurodegenerative Erkrankung; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Reaktionsvermögen; Identifikation; Identifizierung
Abstract	Working memory allows us to hold specific pieces of information in an active and easily retrieved state, but what happens to that information during an unexpected interruption between study and test? To answer this question, we used a surprise trial paradigm in which an unexpected event precedes a probe of the observer's memory for a search target. In the first set of experiments, participants were tasked to report the identity of the target letter before unexpectedly being asked to read a task-irrelevant passage. We observed that the introduction of this passage interfered with the observer's memory of the target letter, but this interference only occurred after participants had experience completing the task without interruption. However, a remember cue placed just prior to the reading prompt reduced this cost, suggesting that participants can rapidly reinforce information about the target in working memory to resist the interference. We then used this same cuing manipulation to test whether information in an attribute amnesia paradigm, which unexpectedly probes an attribute relevant to target selection but irrelevant to participant's response expectations, could also be protected against unexpected interference. Using this paradigm, we observed that a remember cue did not improve performance following the surprising event, which supports theories that attribute amnesia is not caused solely by interference. These results reveal both the vulnerability and flexibility of working memory and demonstrate the importance of understanding how task experience establishes expectations that impact the underlying cognitive representations formed by the observer. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01