Phonological similarity in working memory span tasks

Macnamara, Brooke N.; Conway, Andrew R. A.

doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0609-8

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In order to avoid word length effect, all words used in this study were bi-syllabic (i.e., matching for word length). Since this study involves the AWM, it was important to consider the phonological similarity effect as words that sound almost similar were found to be harder to be recalled than those which sound distinctly different [21]. In order to avoid the phonological similarity effect, each word sequence consisted of dissimilar items (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low intensity white noise improves performance in auditory working memory task: An fMRI study

Othman

Yusoff

Mohamad

et al. 2019

Heliyon

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A B S T R A C TResearch suggests that white noise may facilitate auditory working memory performance via stochastic resonance. Stochastic resonance is quantified by plotting cognitive performance as a function of noise intensity. The plot would appear as an inverted U-curve, that is, a moderate noise is beneficial for performance whereas too low and too much noise attenuates performance. However, knowledge about the optimal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) needed for stochastic resonance to occur in the brain, particularly in the neural network of auditory working memory, is limited and demand further investigation. In the present study, we extended previous works on the impact of white noise on auditory working memory performance by including multiple background noise levels to map out the inverted U-curve for the stochastic resonance. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), twenty healthy young adults performed a word-based backward recall span task under four signal-to-noise ratio conditions: 15, 10, 5, and 0-dB SNR. Group results show significant behavioral improvement and increased activation in frontal cortices, primary auditory cortices, and anterior cingulate cortex in all noise conditions, except at 0-dB SNR, which decreases activation and performance. When plotted as a function of signal-to-noise ratio, behavioral and fMRI data exhibited a noise-benefit inverted U-shaped curve. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was found between the activity of the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and performance in 5-dB SNR. The predicted phenomenon of SR on auditory working memory performance is confirmed. Findings from this study suggest that the optimal signal-to-noise ratio to enhance auditory working memory performance is within 10 to 5-dB SNR and that the right SFG may be a strategic structure involved in enhancement of auditory working memory performance.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low intensity white noise improves performance in auditory working memory task: An fMRI study

Othman

Yusoff

Mohamad

et al. 2019

Heliyon

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“…This suggests that the predictive power of trait WMC using OSPAN or RSPAN may bring dissociations in the effects observed. In fact, previous research has found that because the OSPAN and RSPAN have different processing components (i.e., solving math problems for accuracy in OSPAN and reading sentences for accuracy in RSPAN), could cause the tasks to dissociate in their consistency for predicting performance on different outcomes (see Oberauer, 2009;Chow et al, 2016;Macnamara et al, 2011;Holden et al, 2020). However, this interpretation is speculative but worth further exploration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Converging Evidence that Higher Trait Working Memory Capacity aids Standardized Test Performance under Race Related Stereotype Threat

Holden¹,

Ka²,

Ara³

2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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Stereotype threat (ST) occurs when individuals primed with negative stereotypes underperform relative to a control group. The current work considers individual differences in ST effects on real world measures like standardized test performance (SDTP). Working Memory Capacity (WMC) is investigated as a mediator and/or moderator of ST for race/ethnicity. Findings revealed a lack of strong evidence for the effect of ST. However, we demonstrated that trait WMC moderates ST for race such that higher WMC is associated with higher scores on standardized tests under conditions of race related ST. For future work on ST, we consider replication issues as well as the importance of WMC for performance under ST including how WMC and SDTP have been shown to improve through implementing self-regulation and mindfulness.

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“…The speculation that WM has cue-dependent retrieval sub-process was supported by experiments setting sentences in RST (Schroeder, Copeland, & Bies-Hernandez, 2012; Towse et al, 2008; Towse, Hitch, Horton, & Harvey, 2010), phonological similarity (Chow, Macnamara, & Conway, 2016; Copeland & Radvansky, 2001; Macnamara, Moore, & Conway, 2011), and semantic category (Liesefeld, Hoffmann, & Wentura, 2016) as cues. Based on Unsworth and Engle’s WM model, we assumed that contextual information should work as a retrieval cue (e.g., Unsworth & Engle, 2007a).…”

Section: Overview Of the Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Person-based organisation in working memory

Ishiguro

Saito

2018

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Working memory (WM) helps maintain information during a variety of cognitive activities in scholastic and social situations. This study focused on a social aspect of WM, specifically, how it maintains information related to people. We investigated person-based organisation of information across four experiments using the reading span task (RST). Person information (i.e., an occupational title) was provided with sentences manipulated across conditions. In Experiment 1, consistent with the assumption that person-based organisation exists in WM, participants performed better when they could easily organise target items in a person-based manner (person-based organisation) than when they were prevented from using such information. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated the process of person-based organisation using alphabetical letters as targets (unlike words in Experiment 1), which prevented possible semantic associations between person information and target items. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, suggesting that contextual retrieval is critical in person-based organisation. Experiment 3 showed the person-based organisation effect even after controlling for the difficulty of the process component in the RST. The results of Experiments 2 and 3 suggest that person information could serve as contextual retrieval cues in WM. Experiment 4, which did not show the organisation effect based on information about an object (i.e., a fruit name), suggests along with Experiments 1 to 3 that the observed organisation effect in Experiments 1 to 3 was specific to person information. In addition to showing the enhanced WM performance by person-based organisation, we have suggested contextual cue-dependent retrieval as the underlying cognitive process.

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Phonological similarity in working memory span tasks

Cited by 16 publications

References 34 publications

Low intensity white noise improves performance in auditory working memory task: An fMRI study

Low intensity white noise improves performance in auditory working memory task: An fMRI study

Converging Evidence that Higher Trait Working Memory Capacity aids Standardized Test Performance under Race Related Stereotype Threat

Person-based organisation in working memory

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