Remembering Over the Short-Term: The Case Against the Standard Model

Nairne, James S.

doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135131

Cited by 373 publications

(369 citation statements)

References 122 publications

(132 reference statements)

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“…Our demonstration of two distinct memory states (i.e., actively represented working memory and inactively stored long-term memory) challenges theories that propose human memory consists of a single memory storage mechanism that is unlimited in capacity (35)(36)(37)(38). Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the behavioral benefits of representing well-learned information come from additional iterations of retrieval from long-term memory rather than expanded working-memory capacity (39)(40)(41).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

Visual working memory buffers information retrieved from visual long-term memory

Fukuda

Woodman

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Human memory is thought to consist of long-term storage and shortterm storage mechanisms, the latter known as working memory. Although it has long been assumed that information retrieved from long-term memory is represented in working memory, we lack neural evidence for this and need neural measures that allow us to watch this retrieval into working memory unfold with high temporal resolution. Here, we show that human electrophysiology can be used to track information as it is brought back into working memory during retrieval from long-term memory. Specifically, we found that the retrieval of information from long-term memory was limited to just a few simple objects' worth of information at once, and elicited a pattern of neurophysiological activity similar to that observed when people encode new information into working memory. Our findings suggest that working memory is where information is buffered when being retrieved from long-term memory and reconcile current theories of memory retrieval with classic notions about the memory mechanisms involved.visual working memory | visual long-term memory retrieval | EEG H umans are capable of storing an essentially limitless amount of information in long-term memory and can remember specific pieces of information when needed to guide behavior. For over a century, researchers have proposed that, when humans retrieve information from long-term memory, we do this by bringing the information back into working memory (1-3). This has become so engrained in the dogma regarding how human memory works that retrieving information from long-term memory into working memory is described in introductory textbooks (e.g., refs. 4 and 5). However, although there is behavioral evidence in line with the notion that information retrieved from long-term memory is brought back into working memory (ref. 6; see ref. 7 for a review of additional classic evidence; refs. 8-10), a direct demonstration that this is occurring in brain is needed. If we were able to track this cognitive process, we could use it to understand the fine-grained dynamics of memory retrieval.In the present study, we took advantage of the fact that encoding new sensory information into working memory is capacity limited (11-16). Neuroscientific studies have established that the encoding of a subset of the available visual information into working memory can be measured by frequency-specific oscillations of subjects' electroencephalograms (EEGs) (17)(18)(19)(20). Specifically, the magnitude of suppression of alpha-band oscillations (8-13 Hz) measured across parieto-occipital channels as new information is held in working memory changes as additional information is loaded into working memory and hits an asymptote at a subject's working-memory capacity estimated from behavioral performance. We chose this neural correlate of working memory over other correlates (e.g., the contralateral delay activity in ref. 12) because it allowed the estimation of working-memory load without necessitating the presentation of to-be-ignored dis...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

Visual working memory buffers information retrieved from visual long-term memory

Fukuda

Woodman

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…By contrast, information that is present in working memory need not require a deliberate, active process to make it available (but see Nairne, 2002). The information is simply there to be used should the executive or the subordinates need it.…”

Section: The Role Of Long-term Memory In the Task Span Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working Memory, Task Switching, and Executive Control in the Task Span Procedure.

Logan

2004

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

105

167

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Four experiments explored the task span procedure: Subjects received lists of 1-10 task names to remember and then lists of 1-10 stimuli on which to perform the tasks. Task span is the number of tasks performed in order perfectly. Experiment 1 compared the task span with the traditional memory span in 6 practiced subjects and found little difference. Experiment 2 compared the task span and the memory span in 64 unpracticed subjects and also found little difference. Experiment 3 compared practice with consistent and varied lists to address retrieval from long-term memory. Experiment 4 manipulated the number of task switches and found that it had little effect on task spans. The results suggest there is no trade-off between storage and task switching, which supports some theories of executive control and challenges others.Executive control is the instrument of volition. It is the process by which the mind programs itself and exercises control over the execution of its programs. Executive control is an important topic in many areas of psychology, including cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, life span development, psychopathology, and individual differences. Executive control appears in various guises, so it is studied in various ways. Two of the most popular domains in which it is studied are working memory and task switching. This article concerns the relation between working memory and task switching and what it reveals about the nature of executive control. It introduces a new experimental paradigm called the task span procedure that was designed to reveal the interaction between working memory and task switching: Subjects are given a list of tasks to perform and then a series of stimuli to perform them on. The task span procedure requires working memory to store the list of task names and keep track of progress through the list. It requires task switching because successive tasks on the list are generally different. It also requires subordinate processes, controlled by the executive, to perform the tasks on the list. The task span procedure addresses several issues that distinguish theories of working memory, including the nature of capacity limitations, the nature of information loss, and the role of long-term memory in working-memory spans. The task span procedure also addresses issues in the task-switching literature, including what is involved in changing from one task to another. The Task Span ProcedureIn principle, the task span procedure can involve any number of tasks of any kind. In everyday life, it could involve a series of chores you hope to accomplish on a weekend or a series of meetings in your office at work. In this article, the task span procedure involves three tasks that can be performed on numbers that are presented as digits (e.g., 3) or words (e.g., nine). The three tasks are magnitude judgments (i.e., is the number greater than or less than 5?), parity judgments (i.e., is the number odd or even?), and form judgments (i.e., is the number a digit or a word?). The task names specify ...

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“…Brown and Hulme (1995) termed these models trace decay plus rehearsal (TDR) models. The widespread appeal of these models has recently led Nairne (2002) to term this approach the "standard model".…”

Section: Duration Effects 3 Is Spoken Duration a Sufficient Explanatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Is spoken duration a sufficient explanation of the word length effect?

Tehan

Tolan

2005

Memory

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Remembering Over the Short-Term: The Case Against the Standard Model

Cited by 373 publications

References 122 publications

Visual working memory buffers information retrieved from visual long-term memory

Visual working memory buffers information retrieved from visual long-term memory

Working Memory, Task Switching, and Executive Control in the Task Span Procedure.

Is spoken duration a sufficient explanation of the word length effect?

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