1
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Davis EE, Tehrani EK, Campbell KL. Some young adults hyper-bind too: Attentional control relates to individual differences in hyper-binding. Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:1809-1820. [PMID: 38302792 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02464-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Hyper-binding - the erroneous encoding of target and distractor information into associative pairs in memory - has been described as a unique age effect caused by declines in attentional control. Previous work has found that, on average, young adults do not hyper-bind. However, if hyper-binding is caused by reduced attentional control, then young adults with poor attention regulation should also show evidence of hyper-binding. We tested this question with an individual differences approach, using a battery of attentional control tasks and relating this to individual differences in hyper-binding. Participants (N = 121) completed an implicit associative memory test measuring memory for both target-distractor (i.e., hyper-binding) and target-target pairs, followed by a series of tasks measuring attentional control. Our results show that on average, young adults do not hyper-bind, but as predicted, those with poor attentional control show a larger hyper-binding effect than those with good attentional control. Exploratory analyses also suggest that individual differences in attentional control relate to susceptibility to interference at retrieval. These results support the hypothesis that hyper-binding in older adults is due to age-related declines in attentional control, and demonstrate that hyper-binding may be an issue for any individual with poor attentional control, regardless of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily E Davis
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada.
| | - Edyta K Tehrani
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada
| | - Karen L Campbell
- Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada
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2
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Tal A, Schechtman E, Caughran B, Paller KA, Davachi L. The reach of reactivation: Effects of consciously triggered versus unconsciously triggered reactivation of associative memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313604121. [PMID: 38408248 PMCID: PMC10927514 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313604121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Consolidating memories for long-term storage depends on reactivation. Reactivation occurs both consciously, during wakefulness, and unconsciously, during wakefulness and sleep. While considerable work has examined conscious awake and unconscious sleep reactivation, in this study, we directly compare the consequences of conscious and unconscious reactivation during wakefulness. Forty-one participants learned associations consisting of adjective-object-position triads. Objects were clustered into distinct semantic groups (e.g., fruits, vehicles) such that we could examine consequences of reactivation on semantically related memories. After an intensive learning protocol, we systematically reactivated some of the triads by presenting the adjective as a cue. Reactivation was done so that it was consciously experienced for some triads, and only unconsciously processed for others. Memory for spatial positions, the most distal part of the association, was affected by reactivation in a consciousness-dependent and memory-strength-dependent manner. Conscious reactivation resulted in weakening of semantically related memories that were strong initially, resonating with prior findings of retrieval-induced forgetting. Unconscious reactivation, on the other hand, selectively benefited weak reactivated memories, as previously shown for reactivation during sleep. Semantically linked memories were not impaired, but rather were integrated with the reactivated memory. These results taken together demonstrate that conscious and unconscious reactivation have qualitatively different consequences. Results support a consciousness-dependent inhibition account, whereby unconscious reactivation entails less inhibition than conscious reactivation, thus allowing more liberal spread of activation. Findings set the stage for additional exploration into the role of conscious experience in memory storage and structuring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Tal
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY10027
| | - Eitan Schechtman
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA92697
- Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA92697
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
| | - Bruce Caughran
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
| | - Ken A. Paller
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
| | - Lila Davachi
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY10027
- Department of Clinical Research, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY10962
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3
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May CP, Hasher L, Healey K. For Whom (and When) the Time Bell Tolls: Chronotypes and the Synchrony Effect. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:1520-1536. [PMID: 37369064 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231178553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Circadian rhythms are powerful timekeepers that drive physiological and intellectual functioning throughout the day. These rhythms vary across individuals, with morning chronotypes rising and peaking early in the day and evening chronotypes showing a later rise in arousal, with peaks in the afternoon or evening. Chronotype also varies with age from childhood to adolescence to old age. As a result of these differences, the time of day at which people are best at attending, learning, solving analytical problems, making complex decisions, and even behaving ethically varies. Across studies of attention and memory and a range of allied areas, including academic achievement, judgment and decision-making, and neuropsychological assessment, optimal outcomes are found when performance times align with peaks in circadian arousal, a finding known as the synchrony effect. The benefits of performing in synchrony with one's chronotype (and the costs of not doing so) are most robust for individuals with strong morning or evening chronotypes and for tasks that require effortful, analytical processing or the suppression of distracting information. Failure to take the synchrony effect into consideration may be a factor in issues ranging from replication difficulties to school timing to assessing intellectual disabilities and apparent cognitive decline in aging.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lynn Hasher
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
| | - Karl Healey
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University
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4
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Davison C, Weeks J, Grady C, Hasher L, Buchsbaum B. Influence of target-distractor neural similarity on working memory performance in older and younger adults. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, AND COGNITION. SECTION B, AGING, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2022; 29:463-482. [PMID: 35168500 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2022.2036682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
According to the inhibitory deficit hypothesis, older adults often fail to selectively inhibit distractors and attend to relevant information in working memory, leading to poorer memory of target items but better recall of irrelevant distractors compared to younger adults. Here, we explored how neural similarity of activity patterns between relevant and irrelevant stimulus categories impacts memory performance. We found evidence that older adults may benefit from failing to inhibit distractors that are similar to targets, perhaps because sustained neural activation of distractors partially supports maintenance of targets when they share neural resources, allowing for better subsequent recognition of studied target items. We also found increased category-specific multivoxel pattern activity in medial temporal regions in younger compared to older adults as category similarity increased. We propose that this reduced category-specific activation in medial temporal regions in older adults may reflect more blended representations of all the information available in working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Davison
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A1, Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Jennifer Weeks
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A1, Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Cheryl Grady
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A1, Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Lynn Hasher
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A1, Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Bradley Buchsbaum
- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A1, Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1, Canada
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5
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Kireev M, Korotkov A, Masharipov R, Zheltyakova M, Cherednichenko D, Gershkovich V, Moroshkina N, Slioussar N, Allakhverdov V, Chernigovskaya T. Suppression of non-selected solutions as a possible brain mechanism for ambiguity resolution in the word fragment task completion task. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1829. [PMID: 35115559 PMCID: PMC8814017 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05646-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain systems dealing with multiple meanings of ambiguous stimuli are relatively well studied, while the processing of non-selected meanings is less investigated in the neurophysiological literature and provokes controversy between existing theories. It is debated whether these meanings are actively suppressed and, if yes, whether suppression characterizes any task that involves alternative solutions or only those tasks that emphasize semantic processing or the existence of alternatives. The current functional MRI event-related study used a modified version of the word fragment completion task to reveal brain mechanisms involved in implicit processing of the non-selected solutions of ambiguous fragments. The stimuli were pairs of fragmented adjectives and nouns. Noun fragments could have one or two solutions (resulting in two words with unrelated meanings). Adjective fragments had one solution and created contexts strongly suggesting one solution for ambiguous noun fragments. All fragmented nouns were presented twice during the experiment (with two different adjectives). We revealed that ambiguity resolution was associated with a reduced BOLD signal within several regions related to language processing, including the anterior hippocampi and amygdala and posterior lateral temporal cortex. Obtained findings were interpreted as resulting from brain activity inhibition, which underlies a hypothesized mechanism of suppression of non-selected solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxim Kireev
- Institute for Cognitive Studies, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Alexander Korotkov
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Ruslan Masharipov
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Maya Zheltyakova
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Denis Cherednichenko
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Valeria Gershkovich
- Institute for Cognitive Studies, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Nadezhda Moroshkina
- Institute for Cognitive Studies, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Natalia Slioussar
- Institute for Cognitive Studies, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- National Research University "Higher School of Economics", Moscow, Russia
| | - Victor Allakhverdov
- Institute for Cognitive Studies, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Tatiana Chernigovskaya
- Institute for Cognitive Studies, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
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6
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Ngo KWJ, Amer T, Healey MK, Hasher L, Alain C. Electrophysiological signature of suppression of competitors during interference resolution. Brain Res 2021; 1767:147564. [PMID: 34171386 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The electrophysiological evidence for suppression to date primarily draws upon traditional retrieval-induced forgetting and Think/No-Think paradigms, which involve strategic and intentional restriction of thought. Here event-related potential (ERP) signatures of suppression were examined using a novel task, which unlike traditional paradigms, does not include an initial priming step or intentional thought restraint. Participants were instructed to verbally generate semantically related responses to cue words (e.g., "PIZZA"), and unrelated responses to others. According to an inhibitory account of interference resolution, semantic competition from automatically activated target words must be resolved in order to generate an unrelated response, whereas no resolution is required for generating related responses. In a subsequent phase, accessibility for target words (e.g., "PEPPERONI") that required suppression, words that did not require suppression, as well as new control words was measured using a lexical decision task. We observed a sustained late positivity for unrelated responses in the generation task, and early negative amplitudes of suppressed items in the lexical decision task. These findings are consistent with inhibitory mechanisms operating at retrieval to suppress competitors and show that such processes operate on automatically activated items that are not presented in the context of an experiment, representative of retrieval situations that occur in everyday life.
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Affiliation(s)
- K W Joan Ngo
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada
| | - Tarek Amer
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, United States
| | - M Karl Healey
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, United States
| | - Lynn Hasher
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada
| | - Claude Alain
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada; Music and Health Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Canada.
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7
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Fruehauf LM, Fair JE, Liebel SW, Bjornn D, Larson MJ. Cognitive control in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): Proactive control adjustments or consistent performance? Psychiatry Res 2021; 298:113809. [PMID: 33636516 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive control is often parsed into proactive and reactive control components. In proactive control, task- and goal-relevant information is utilized in a top-down manner to improve performance, while reactive control is a late-response corrective mechanism that occurs after conflict or errors. We tested whether people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) would show specific proactive control dysfunction in 31 individuals with OCD and 30 psychiatrically-healthy controls. We employed two tasks that differentiate proactive and reactive cognitive control processes: the cued-Stroop and the AX version of a continuous performance task (AX-CPT). There was a 1s or 5s delay between the cue and probe for both tasks to allow for implementation of proactive control processes. Participants also completed a neuropsychological test battery and mood and symptom severity self-report questionnaires. Although there were group-level differences in OCD severity and depression/anxiety symptoms, there were no significant differences in response times (RT) and error rates between groups for delay or condition for the cued-Stroop or for the AX-CPT, indicating similar performance in implementing proactive control strategies. There were also no significant differences between OCD and control participants on neuropsychological test performance. Results suggest a convergence of evidence wherein individuals with OCD are not showing disproportionately altered proactive control abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay M Fruehauf
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Center, Brigham Young University, 244 TLRB, Provo, UT 84602, United States
| | - Joseph E Fair
- Utah Valley Orthopedics and Sports Medicine and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Utah Valley Hospital, Provo, Utah, United States
| | - Spencer W Liebel
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia; Milwaukee VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
| | - Daniel Bjornn
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Center, Brigham Young University, 244 TLRB, Provo, UT 84602, United States
| | - Michael J Larson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Center, Brigham Young University, 244 TLRB, Provo, UT 84602, United States.
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8
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Weeks JC, Grady CL, Hasher L, Buchsbaum BR. Holding On to the Past: Older Adults Show Lingering Neural Activation of No-Longer-Relevant Items in Working Memory. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:1946-1962. [PMID: 32573381 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Goal-relevant information can be maintained in working memory over a brief delay interval to guide an upcoming decision. There is also evidence suggesting the existence of a complementary process: namely, the ability to suppress information that is no longer relevant to ongoing task goals. Moreover, this ability to suppress or inhibit irrelevant information appears to decline with age. In this study, we compared younger and older adults undergoing fMRI on a working memory task designed to address whether the modulation of neural representations of relevant and no-longer-relevant items during a delay interval is related to age and overall task performance. Following from the theoretical predictions of the inhibitory deficit hypothesis of aging, we hypothesized that older adults would show higher activation of no-longer-relevant items during a retention delay compared to young adults and that higher activation of these no-longer-relevant items would predict worse recognition memory accuracy for relevant items. Our results support this prediction and more generally demonstrate the importance of goal-driven modulation of neural activity in successful working memory maintenance. Furthermore, we showed that the largest age differences in the regulation of category-specific pattern activity during working memory maintenance were seen throughout the medial temporal lobe and prominently in the hippocampus, further establishing the importance of "long-term memory" retrieval mechanisms in the context of high-load working memory tasks that place large demands on attentional selection mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer C Weeks
- University of Toronto.,Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Cheryl L Grady
- University of Toronto.,Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lynn Hasher
- University of Toronto.,Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bradley R Buchsbaum
- University of Toronto.,Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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9
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Lee D, Kwak S, Chey J. Parallel Changes in Cognitive Function and Gray Matter Volume After Multi-Component Training of Cognitive Control (MTCC) in Adolescents. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:246. [PMID: 31379541 PMCID: PMC6646454 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is a unique period in which higher cognition develops to adult-level, while plasticity of neuron and behavior is at one of its peak. Notably, cognitive training studies for adolescents has been sparse and neural correlates of the training effects yet to be established. This study investigated the effects of multi-component training of cognitive control (MTCC) in order to examine whether the training enhanced adolescents' cognitive control ability and if the effects were generalizable to other cognitive domains. Cognitive control refers to the ability to adjust a series of thoughts and behaviors in correspondence to an internal goal, and involves inhibition, working memory, shifting, and dual tasking as subcomponents. The participants were middle school students (aged 11-14) and randomly assigned to either a training group or an active control group. The training group performed 30 min of MTCC per day for 6 weeks. To identify the training effects, we examined the cognitive performance, regional gray matter, and their relationship. The training group showed modest improvement in a visuospatial fluid intelligence test (Block Design) after MTCC, which was not significant after correcting for multiple comparisons. In addition, the training effect on the gray matter volume (time × group interaction) was observed in the right inferior cortex (rIFC). While the control group showed a typical reduction in the rIFC volume, the training group showed a relative increase in the homologous region. The relative change in rIFC volume was associated with the change in Stroop performance. These results imply that MTCC may affect brain structure relevant to inhibitory control process.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jeanyung Chey
- Department of Psychology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
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10
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Abstract
Retrieval-induced forgetting is observed when the retrieval of target information causes the forgetting of nontarget information. The present study investigated whether similar dynamics occur in the context of generating arguments in the process of explanation. Participants studied arguments associated with several issues before attempting to think of new arguments pertaining to a subset of those issues. When given a later memory test, participants were less likely to recall the studied arguments if they had attempted to think of new arguments than if they had not. This argument-induced forgetting effect was observed regardless of whether participants attempted to generate arguments that either agreed or disagreed with the position of the arguments they studied. The effect was significantly reduced, however, and even numerically reversed, when participants generated arguments that were highly related to the studied arguments. This finding fits well with previous research on retrieval-induced forgetting, which has shown that the retrieval or generation of new information fails to cause the forgetting of old information when the two types of information are well integrated or semantically associated.
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11
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Amer T, Campbell KL, Hasher L. Cognitive Control As a Double-Edged Sword. Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 20:905-915. [PMID: 27863886 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2016] [Revised: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive control, the ability to limit attention to goal-relevant information, aids performance on a wide range of laboratory tasks. However, there are many day-to-day functions which require little to no control and others which even benefit from reduced control. We review behavioral and neuroimaging evidence demonstrating that reduced control can enhance the performance of both older and, under some circumstances, younger adults. Using healthy aging as a model, we demonstrate that decreased cognitive control benefits performance on tasks ranging from acquiring and using environmental information to generating creative solutions to problems. Cognitive control is thus a double-edged sword - aiding performance on some tasks when fully engaged, and many others when less engaged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarek Amer
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Karen L Campbell
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Lynn Hasher
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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12
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Labossière DI, Leboe-McGowan JP. Specific and non-specific match effects in negative priming. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 182:138-153. [PMID: 29179019 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2017] [Revised: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The negative priming effect occurs when withholding a response to a stimulus impairs generation of subsequent responding to a same or a related stimulus. Our goal was to use the negative priming procedure to obtain insights about the memory representations generated by ignoring vs. attending/responding to a prime stimulus. Across three experiments we observed that ignoring a prime stimulus tends to generate higher identity-independent, non-specific repetition effects, owing to an overlap in the coarse perceptual form of a prime distractor and a probe target. By contrast, attended repetition effects generate predominantly identity-specific sources of facilitation. We use these findings to advocate for using laboratory phenomena to illustrate general principles that can be of practical use to non-specialists. In the case of the negative priming procedure, we propose that the procedure provides a useful means for investigating attention/memory interactions, even if the specific cause (or causes) of negative priming effects remain unresolved.
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13
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Dagry I, Barrouillet P. The fate of distractors in working memory: No evidence for their active removal. Cognition 2017; 169:129-138. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2017] [Revised: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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14
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Abstract
Remembering the past and imagining the future both involve the retrieval of details stored in episodic memory and rely on the same core network of brain regions. Given these parallels, one might expect similar component processes to be involved in remembering and imagining. While a strong case can be made for the role of inhibition in memory retrieval, few studies have examined whether inhibition is also necessary for future imagining and results to-date have been mixed. In the current study, we test whether related concepts are inhibited during future imagining using a modified priming approach. Participants first generated a list of familiar places and for each place, the people they most strongly associate with it. A week later, participants imagined future events involving recombinations of people and places, immediately followed by a speeded response task in which participants made familiarity decisions about people's names. Across two experiments, our results suggest that related concepts are not inhibited during future imagining, but rather are automatically primed. These results fit with recent work showing that autobiographically significant concepts (e.g., friends' names) are more episodic than semantic in nature, automatically activating related details in memory and potentially fuelling the flexible simulation of future events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Campbell
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| | - Roland G. Benoit
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel L. Schacter
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
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15
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Ngo KWJ, Hasher L. Optimal testing time for suppression of competitors during interference resolution. Memory 2017; 25:1396-1401. [PMID: 28361617 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2017.1309437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Interference between competing memory traces is a common cause of memory failure. Recent research has demonstrated a suppression mechanism that operates at retrieval to resolve interference. Using an adaptation of the suppression paradigm in Healey, Ngo, and Hasher [(2014). Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults. Psychological Science, 25(1), 145-151. doi: 10.1177/0956797613501169 ], we tested whether the ability to suppress competing memory traces varies with the synchrony between optimal arousal period and time of testing. We replicate the below-baseline suppression effect for young adults tested at optimal times of day, and present novel evidence that they do not show competitor suppression during non-optimal times of day. In fact, competitors are actually strengthened at non-optimal times. Our results suggest that the ability to resolve interference by suppression varies with circadian arousal.
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Affiliation(s)
- K W Joan Ngo
- a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada.,b Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre , Toronto , ON , Canada
| | - Lynn Hasher
- a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada.,b Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre , Toronto , ON , Canada
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16
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Abstract
People are able to imagine events in the future that have not yet happened, an ability referred to as episodic future thinking. There is now compelling evidence that episodic future thinking is accomplished via processes similar to those that underlie episodic retrieval. Drawing upon work on retrieval-induced forgetting, which has shown that retrieving some items in memory can cause the forgetting of other items in memory, we show that engaging in episodic future thinking can cause related autobiographical memories (Experiments 1–3) and episodic event descriptions (Experiments 3–4) to become less recallable in the future than they would have been otherwise. This finding suggests that episodic future thinking can serve as a memory modifier by changing the extent to which memories from our past can be subsequently retrieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie S. Ditta
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin C. Storm
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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17
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Storm BC, Bui DC. Retrieval-practice task affects relationship between working memory capacity and retrieval-induced forgetting. Memory 2015; 24:1407-18. [PMID: 26642868 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2015.1117640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Retrieving a subset of items from memory can cause forgetting of other items in memory, a phenomenon referred to as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). Individuals who exhibit greater amounts of RIF have been shown to also exhibit superior working memory capacity (WMC) and faster stop-signal reaction times (SSRTs), results which have been interpreted as suggesting that RIF reflects an inhibitory process that is mediated by the processes of executive control. Across four experiments, we sought to further elucidate this issue by manipulating the way in which participants retrieved items during retrieval practice and examining how the resulting effects of forgetting correlated with WMC (Experiments 1-3) and SSRT (Experiment 4). Significant correlations were observed when participants retrieved items from an earlier study phase (within-list retrieval practice), but not when participants generated items from semantic memory (extra-list retrieval practice). These results provide important new insight into the role of executive-control processes in RIF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin C Storm
- a Department of Psychology , University of California , Santa Cruz , CA , USA
| | - Dung C Bui
- b Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in Saint Louis , Saint Louis , MO , USA
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18
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Abstract
We develop a novel, computationally explicit, theory of age-related memory change within the framework of the context maintenance and retrieval (CMR2) model of memory search. We introduce a set of benchmark findings from the free recall and recognition tasks that include aspects of memory performance that show both age-related stability and decline. We test aging theories by lesioning the corresponding mechanisms in a model fit to younger adult free recall data. When effects are considered in isolation, many theories provide an adequate account, but when all effects are considered simultaneously, the existing theories fail. We develop a novel theory by fitting the full model (i.e., allowing all parameters to vary) to individual participants and comparing the distributions of parameter values for older and younger adults. This theory implicates 4 components: (a) the ability to sustain attention across an encoding episode, (b) the ability to retrieve contextual representations for use as retrieval cues, (c) the ability to monitor retrievals and reject intrusions, and (d) the level of noise in retrieval competitions. We extend CMR2 to simulate a recognition memory task using the same mechanisms the free recall model uses to reject intrusions. Without fitting any additional parameters, the 4-component theory that accounts for age differences in free recall predicts the magnitude of age differences in recognition memory accuracy. Confirming a prediction of the model, free recall intrusion rates correlate positively with recognition false alarm rates. Thus, we provide a 4-component theory of a complex pattern of age differences across 2 key laboratory tasks.
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Dey A, Sommers MS. Age-related differences in inhibitory control predict audiovisual speech perception. Psychol Aging 2015; 30:634-46. [PMID: 26121287 PMCID: PMC5757834 DOI: 10.1037/pag0000033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Audiovisual (AV) speech perception is the process by which auditory and visual sensory signals are integrated and used to understand what a talker is saying during face-to-face communication. This form of communication is markedly superior to speech perception in either sensory modality alone. However, there are additional lexical factors that are affected by age-related cognitive changes that may contribute to differences in AV perception. In the current study, we extended an existing model of spoken word identification to the AV domain, and examined the cognitive factors that contribute to age-related and individual differences in AV perception of words varying in lexical difficulty (i.e., on the basis of competing items). Young (n = 49) and older adults (n = 50) completed a series of cognitive inhibition tasks and a spoken word identification task. The words were presented in auditory-only, visual-only, and AV conditions, and were equally divided into lexically hard (words with many competitors) and lexically easy (words with few competitors). Overall, young adults demonstrated better inhibitory abilities and higher identification performance than older adults. However, whereas no relationship was observed between inhibitory abilities and AV word identification performance in young adults, there was a significant relationship between Stroop interference and AV identification of lexically hard words in older adults. These results are interpreted within the framework of existing models of spoken-word recognition with implications for how cognitive deficits in older adults contribute to speech perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avanti Dey
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in Saint Louis
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20
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Storm BC, Angello G, Buchli DR, Koppel RH, Little JL, Nestojko JF. A Review of Retrieval-Induced Forgetting in the Contexts of Learning, Eyewitness Memory, Social Cognition, Autobiographical Memory, and Creative Cognition. PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.plm.2014.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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21
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Vannucci M, Pelagatti C, Hanczakowski M, Mazzoni G, Paccani CR. Why are we not flooded by involuntary autobiographical memories? Few cues are more effective than many. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2014; 79:1077-85. [PMID: 25468208 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-014-0632-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2014] [Accepted: 11/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Recent research on involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) has shown that these memories can be elicited and studied in the laboratory under controlled conditions. Employing a modified version of a vigilance task developed by Schlagman and Kvavilashvili (Mem Cogn 36:920-932, 2008) to elicit IAMs, we investigated the effects of varying the frequency of external cues on the number of IAMs reported. During the vigilance task, participants had to detect an occasional target stimulus (vertical lines) in a constant stream of non-target stimuli (horizontal lines). Participants had to interrupt the task whenever they became aware of any task-unrelated mental contents and to report them. In addition to line patterns, participants were exposed to verbal cues and their frequency was experimentally manipulated in three conditions (frequent cues vs. infrequent cues vs. infrequent cues plus arithmetic operations). We found that, compared to infrequent cues, both conditions with frequent cues and infrequent cues plus arithmetic operations decreased the number of IAMs reported. The comparison between the three experimental conditions suggests that this reduction was due to the greater cognitive load in conditions of frequent cues and infrequent cue plus arithmetic operations. Possible mechanisms involved in this effect and their implications for research on IAMs are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manila Vannucci
- Section of Psychology, Department of NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Via San Salvi 12, Padiglione 26, 50135, Florence, Italy.
| | - Claudia Pelagatti
- Section of Psychology, Department of NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Via San Salvi 12, Padiglione 26, 50135, Florence, Italy
| | | | | | - Claudia Rossi Paccani
- Section of Psychology, Department of NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Via San Salvi 12, Padiglione 26, 50135, Florence, Italy
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22
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Healey MK, Crutchley P, Kahana MJ. Individual differences in memory search and their relation to intelligence. J Exp Psychol Gen 2014; 143:1553-1569. [PMID: 24730719 DOI: 10.1037/a0036306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Attempts to understand why memory predicts intelligence have not fully leveraged state-of-the-art measures of recall dynamics. Using data from a multisession free recall study, we examine individual differences in measures of recall initiation and postinitiation transitions. We identify 4 sources of variation: a recency factor reflecting variation in the tendency to initiate recall from an item near the end of the list, a primacy factor reflecting a tendency to initiate from the beginning of the list, a temporal factor corresponding to transitions mediated by temporal associations, and a semantic factor corresponding to semantically mediated transitions. Together, these 4 factors account for 83% of the variability in overall recall accuracy, suggesting they provide a nearly complete picture of recall dynamics. We also show that these sources of variability account for over 80% of the variance shared between memory and intelligence. The temporal association factor was the most influential in predicting both recall accuracy and intelligence. We outline a theory of how controlled drift of temporal context may be critical across a range of cognitive activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Karl Healey
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
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23
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Davidson TL, Sample CH, Swithers SE. An application of Pavlovian principles to the problems of obesity and cognitive decline. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2014; 108:172-84. [PMID: 23887140 PMCID: PMC3899105 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2013] [Revised: 07/12/2013] [Accepted: 07/15/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
An enormous amount of research has been aimed at identifying biological and environmental factors that are contributing to the current global obesity pandemic. The present paper reviews recent findings which suggest that obesity is attributable, at least in part, to a disruption of the Pavlovian control of energy regulation. Within our framework, this disruption occurs when (a) consumption of sweet-tasting, but low calorie or noncaloric, foods and beverages reduces the ability of sweet tastes to predict the postingestive caloric consequences of intake and (b) consuming diets high in saturated fat and sugar (a.k.a., Western diet) impairs hippocampal-dependent learning and memory processes that are involved with the use of interoceptive "satiety" signals to anticipate when food and eating are not followed by appetitive postingestive outcomes. The paper concludes with discussion of a "vicious-cycle" model which links obesity to cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- T L Davidson
- American University, Washington, DC, United States.
| | - C H Sample
- American University, Washington, DC, United States
| | - S E Swithers
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
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24
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Healey MK, Ngo KWJ, Hasher L. Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults. Psychol Sci 2013; 25:145-51. [PMID: 24214245 DOI: 10.1177/0956797613501169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Resolving interference from competing memories is a critical factor in efficient memory retrieval, and several accounts of cognitive aging suggest that difficulty resolving interference may underlie memory deficits such as those seen in the elderly. Although many researchers have suggested that the ability to suppress competitors is a key factor in resolving interference, the evidence supporting this claim has been the subject of debate. Here, we present a new paradigm and results demonstrating that for younger adults, a single retrieval attempt is sufficient to suppress competitors to below-baseline levels of accessibility even though the competitors are never explicitly presented. The extent to which individual younger adults suppressed competitors predicted their performance on a memory span task. In a second experiment, older adults showed no evidence of suppression, which supports the theory that older adults' memory deficits are related to impaired suppression.
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Franconeri SL, Alvarez GA, Cavanagh P. Flexible cognitive resources: competitive content maps for attention and memory. Trends Cogn Sci 2013; 17:134-41. [PMID: 23428935 PMCID: PMC5047276 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2013.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 171] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2012] [Revised: 01/30/2013] [Accepted: 01/31/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The brain has finite processing resources so that, as tasks become harder, performance degrades. Where do the limits on these resources come from? We focus on a variety of capacity-limited buffers related to attention, recognition, and memory that we claim have a two-dimensional 'map' architecture, where individual items compete for cortical real estate. This competitive format leads to capacity limits that are flexible, set by the nature of the content and their locations within an anatomically delimited space. We contrast this format with the standard 'slot' architecture and its fixed capacity. Using visual spatial attention and visual short-term memory as case studies, we suggest that competitive maps are a concrete and plausible architecture that limits cognitive capacity across many domains.
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Mall JT, Morey CC. High working memory capacity predicts less retrieval induced forgetting. PLoS One 2013; 8:e52806. [PMID: 23326359 PMCID: PMC3543406 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2012] [Accepted: 11/21/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Working Memory Capacity (WMC) is thought to be related to executive control and focused memory search abilities. These two hypotheses make contrasting predictions regarding the effects of retrieval on forgetting. Executive control during memory retrieval is believed to lead to retrieval induced forgetting (RIFO) because inhibition of competing memory traces during retrieval renders them temporarily less accessible. According to this suggestion, superior executive control should increase RIFO. Alternatively, superior focused search abilities could diminish RIFO, because delimiting the search set reduces the amount of competition between traces and thus the need for inhibition. Some evidence suggests that high WMC is related to more RIFO, which is inconsistent with the focused search hypothesis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using the RIFO paradigm, we created distinct and overlapping categories to manipulate the amount of competition between them. This overlap increased competition between some categories while exclusive use of weak exemplars ensured negligible effects of output interference and integration. Low WMC individuals exhibited RIFO within and between overlapping categories, indicating the effect of resolving competition during retrieval. High WMC individuals only exhibited between-category RIFO, suggesting they experienced reduced competition resolution demands. Low WMC Individuals exhibited the strongest RIFO and no retrieval benefits when interference resolution demands were high. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Our findings qualify the inhibitory explanation for RIFO by incorporating the focused search hypothesis for materials that are likely to pose extraordinary challenges at retrieval. The results highlight the importance of considering individual differences in retrieval-induced effects and qualify existing models of these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan T Mall
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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27
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Eich TS, Stern Y, Metcalfe J. The hypercorrection effect in younger and older adults. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2012; 20:511-21. [PMID: 23241028 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2012.754399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT The hypercorrection effect, which refers to the finding that errors committed with high confidence are more likely to be corrected than are low confidence errors, has been replicated many times, and with both young adults and children. In the present study, we contrasted older with younger adults. Participants answered general-information questions, made confidence ratings about their answers, were given corrective feedback, and then were retested on questions that they had gotten wrong. While younger adults showed the hypercorrection effect, older adults, despite higher overall accuracy on the general-information questions and excellent basic metacognitive ability, showed a diminished hypercorrection effect. Indeed, the correspondence between their confidence in their errors and the probability of correction was not significantly greater than zero, showing, for the first time, that a particular participant population is selectively impaired on this error correction task. These results potentially offer leverage both on the mechanisms underlying the hypercorrection effect and on reasons for older adults' memory impairments, as well as on memory functions that are spared.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teal S Eich
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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28
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Radvansky GA, Tamplin AK. Suppression in retrieval practice, part-set cueing, and negative priming memory: the hydrogen model. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2012; 66:1368-98. [PMID: 23170860 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2012.743572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
A number of phenomena in memory have been explained using appeals to active suppression processes, including retrieval practice, part-set cueing, and the negative priming that is observed with associative interference. However, more formal attempts to capture such processes have been absent. This paper outlines the hydrogen model of memory retrieval, which aims to be a simple model with the modest goal of trying to explore what influence suppression would have on memory retrieval. This model contains a single activation component and a single suppression component in which suppression comes into play only after retrieval interference has been detected. This model was created to explore the plausibility and viability of ideas about the operation of suppression during memory retrieval. For hydrogen, the degree of suppression recruited is proportional to the amount of interference experienced. Overall, the pattern of human data was captured by the suppression model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel A Radvansky
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
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29
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Biss RK, Campbell KL, Hasher L. Interference From Previous Distraction Disrupts Older Adults' Memory. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2012; 68:558-61. [DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbs074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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30
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Rass O, Leynes PA, Hetrick WP, O’Donnell BF. Memory blocking in schizophrenia reflects deficient retrieval control mechanisms. Schizophr Res 2011; 133:182-6. [PMID: 21843925 PMCID: PMC3219811 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2011.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2011] [Revised: 07/11/2011] [Accepted: 07/14/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Retrieval interference and orthographic processing were evaluated in schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder, and non-psychiatric control participants using a word fragment completion paradigm. Participants studied solutions and later completed corresponding fragments preceded by solutions, orthographically similar blocking words, or ampersands. Although schizophrenia patients completed fewest fragments, they showed equivalent repetition priming and blocking magnitude, supporting intact orthographic processing. Schizophrenia patients were more likely to commit intrusions in the blocking condition, whereas control participants displayed better mental control because they were more likely to withhold the response. These results suggest schizophrenia patients show abnormal functioning of control mechanisms responsible for selection and inhibition of competitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Rass
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
| | - P. Andrew Leynes
- Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08618, USA
| | - William P. Hetrick
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA,Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, 2601 Cold Spring Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46222, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, 340 West 10th Street, Suite 6200, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
| | - Brian F. O’Donnell
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA,Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, 2601 Cold Spring Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46222, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, 340 West 10th Street, Suite 6200, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
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31
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Thomas RC, Hasher L. Reflections of distraction in memory: transfer of previous distraction improves recall in younger and older adults. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2011; 38:30-9. [PMID: 21843024 DOI: 10.1037/a0024882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Three studies explored whether younger and older adults' free recall performance can benefit from prior exposure to distraction that becomes relevant in a memory task. Participants initially read stories that included distracting text. Later, they studied a list of words for free recall, with half of the list consisting of previously distracting words. When the memory task was indirect in its use of distraction (Study 1), only older adults showed transfer, with better recall of previously distracting compared with new words, which increased their recall to match that of younger adults. However, younger adults showed transfer when cued about the relevance of previous distraction both before studying the words (Study 2) and before recalling the words (Study 3) in the memory test. Results suggest that both younger and older adults encode distraction, but younger adults require explicit cueing to use their knowledge of distraction. In contrast, older adults transfer knowledge of distraction in both explicitly cued and indirect memory tasks. Results are discussed in terms of age differences in inhibition and source-constrained retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruthann C Thomas
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
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32
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Wais PE, Kim OY, Gazzaley A. Distractibility during episodic retrieval is exacerbated by perturbation of left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011; 22:717-24. [PMID: 21680847 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhr160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
The presence of irrelevant external stimuli during the retrieval of long-term memory (LTM) has a negative impact on the fidelity of recollected details. Top-down control processes that both guide the selection of internal information relevant to LTM goals and resolve interference on retrieval from irrelevant external information have been associated with the same region in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The current study examined a causal role of the left VLPFC in memory performance when external distraction (i.e., visual stimuli irrelevant to the current task goals) was presented during retrieval of LTM. Immediately after functional perturbation of the left VLPFC with 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, participants' memory was tested when their eyes were closed and when their eyes were open and irrelevant visual stimuli were presented. The results showed that visual distraction diminished LTM performance based on an objective measure of recollection and that perturbation of left VLPFC exacerbated the disruptive effect. This is the first evidence of a direct role of the left VLPFC in diminishing the impact of distraction on recollection, elucidating neural mechanisms that are critically involved in how we reconstruct the past while navigating the external environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter E Wais
- Department of Neurology, W. M. Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
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Abstract
Previous work has shown that older adults encode lexical and semantic information about verbal distractors and use that information to facilitate performance on subsequent tasks. In this study, we investigated whether older adults also form associations between distractors and co-occurring targets. In two experiments, participants performed a 1-back task on pictures superimposed with irrelevant words; 10 min later, participants were given a paired-associates memory task without reference to the 1-back task. The study list included preserved and re-paired (disrupted) pairs from the 1-back task. Older adults showed a memory advantage for preserved pairs and a disadvantage for disrupted pairs, whereas younger adults performed similarly across pair types. These results suggest the existence of a hyper-binding phenomenon in which older adults encode seemingly extraneous co-occurrences in the environment and transfer this knowledge to subsequent tasks. This increased knowledge of how events covary may be the reason why real-world decision-making ability is retained, or even enhanced, with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L Campbell
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G6, Canada.
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