Sternberg Working Memory Task [30120]

This article applies to:

E-Prime 3.0

Detail

Experiment Author: Psychology Software Tools, Inc.

The Sternberg Working Memory Task studies how participants store and retrieve items from short-term memory.

Abstract

In this task, participants are instructed to memorize letters displayed in black font and disregard letters presented in green font. Subsequently, a list of letters in red font is presented to participants which contains an equal mix of primed and distractor letters for participants to identify. Participants indicate if the letter is one they were told to memorize by pressing 1 on the keyboard, otherwise, participants press 2.

There are 3 blocks in this task. The One Block shows 1 out of 8 letters in green font to be ignored. The Three Block shows 3 out of 8 letters in green font to be ignored. The Five Block shows 5 out of 8 letters in green font to be ignored.

NOTE: This is structured to be easily integrated with EEG or fMRI devices with only minor changes necessary.

Watch the following video to see how this task was made: Sternberg Working Memory Task.