STEP: Multiple Resources for Processing and Storage in Short-Term Working Memory [35192]

This article applies to:
E-Prime 3.0
E-Prime 1.0

 
Detail
Experiment Author: Susan Campbell. Adapted from STEP and used with permission of Brian MacWhinney
 
Experiment Description
This experiment compared two tasks, one involving determining what digit was missing in a list, and one determining which digit followed a probe digit in the list. The two tasks were paired with two vocalization conditions, one in which participants said the digits aloud as they saw them, and another where they said irrelevant syllables as the digits were presented. These two tasks were selected because, while they are similar in input and output, they require different working memory resources. The vocalization was included because it should interfere with the two tasks differently.

Experiment Instructions
This experiment runs 4 blocks of trials. In two of the blocks, participants identify what number is missing from a presented set. In the other two blocks, participants are shown a number from the presented set. and asked identify what number came after it. Each block presents 10 trials.

Experiment Citation
Klapp, Stuart T., and Netick, Allan. Multiple Resources for Processing and Storage in Short-Term Working Memory. Human Factors, 1988, 30(5), 617-632

Cited Experiment Abstract

A frequent assumption in cognitive psychology is that performance in decision making and planning is severely restricted by the limited capacity of short-term working memory . Many predictions of this theory have not been supported, possibly because working memory mey be composed of multiple resources rather than a single resource. The present experiments study two tasks, both involving memory for digits. Although these tasks can employ the same modality for input and for responding, they appear to differ in their demands for working memory resources. Specifically, the tasks appear to differ in resources requried for processing at input, and they also differ in resources in the sense of storage capacity. The results support a version of mulitple-resource theory applied to working memory in which resource composition depends on internal mediators even when stimulus and response modality are held constant.

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See Also:

STEP: Baddeley - Acoustic Similarity [34660]

STEP: High Speed Scanning in Human Memory [35304]

STEP: Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing [35298]