TY - JOUR A1 - Zakarias, Lilla A1 - Salis, Christos A1 - Wartenburger, Isabell T1 - Transfer effects on spoken sentence comprehension and functional communication after working memory training in stroke aphasia JF - Journal of neurolinguistics : an international journal for the study of brain function in language behavior and experience N2 - Recent treatment protocols have been successful in improving working memory (WM) in individuals with aphasia. However, the evidence to date is small and the extent to which improvements in trained tasks of WM transfer to untrained memory tasks, spoken sentence comprehension, and functional communication is yet poorly understood. To address these issues, we conducted a multiple baseline study with three German-speaking individuals with chronic post stroke aphasia. Participants practised two computerised WM tasks (n-back with pictures and aback with spoken words) four times a week for a month, targeting two WM processes: updating WM representations and resolving interference. All participants showed improvement on at least one measure of spoken sentence comprehension and everyday memory activities. Two of them showed improvement also on measures of WM and functional communication. Our results suggest that WM can be improved through computerised training in chronic aphasia and this can transfer to spoken sentence comprehension and functional communication in some individuals. KW - Aphasia KW - Working memory KW - n-back training KW - Transfer KW - Sentence comprehension KW - Verbal communication Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2017.12.002 SN - 0911-6044 VL - 48 SP - 47 EP - 63 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von der Malsburg, Titus Raban A1 - Vasishth, Shravan T1 - Scanpaths reveal syntactic underspecification and reanalysis strategies JF - Language and cognitive processes N2 - What theories best characterise the parsing processes triggered upon encountering ambiguity, and what effects do these processes have on eye movement patterns in reading? The present eye-tracking study, which investigated processing of attachment ambiguities of an adjunct in Spanish, suggests that readers sometimes underspecify attachment to save memory resources, consistent with the good-enough account of parsing. Our results confirm a surprising prediction of the good-enough account: high-capacity readers commit to an attachment decision more often than low-capacity participants, leading to more errors and a greater need to reanalyse in garden-path sentences. These results emerged only when we separated functionally different types of regressive eye movements using a scanpath analysis; conventional eye-tracking measures alone would have led to different conclusions. The scanpath analysis also showed that rereading was the dominant strategy for recovering from garden-pathing. Our results may also have broader implications for models of reading processes: reanalysis effects in eye movements occurred late, which suggests that the coupling of oculo-motor control and the parser may not be as tight as assumed in current computational models of eye movement control in reading. KW - Reading KW - Eye movements KW - Scanpaths KW - Parsing KW - Reanalysis KW - Individual differences KW - Working memory KW - Underspecification Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2012.728232 SN - 0169-0965 SN - 1464-0732 VL - 28 IS - 10 SP - 1545 EP - 1578 PB - Wiley CY - Hove ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Soemer, Alexander A1 - Saito, Satoru T1 - Domain-specific processing in short-term serial order memory JF - Journal of memory and language N2 - Recent studies of short-term serial order memory have suggested that the maintenance of order information does not involve domain-specific processes. We carried out two dual task experiments aimed at resolving several ambiguities in those studies. In our experiments, encoding and response of one serial reconstruction task was embedded within encoding and response of a concurrent serial reconstruction task. Order demands in both tasks were independently varied so as to find revealing patterns of interference between the two tasks. In Experiment 1, participants were to maintain and reconstruct the order of a list of verbal materials, while maintaining a list of spatial materials or vice-versa. Increasing the order demands in the outer reconstruction task resulted in small or non reliable performance decrements in the embedded reconstruction task. Experiment 2 sought to compare these results against two same-domain baseline conditions (two verbal lists or two spatial lists). In all conditions, increasing order demands in the outer task resulted in small or non-reliable performance decrements in the embedded task. However, performance in the embedded tasks was generally lower in the same-domain baseline conditions than in the cross-domain conditions. We argue that the main effect of domain in Experiment 2 indicates the contribution of domain-specific processes to short-term serial order maintenance. In addition, we interpret the failure to find consistent cross-list interference irrespective of domain as indicating the involvement of grouping mechanisms in concurrently performed serial order tasks. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Serial order memory KW - Verbal memory KW - Spatial memory KW - Domain specificity KW - Working memory Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2015.12.003 SN - 0749-596X SN - 1096-0821 VL - 88 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Soemer, Alexander T1 - Task-unrelated thoughts and forgetting in working memory JF - Journal of memory and language N2 - The present article reports four experiments that investigated the effects of task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) on forgetting in non-verbal working memory. Participants had to remember three non-verbal stimuli over unfilled retention intervals (RIs) and then judge whether or not a subsequently presented probe stimulus matched one of the to-be-remembered stimuli. Participants additionally responded to randomly appearing probes that measured different aspects of their TUT engagement during the RI of the preceding trial. Forgetting over unfilled RIs was observed in three of four experiments and reliably associated with the proportion of time spent on TUTs. In contrast, the visual and auditory nature of the TUTs and the number of different TUTs did not reliably predict forgetting. The results support the view that TUTs block attention-based processes that are needed for restoring decaying memory representations rather than an alternative account in terms of interference caused by the content of the TUTs. KW - Short-term memory KW - Working memory KW - Forgetting KW - Decay KW - Interference KW - Mind wandering Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.03.004 SN - 0749-596X SN - 1096-0821 VL - 106 SP - 118 EP - 134 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nicenboim, Bruno A1 - Vasishth, Shravan A1 - Engelmann, Felix A1 - Suckow, Katja T1 - Exploratory and confirmatory analyses in sentence processing BT - a case study of number interference in German JF - Cognitive science : a multidisciplinary journal of anthropology, artificial intelligence, education, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology ; journal of the Cognitive Science Society N2 - Given the replication crisis in cognitive science, it is important to consider what researchers need to do in order to report results that are reliable. We consider three changes in current practice that have the potential to deliver more realistic and robust claims. First, the planned experiment should be divided into two stages, an exploratory stage and a confirmatory stage. This clear separation allows the researcher to check whether any results found in the exploratory stage are robust. The second change is to carry out adequately powered studies. We show that this is imperative if we want to obtain realistic estimates of effects in psycholinguistics. The third change is to use Bayesian data-analytic methods rather than frequentist ones; the Bayesian framework allows us to focus on the best estimates we can obtain of the effect, rather than rejecting a strawman null. As a case study, we investigate number interference effects in German. Number feature interference is predicted by cue-based retrieval models of sentence processing (Van Dyke & Lewis, 2003; Vasishth & Lewis, 2006), but it has shown inconsistent results. We show that by implementing the three changes mentioned, suggestive evidence emerges that is consistent with the predicted number interference effects. KW - Exploratory and confirmatory analyses KW - Sentence processing KW - Bayesian hierarchical modeling KW - Cue-based retrieval KW - Working memory KW - Similarity-based interference KW - Number interference KW - German Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12589 SN - 0364-0213 SN - 1551-6709 VL - 42 SP - 1075 EP - 1100 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nicenboim, Bruno A1 - Vasishth, Shravan T1 - Models of retrieval in sentence comprehension BT - a computational evaluation using Bayesian hierarchical modeling JF - Journal of memory and language N2 - Research on similarity-based interference has provided extensive evidence that the formation of dependencies between non-adjacent words relies on a cue-based retrieval mechanism. There are two different models that can account for one of the main predictions of interference, i.e., a slowdown at a retrieval site, when several items share a feature associated with a retrieval cue: Lewis and Vasishth’s (2005) activation-based model and McElree’s (2000) direct-access model. Even though these two models have been used almost interchangeably, they are based on different assumptions and predict differences in the relationship between reading times and response accuracy. The activation-based model follows the assumptions of the ACT-R framework, and its retrieval process behaves as a lognormal race between accumulators of evidence with a single variance. Under this model, accuracy of the retrieval is determined by the winner of the race and retrieval time by its rate of accumulation. In contrast, the direct-access model assumes a model of memory where only the probability of retrieval can be affected, while the retrieval time is drawn from the same distribution; in this model, differences in latencies are a by-product of the possibility of backtracking and repairing incorrect retrievals. We implemented both models in a Bayesian hierarchical framework in order to evaluate them and compare them. The data show that correct retrievals take longer than incorrect ones, and this pattern is better fit under the direct-access model than under the activation-based model. This finding does not rule out the possibility that retrieval may be behaving as a race model with assumptions that follow less closely the ones from the ACT-R framework. By introducing a modification of the activation model, i.e., by assuming that the accumulation of evidence for retrieval of incorrect items is not only slower but noisier (i.e., different variances for the correct and incorrect items), the model can provide a fit as good as the one of the direct-access model. This first ever computational evaluation of alternative accounts of retrieval processes in sentence processing opens the way for a broader investigation of theories of dependency completion. KW - Cognitive modeling KW - Sentence processing KW - Working memory KW - Cue-based retrieval KW - Similarity-based interference KW - Bayesian hierarchical modeling Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2017.08.004 SN - 0749-596X SN - 1096-0821 VL - 99 SP - 1 EP - 34 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Shuyan A1 - Schad, Daniel A1 - Kuschpel, Maxim S. A1 - Rapp, Michael Armin A1 - Heinz, Andreas T1 - Music and Video Gaming during Breaks BT - Influence on Habitual versus Goal-Directed Decision Making JF - PLoS one N2 - Different systems for habitual versus goal-directed control are thought to underlie human decision-making. Working memory is known to shape these decision-making systems and their interplay, and is known to support goal-directed decision making even under stress. Here, we investigated if and how decision systems are differentially influenced by breaks filled with diverse everyday life activities known to modulate working memory performance. We used a within-subject design where young adults listened to music and played a video game during breaks interleaved with trials of a sequential two-step Markov decision task, designed to assess habitual as well as goal-directed decision making. Based on a neurocomputational model of task performance, we observed that for individuals with a rather limited working memory capacity video gaming as compared to music reduced reliance on the goal-directed decision-making system, while a rather large working memory capacity prevented such a decline. Our findings suggest differential effects of everyday activities on key decision-making processes. KW - Decision making KW - Games KW - Working memory KW - Video games KW - Cognition KW - Cognitive impairment KW - Music cognition KW - Learning Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0150165 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Public Library of Science CY - Lawrence, Kan. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lange, Elke B. A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Differentiating between verbal and spatial encoding using eye-movement recordings JF - The quarterly journal of experimental psychology N2 - Visual information processing is guided by an active mechanism generating saccadic eye movements to salient stimuli. Here we investigate the specific contribution of saccades to memory encoding of verbal and spatial properties in a serial recall task. In the first experiment, participants moved their eyes freely without specific instruction. We demonstrate the existence of qualitative differences in eye-movement strategies during verbal and spatial memory encoding. While verbal memory encoding was characterized by shifting the gaze to the to-be-encoded stimuli, saccadic activity was suppressed during spatial encoding. In the second experiment, participants were required to suppress saccades by fixating centrally during encoding or to make precise saccades onto the memory items. Active suppression of saccades had no effect on memory performance, but tracking the upcoming stimuli decreased memory performance dramatically in both tasks, indicating a resource bottleneck between display-controlled saccadic control and memory encoding. We conclude that optimized encoding strategies for verbal and spatial features are underlying memory performance in serial recall, but such strategies work on an involuntary level only and do not support memory encoding when they are explicitly required by the task. KW - Working memory KW - Serial recall KW - Eye movements Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2013.772214 SN - 1747-0218 VL - 66 IS - 9 SP - 1840 EP - 1857 PB - Wiley CY - Hove ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinzel, Stephan A1 - Lorenz, Robert C. A1 - Quynh-Lam Duong, A1 - Rapp, Michael Armin A1 - Deserno, Lorenz T1 - Prefrontal-parietal effective connectivity during working memory in older adults JF - Neurobiology of Aging N2 - Theoretical models and preceding studies have described age-related alterations in neuronal activation of frontoparietal regions in a working memory (WM)load-dependent manner. However, to date, underlying neuronal mechanisms of these WM load-dependent activation changes in aging remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate these mechanisms in terms of effective connectivity by application of dynamic causal modeling with Bayesian Model Selection. Eighteen healthy younger (age: 20-32 years) and 32 older (60-75 years) participants performed an n-back task with 3 WM load levels during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Behavioral and conventional fMRI results replicated age group by WM load interactions. Importantly, the analysis of effective connectivity derived from dynamic causal modeling, indicated an age-and performance-related reduction in WM load-dependent modulation of connectivity from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to inferior parietal lobule. This finding provides evidence for the proposal that age-related WM decline manifests as deficient WM load-dependent modulation of neuronal top-down control and can integrate implications from theoretical models and previous studies of functional changes in the aging brain. KW - Aging KW - Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) KW - Effective connectivity KW - Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) KW - Working memory Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.05.005 SN - 0197-4580 SN - 1558-1497 VL - 57 SP - 18 EP - 27 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinzel, Stephan A1 - Lorenz, Robert C. A1 - Pelz, Patricia A1 - Heinz, Andreas A1 - Walter, Henrik A1 - Kathmann, Norbert A1 - Rapp, Michael Armin A1 - Stelzel, Christine T1 - Neural correlates of training and transfer effects in working memory in older adults JF - NeuroImage : a journal of brain function N2 - As indicated by previous research, aging is associated with a decline in working memory (WM) functioning, related to alterations in fronto-parietal neural activations. At the same time, previous studies showed that WM training in older adults may improve the performance in the trained task (training effect), and more importantly, also in untrained WM tasks (transfer effects). However, neural correlates of these transfer effects that would improve understanding of its underlying mechanisms, have not been shown in older participants as yet. In this study, we investigated blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes during n-back performance and an untrained delayed recognition (Sternberg) task following 12 sessions (45 min each) of adaptive n-back training in older adults. The Sternberg task used in this study allowed to test for neural training effects independent of specific task affordances of the trained task and to separate maintenance from updating processes. Thirty-two healthy older participants (60-75 years) were assigned either to an n-back training or a no-contact control group. Before (t1) and after (t2) training/waiting period, both the n-back task and the Sternberg task were conducted while BOLD signal was measured using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in all participants. In addition, neuropsychological tests were performed outside the scanner. WM performance improved with training and behavioral transfer to tests measuring executive functions, processing speed, and fluid intelligence was found. In the training group, BOLD signal in the right lateral middle frontal gyrus/caudal superior frontal sulcus (Brodmann area, BA 6/8) decreased in both the trained n-back and the updating condition of the untrained Sternberg task at t2, compared to the control group. fMRI findings indicate a training-related increase in processing efficiency of WM networks, potentially related to the process of WM updating. Performance gains in untrained tasks suggest that transfer to other cognitive tasks remains possible in aging. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Aging KW - Working memory KW - Training KW - Transfer KW - Neuroimaging KW - fMRI KW - Updating KW - Executive functions KW - Fluid intelligence Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.068 SN - 1053-8119 SN - 1095-9572 VL - 134 SP - 236 EP - 249 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER -