Is the focus of attention in working memory expanded through practice?
- This article reinvestigates the claim by P. Verhaeghen, J. Cerella, and C. Basak (2004) that the focus of attention in working memory can be expanded from 1 to 4 items through practice. Using a modified version of Verhaeghen et al.'s n-back paradigm, Experiments 1 and 3 show that a signature of a one-item focus, the time cost for switching between items in working memory, persists over practice. Verhaeghen et al. reported a shift over practice from a step function to a linear slope of reaction times over set size and argued that it reflects the expansion of the focus. With an improved counterbalancing scheme, a continuously increasing slope was found even without practice in Experiment 2. The results question the hypothesis that the focus is expanded through practice. They are in line with predictions from a model that distinguishes a one-item focus from a direct-access region holding about 4 items
Author details: | Klaus OberauerORCiDGND |
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URL: | http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/xlm/ |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.2.197 |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2006 |
Publication year: | 2006 |
Release date: | 2017/03/24 |
Source: | Journal of experimental psychology / learning, memory, and cognition. - 32 (2006), 2, S. 197 - 214 |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Psychologie |