This article applies to:
Experiment Author: Susan Campbell. Adapted from STEP and used with permission of Brian MacWhinney
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.
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.
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.
Works Cited by the Experiment
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Baddeley, A. D. (1978). The trouble with levels: A reexamination of Craik and Lockhart's framework for memory research. Psychological Review, 85, 139-152
Baddeley, A. D., and Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. , pp. 47-89). New York: Academic Press.
Baddeley, A. D., Lewis, V., and Vallar, G. (1984). Exploring the articulatory loop. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 36A, 233-252.
Baddeley, A. D., and Lieberman, K. (1980). Spatial working memory. In R. S. Nickerson (Ed.), Attention and performance VIII (pp. 521-539). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baddeley, A. D., and Wilson, B. (1985). Phonological coding and short-term memory in patients without speech. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 490-502.
Buschke, H. (1963). Relative retention in immediate memory determined by the missing scan method. Nature, 200, 1129-1130.
Colle, H. A., and Welsh, A. (1976). Acoustic masking in primary memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 15, 17-32.
Conrad, R., and Hull, A. J. (1964). Information, acoustic confusion, and memory span. British Journal of Psychology, 55, 429-432.
Crowder, R. G. (1978). Audition and speech coding in short-term memory: A tutorial review. In J. Requin (Ed.), Attention and performance VII (pp. 321-342). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dillon, R. F., and Reid, L. S. (1969). Short-term memory as a function of information processing during the retention interval. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 261-269.
Frick, R. W. (1984). Using both an auditory and a visual short-term store to increase digit span. Memory and Cognition, 12, 507-514.
Frick, R. W. (1985). testing visual short-term memory: Simultaneous versus sequential presentations. Memory and Cognition, 13, 346-356.
Friedman, A., and Polson, M. C. (1981). The hemispheres as independent resource systems: Limited capacity processing and cerebral specialization. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 7, 1031-1058.
Healy, A. F. (1982). Short-term memory for order information. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 16, pp. 191-238). New York: Academic Press.
Hirst, W., and Kalmar, D. (1987). Characterizing attentional resources. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 7, 1031-1058.
Huey, E. B. (1908). The psychology and pedagogy of reading. New York: Macmillan.
Kantowitz, B. H., and Sorkin, R. D. (1983). Human factors: Understanding people-system relationships. New York: Wiley.
Klapp, S. T. (1986). Memory and processing limits in decision making (Tech. Report 85-60). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH: Air Force Human Resources Laboratory.
Klapp, S. T. (1987). Short-term memory limits in human performance. In P. Hancock (Ed.), Human factors psychology (pp. 1-27). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Klapp, S. T., Greim, D. M., and Marshburn, E. A. (1981). Buffer storage of programmed articulation and articulatory loop: two names ofr the same mechanism or two distinct components of short-term memory? In J. Long and A. Baddeley (Eds.), Attention and performance IX (pp. 459-472). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Klapp, S. T., Marshburn, E. A., and Lester, P. T. (1983). Short-term memory does not involve the "working memory" of information processing: The demise of a common assumption. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, 240-264.
Kroll, N. E. A., Kellicut, M. H., and Parks, T. E. (1975). Rehearsal of visual and auditory stimuli while shadowing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: human Learning and Memory, 1, 215-222.
Levy, B. A. (1971). Role of articulation in auditory and visual short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10, 123-132.
Navon, D. (1984). Resources -- A theoretical soup stone? Psychological Review, 91, 216-234.
Navon, D., and Gopher, D. (1979). On the economy of the human processing system. Psychological Review, 86, 214-255.
Phillips, W. A., and Christie, F. M. (1977). Interference with visualization. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 29, 637-650.
Ryan, J. (1969). Grouping and short-term memory: Different means and patterns of grouping. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 21, 137-147.
Salame, P., and Baddeley, A. (1982). Disruption of short-term memory by unattended speech: Implications for the structure of working memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 21, 150-164.
Saltzberg, P. M., Parks, T. E., Kroll, N. E. A., and Parkinson, S. R. (1971). Retroactive effects of phonemic similarity on short-term recall of visual and auditory stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 91, 43-46.
Schneider, W., and Detweiler, M. (1987). A connectionist control architecture for working memory. In G. Bower (ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (16-21). New York: Academic Press.
Stanners, R. F., Meunier, G. F., and Headley, D. B. (1980) Reaction time as an index of rehearsal in short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 66-570.
Wickens, C. D. (1984). Engineering psychology and human performance. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Wickens, C. D. Sandry, D. L, and Vidulich, M. (1985). Compatibility and resource competition between modalities of input, control processing, and output. Human Factors, 25, 227-248.