RECIPROCITY OF RETENTION AND INTERPOLATED-TASK SCORES IN SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Abstract

A serial reaction task was used as the interpolated activity in an experiment testing short-term memory (STM) for word strings after 30 sec. Significant effects of the complexity of each task upon performance of the other were found, viz., retention of 5-word stimuli led to poorer performance on an interpolated task than retention of 3-word stimuli, and a stimulus-response lag in the reaction task reduced memory scores. However, there was not clear evidence for reciprocity of performance levels from trial to trial within Ss [subjects]. The recognition that STM experiments employ divided-attention paradigms is potentially important in the interpretation of proactive inhibition effects.