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Related Experiment Videos

Output and retrieval interference in the missing-number task.

J A Hadley1, A F Healy, B B Murdock

  • 1University of Colorado, Boulder 80309-0345.

Memory & Cognition
|January 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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This study reexamined the missing-number method for short-term memory span. Retrieval interference, not output interference, explains why people recall the first missing number better.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Human Memory Research

Background:

  • The missing-number method is a technique used to estimate short-term memory span.
  • Previous research suggested output or retrieval interference could affect performance on this task.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reexamine the missing-number method for estimating short-term memory span.
  • To investigate the roles of output interference, retrieval interference, and the "weakest-first" hypothesis in memory recall.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted using variations of the missing-number task.
  • Experiment 1 introduced a modified task with two missing items.
  • Experiment 2 manipulated the order of response reporting.
  • Experiment 3 used a paradigm replacing correctly identified missing numbers.

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Main Results:

  • A decline in performance for the second missing number suggested interference or a "weakest-first" recall strategy.
  • Experiment 2 provided evidence against output interference.
  • Experiment 3 did not support the "weakest-first" hypothesis.
  • Retrieval interference was implicated in explaining superior recall of the first missing number.

Conclusions:

  • Retrieval interference, rather than output interference, is the primary factor behind the first-choice superiority in the missing-number task.
  • The findings are interpreted within the framework of the TODAM model of memory.