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Proactive interference and item similarity in working memory.

Michael Bunting1

  • 1Department of Psychology.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|March 30, 2006
PubMed
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Proactive interference (PI) impacts working memory span tasks. PI buildup scores, not PI release, predicted performance on complex reasoning, similar to standard tasks.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychometrics

Background:

  • Proactive interference (PI) is a memory phenomenon where prior learning hinders new learning.
  • Working memory span tasks assess the capacity to store and manipulate information.
  • The influence of PI on the predictive validity of working memory span tasks is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how proactive interference (PI) affects the predictive utility of working memory span tasks.
  • To determine whether manipulating memoranda type and trial structure influences PI buildup and release.
  • To examine the relationship between PI-modified span task performance and complex reasoning ability.

Main Methods:

  • Seventy participants completed the Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and modified operation span and probed recall tasks.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Tasks were altered to manipulate memoranda (digits or words) and introduce PI buildup or release conditions.
  • Correlational analyses examined the relationship between PI-modified span task scores and RAPM performance.

    • Main Results:

    • Modifying memoranda within or across trials led to PI release, while consistent memoranda allowed PI buildup.
    • Scores from PI buildup trials, unlike PI release trials, correlated significantly with RAPM performance.
    • PI buildup scores accounted for as much variance in RAPM as traditional, unmodified span tasks.

    Conclusions:

    • Proactive interference significantly influences the predictive power of working memory span tasks.
    • PI buildup, rather than PI release, is a critical component for predicting complex cognitive abilities.
    • Findings support controlled attention and inhibition models of working memory and task design.