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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
Published on: July 16, 2015
Interrupted object-based updating of reach program leads to a negative compatibility effect
1Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland. lari.vainio@helsinki.fi
Abstract:
The author investigated how the motor program elicited by an object's orientation is updated by object-based information while a participant reaches for the object. Participants selected the hand of response according to the thickness of the graspable object and then reached toward the location in which the object appeared. Reach initiation times decreased when the handle of the object was oriented toward the responding hand. This positive compatibility effect turned into a negative compatibility effect (NCE) during reach execution when the object was removed from the display 300 ms after object onset or replaced with a mask at movement onset. The results demonstrate that interrupted object-based updating of an ongoing reach movement triggers the NCE.
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