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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Improving memory after interruption: exploiting soft constraints and manipulating information access cost.

Phillip L Morgan1, John Patrick, Samuel M Waldron

  • 1School of Psychology, Cardiff University, United Kingdom.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied
|December 23, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Increasing information access cost (IAC) helps reduce forgetting after interruptions by encouraging memory-intensive strategies. This design method improves task resumption and prospective memory, though it may slow task completion.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Human Factors Engineering

Background:

  • Forgetting task goals after interruptions is common.
  • The soft constraints hypothesis suggests task environments influence cognitive strategies.
  • Increasing information access cost (IAC) may promote memory-intensive approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if increasing IAC can reduce forgetting after interruptions.
  • To test the soft constraints hypothesis predictions in a controlled setting.
  • To evaluate IAC as a design strategy for memory support.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments used a simple copying task with varying IAC levels (Low, Medium, High).
  • Participants were interrupted during the task.
  • Recall, task resumption, and prospective memory were measured.

Main Results:

  • Recall improved across all IAC levels.
  • High IAC significantly improved memory resumption after interruptions.
  • High IAC also enhanced prospective memory, even with resource-disruptive interruptions.

Conclusions:

  • Increased IAC supports the soft constraints hypothesis by fostering memory-intensive strategies.
  • Manipulating IAC is a viable method to mitigate forgetting after interruptions.
  • The primary trade-off for improved memory is a potential decrease in task completion speed.