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Role of the preprobe delay in memory-scanning tasks.

D Diener1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 89154.

Memory & Cognition
|September 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary

The preprobe delay in memory scanning tasks is crucial for observing the set-size effect. Expectancy, not memory search, explains why this effect diminishes without the delay.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Human Memory Research

Background:

  • Sternberg's memory-scanning task is a standard paradigm for studying short-term memory retrieval.
  • Prior research indicated a preprobe delay is necessary for the set-size effect in modified tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of preprobe delay in the memory-scanning task's set-size effect.
  • To explore the influence of expectancy on response latency and set-size effects.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1: Examined preprobe delay in a typical two-response memory-scanning task.
  • Experiment 2: Manipulated expectancy by informing participants of the memory set size beforehand.
  • Experiment 3: Assessed expectancy effects in a non-memory search task.

Main Results:

  • Without a preprobe delay, response latency showed minimal set-size effect for negative responses but a significant effect for positive responses.
  • Informing participants of set size prior to presentation restored the set-size effect without a preprobe delay.
  • A non-memory search task showed a decrease in response latency with increasing set size, suggesting expectancy influences performance.

Conclusions:

  • The preprobe delay's primary function appears to be controlling expectancy effects, which otherwise reduce the set-size effect.
  • Expectancy, independent of memory search load, can influence response latencies in tasks resembling memory scanning.

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