Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory

Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory

Improving short-term memory can be achieved through techniques like chunking and rehearsal. Chunking involves organizing information into larger, more manageable units. This technique is particularly useful for information that exceeds the typical memory span of between five and nine items. For instance, logging into an online account with a password like "ta89vq0179gz" involves grouping letters and numbers into three chunks—ta89, vq01, and 79gz. It makes large amounts of information more...

Working Memory

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

The Closing-the-Gap Effect: Joint Evaluation Leads Donors to Help Charities Farther from Their Goal.

JMR, Journal of marketing research·2026

Same author

Facilitators and Barriers to Patient Enrollment in the Arteriovenous Access Trial of Vascular Access Outcomes: A Qualitative Study.

Kidney360·2025

Same author

The Commercial Determinants of Nonalcoholic Beer: Redemption, Revenue, or Men's Harm Reduction?

American journal of men's health·2025

Same author

Assessing the feasibility of handheld scanning technologies in neonatal intensive care: Trueness, acceptability, and suitability for personalised medical devices.

Australian critical care : official journal of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses·2024

Same author

Perceiving less but wasting more: The relationship between perceived resource scarcity and consumer food waste.

Appetite·2024

Same author

Testing a policy intervention in the lab: differences between students and non-students in switching bank accounts.

Journal of behavioral and experimental economics·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Published on: August 29, 2018

Target context specification can reduce costs in nonfocal prospective memory.

Joana S Lourenço¹, Katherine White, Elizabeth A Maylor

¹Department of Psychology, University of Warwick.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition

|July 10, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Specifying the target context for prospective memory (PM) tasks reduces interference with ongoing tasks for irrelevant stimuli. This modulation of stimulus processing depends on expectations about the target

More Related Videos

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

Published on: December 5, 2014

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

Published on: November 30, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 9, 2026

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Published on: August 29, 2018

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

Published on: December 5, 2014

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

Published on: November 30, 2018

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Nonfocal prospective memory (PM) tasks incur costs to ongoing task performance, but the underlying monitoring mechanisms are not fully understood.
Investigating how target context specification influences task interference in PM is crucial for understanding cognitive control.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if specifying the PM target context can induce trial-by-trial adjustments in task interference based on stimulus relevance.
To examine how expectations about target properties modulate cognitive processing during embedded PM tasks.

Main Methods:

Participants performed a lexical decision task with an embedded nonfocal PM task (detecting a target syllable).
Target context was manipulated: targets were expected only in words (specific) or in words and nonwords (nonspecific).
A control condition without PM demands was included for comparison.

Main Results:

The PM task generally slowed ongoing task performance, but context specification reduced interference for irrelevant stimuli (nonwords).
PM performance remained unaffected by context specification.
Persistent higher costs for nonwords in the nonspecific condition compared to the specific condition were observed.

Conclusions:

Stimulus processing can be dynamically modulated by expectations regarding the lexical properties of PM targets.
Trial-by-trial changes in task interference occur based on stimulus relevance to a nonfocal intention.
Context specification offers a mechanism to mitigate interference from irrelevant stimuli in nonfocal PM tasks.