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Published on: July 16, 2015
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Cognitive Control, Not Time, Determines the Status of Items in Working Memory
Jacqueline M Fulvio1, Bradley R Postle1,2
1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, US.
Journal of Cognition
|April 16, 2020
Summary
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can reactivate items in working memory (WM). This study confirms TMS reactivation reflects memory item status, not just time elapsed, clarifying WM control mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Working memory (WM) prioritizes relevant information for behavior.
- Prior research showed transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) could reactivate unprioritized memory items (UMIs) in WM, but this effect was confounded with time and cognitive load.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate findings on TMS-induced reactivation in WM.
- To disentangle the effect of memory item status (unprioritized vs. irrelevant) from time-related factors in WM.
Main Methods:
- A follow-up study replicated Rose et al. (2016) using a dual serial retrocue (DSR) task.
- An additional condition was introduced to unconfound time since sample presentation from UMI/IMI status.
Main Results:
- The TMS-reactivation effect was successfully replicated.
- This effect was confirmed to be an index of memory item status (unprioritized vs. irrelevant) within WM.
- The results were independent of the time elapsed since the memory sample was presented.
Conclusions:
- TMS-induced reactivation specifically reflects the prioritized status of information held in working memory.
- This finding clarifies the role of TMS in probing WM content and supports the dynamic nature of WM control.
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