Cognitive inhibition in selection and sequential retrieval (original) (raw)
Related papers
Is Working Memory Load Irrelevant to Inhibitory Cognitive Control in Negative Priming?
Iris Publishers LLC, 2019
Two issues were addressed in this study. First, it addresses the viability of the assertion that working memory is crucial for reducing distraction by maintaining the prioritization of relevant over irrelevant information in visual selective attention tasks. The authors tested this hypothesis in an experiment involving a modified n-back task with attentional displays consisting of a distractor word superimposed on a target picture. Working memory load is deemed to be low in a 1-back task and relatively higher in a 2-back task. Here we report surprising results from 1- and 2-back versions of an n-back task with negative priming measures to assess the extent of distractor word processing. The second issue addressed a controversy in the negative priming literature involving whether it is possible to obtain negative priming effects with a large pool of stimuli, since it is generally thought that obtaining negative priming with words requires that words are encountered repeatedly as targets before becoming ignored distractors in the prime display of a prime-probe couplet. Thus, negative priming is ostensibly only produced when a relatively small pool of words is used, and these words exchange roles, acting as targets on some trials and distractors on others in the course of the task. Here, significant negative priming effects were observed despite using a large pool of stimuli and without ever having the distractor word appear as a target stimulus prior to the target probe on an ignored repetition trial. Possible resolutions to the opposing findings are provided.
Inhibitory Control in Memory: Evidence for Negative Priming in Free Recall
Journal of Experimental Psychology-learning Memory and Cognition, 2012
Cognitive control mechanisms-such as inhibition-decrease the likelihood that goal-directed activity is ceded to irrelevant events. Here, we use the action of auditory distraction to show how retrieval from episodic long-term memory is affected by competitor inhibition. Typically, a sequence of to-be-ignored spoken distracters drawn from the same semantic category as a list of visually presented to-be-recalled items impairs free recall performance. In line with competitor inhibition theory (Anderson, 2003), free recall was worse for items on a probe trial if they were a repeat of distracter items presented during the previous, prime, trial (Experiment 1). This effect was produced only when the distracters were dominant members of the same category as the to-be-recalled items on the prime. For prime trials in which distracters were low-dominant members of the to-be-remembered item category or were unrelated to that category-and hence not strong competitors for retrieval-positive priming was found (Experiments 2 and 3). These results are discussed in terms of inhibitory approaches to negative priming and memory retrieval.
Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 2012
The Negative Priming task is widely used to investigate attention inhibition observed in some variations of a selective attention task. This study was designed to measure the reliability of a negative priming effect as a prerequisite for conducting this research. The sample included 100 university students whose ages ranged between 18 to 36 years. They completed two tasks: an identification task and a localization with episodic retrieval tasks. Subjects were asked to perform a simple mental operation on each stimulus, and to use the end product of this operation when deciding on a response. The subjects' task was to respond YES to a fixed set of three target items (e.g., numbers 2, 5, and 7) in two interval trials. To achieve the factor structure model validity, the data method and varimax rotation was applied. Results showed high correlation between variables and also six factors as the clusters were considered: 1) Target identification accuracy; 2) Location error; 3) Two seconds right error; 4) Three seconds right error; 5) Three seconds left error and 6) Two seconds left error. The reliability of the components were acceptable.
Inhibitory Processes in Sequential Retrieval: Evidence from Variable-Lag Repetition Priming
Brain and Cognition, 1996
Performance of simple mental arithmetic provides a sensitive measure of subtle inhibitory and excitatory processes operating in sequential retrieval. Specifically, the probability that an error (e.g., 6 ϫ 7 ϭ 36) matches an earlier answer is below chance for the preceding trial (negative error priming), greater-than-chance for intermediate lags ( positive error priming), and returns to chance after about 10 intervening trials (Ϸ60 sec) . Negative error priming suggests that inhibitory processes initially suppress just-produced items and temporarily mask excitatory effects of recent retrievals. To test further the inhibition hypothesis of negative error priming, we examined repetition priming effects at variable lags. The results demonstrate similar non-monotonic functions for error priming and repetition priming as a function of lag, consistent with the hypothesized decay of inhibitory memory processes.
The effects of working memory load on negative priming in an n-back task
tierra.aslab.upm.es
Two issues are addressed in this study. First, it addresses the viability of the assertion that working memory is crucial for reducing distraction by maintaining the prioritization of relevant over irrelevant information in visual selective attention tasks. The authors tested this hypothesis in an experiment involving a modified nback task with attention displays consisting of a distractor word superimposed on a target picture. Working memory load is deemed to be low in a 1-back task and high in a 2-back task. Here we report the results from 1-and 2-back versions of an n-back task using negative priming to assess the degree of distractor word processing. The second issue addressed a controversy in the negative priming literature involving whether it is possible to obtain negative priming effects with a large pool of stimuli. It is generally thought that in order to obtain negative priming effects it is necessary for stimuli to have been encountered repeatedly as targets before becoming an ignored distractor in the prime display of a prime-probe couplet. Thus, negative priming is ostensibly only produced when a relatively small pool of items is used, and these items exchange roles, acting as targets on some trials and distractors on others in the course of the task. In the present study, we report significant negative priming effects, despite using a large pool of stimuli and without the other aforementioned constraints. A possible resolution of the opposing findings is provided.
On distractor-repetition benefits in the negative-priming paradigm
Visual Cognition, 2007
The present study investigates the effects of distractor repetitions between prime and probe displays on behaviour in the negative-priming (NP) paradigm. Investigating this condition is theoretically significant because inhibition-based accounts and episodic retrieval accounts of NP on one side and the temporaldiscrimination theory on the other side make opposite predictions with regard to the effects of distractor repetition. In particular, the former accounts predict distractor-repetition benefits while the latter theory does not. Two experiments further explored the distractor-repetition effects. Experiment 1 replicated previous findings. Experiment 2 further showed that distractor-repetition benefits are still observed when the prime-display distractor and the probe-display target are not correlated. The pattern of results is consistent both with inhibition-based and with retrieval-based accounts of NP, but the results are inconsistent with temporaldiscrimination theory.
2013
Negative priming (NP), slowing down of the response for target stimuli that have been previously exposed, but ignored, has been reported in multiple psychological paradigms including the Stroop task. Although NP likely results from the interplay of selective attention, episodic memory retrieval, working memory, and inhibition mechanisms, a comprehensive theoretical account of NP is currently unavailable. This lacuna may result from the complexity of stimuli combinations in NP. Thus, we aimed to investigate the presence of different degrees of the NP effect according to prime-probe combinations within a classic Stroop task. We recorded reaction times (RTs) from 66 healthy participants during Stroop task performance and examined three different NP subtypes, defined according to the type of the Stroop probe in prime-probe pairs. Our findings show significant RT differences among NP subtypes that are putatively due to the presence of differential disinhibition, i.e., release from inhibition. Among the several potential origins for differential subtypes of NP, we investigated the involvement of selective attention and/or working memory using a parallel distributed processing (PDP) model (employing selective attention only) and a modified PDP model with working memory (PDP-WM, employing both selective attention and working memory). Our findings demonstrate that, unlike the conventional PDP model, the PDP-WM successfully simulates different levels of NP effects that closely follow the behavioral data. This outcome suggests that working memory engages in the re-accumulation of the evidence for target response and induces differential NP effects. Our computational model complements earlier efforts and may pave the road to further insights into an integrated theoretical account of complex NP effects. Citation: Chung D, Raz A, Lee J and Jeong J (2013) Computational modeling of the negative priming effect based on inhibition patterns and working memory. Front. Comput. Neurosci. 7:166.
The nature of inhibition in a working memory search task
Journal of Cognitive Psychology
Inhibition is one of the key processes that regulate working memory (WM) activity. The main research question concerned the nature of inhibition of highlighted information in WM. The study was designed to examine two competing hypotheses. The first assumed that inhibition is carried out by deletion of irrelevant information from the focus of attention (cognitive inhibition account). An alternative hypothesis assumed that it is the response to a correctly recognised stimulus that is inhibited (effortful response inhibition account). Two experiments with a spatial modification of the WM serial search task were conducted wherein two factors were manipulated: serial order of the items, and distance from the central fixation point. In both experiments, higher response time was correlated with a smaller distance from the fixation point. The inhibited items were recognised equally efficiently or better than the uninhibited items. The results support the effortful response inhibition account over the cognitive inhibition account.
Negative priming and stimulus repetition: A reply to Neill and Joordens (2002)
Perception & Psychophysics, 2002
Negative priming is reliably obtained with repeated items, but not with novel items. Here, we review why these stimulus repetition effects raise problems for memorybased theories of negative priming. Furthermore, we provide empirical evidence casting doubt on Neill and Joordens's (2002) claim that perceptual facilitation masks the effects of episodic retrieval with novel items. Finally, we discuss several theoretical and methodological issues raised in the reply by Neill and Joordens. We conclude that a more straightforward interpretation of these stimulus repetition effects is one based on activation-sensitive inhibition. In a typical negative-priming task, two stimuli are presented on each trial, and the participant is required to respond to one stimulus, the target, and ignore another stimulus, the distractor. In the critical ignored repetition condition, the distractor on trial N (the prime trial) becomes the target on trial N+1 (the probe trial). Performance is slower and less accurate on ignored repetition probe trials than on control trials, defining the negativepriming effect (Dalrymple-Alford & Budayr, 1966; Lowe, 1979; Neill, 1977; Tipper, 1985). These early negativepriming studies spawned a sizable body of research, and several excellent articles are now available that review the negative-priming literature (e.g.