An analysis of memory-based theories of automaticity

Memory-based theories of automaticity predict that performance in a memory search task which is automatic will not require a representation of the memory set in working memory. The information contained in working memory was manipulated by inserting an interference task between the presentation of a memory set and a probe stimulus in a memory search task. The interference task prevented rehearsal, necessitating the retrieval of the memory set from long-term memory in variably mapped (VM) conditions. Performance in consistently mapped (CM) conditions provided strong support for memory-based theories of automaticity. With CM practice, both the effects of memory load and the effect of the interference task were eliminated. Furthermore, there was a temporal coupling in the reduction of these two effects with consistent practice. Monte Carlo simulations of memory-based automaticity predict such a temporal coupling. Automaticity is viewed as a continuum reflecting the relative contribution of the direct memory access of past solutions from long-term memory on performance.     

The codevelopment of skill at and preference for use of retrieval-based processes for solving addition problems: individual and sex differences from first to sixth grades

The ability to retrieve basic arithmetic facts from long-term memory contributes to individual and perhaps sex differences in mathematics achievement. The current study tracked the codevelopment of preference for using retrieval over other strategies to solve single-digit addition problems, independent of accuracy, and skilled use of retrieval (i.e., accuracy and reaction time [RT]) from first to sixth grades inclusive (N=311). Accurate retrieval in first grade was related to working memory capacity and intelligence, and it predicted a preference for retrieval in second grade. In later grades, the relation between skill and preference changed such that preference in one grade predicted accuracy and RT in the next grade as RT and accuracy continued to predict future gains in preference. In comparison with girls, boys had a consistent preference for retrieval over other strategies and had faster retrieval speeds, but the sex difference in retrieval accuracy varied across grades. Results indicate that ability influences early skilled retrieval, but both practice and skill influence each other in a feedback loop later in development and provide insights into the source of the sex difference in problem-solving approaches.     

工作记忆负荷和自动化提取对小学生加法心算策略执行效果的影响

本研究选取43名小学四年级学生(18名男生和25名女生)为实验被试,探究了工作记忆负荷和自动化提取对复杂加法心算策略效果的影响.结果显示:(1)工作记忆负荷对复杂加法心算策略的影响显著,即一项加法心算策略所需的工作记忆负荷越小,该策略的执行效果越好;(2)自动化提取对加法心算策略的影响显著,即一项加法心算策略所需自动化提取的程度越高,该策略的执行效果越好;(3)工作记忆负荷和自动化提取对加法心算策略效果的交互作用显著,表现为在自动化提取水平较高的情况下,工作记忆负荷的大小对心算策略执行效果的影响差异不显著;而在自动化提取水平较低的情况下,工作记忆负荷小的心算策略的执行效果显著优于工作记忆负荷大的心算策略的执行效果.     

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

The role of executive and phonological working memory resources in simple arithmetic was investigated in two experiments. Participants had to solve simple multiplication problems (e.g., 4 x 8; Experiment 1) or simple division problems (e.g., 42 / 7; Experiment 2) under no-load, phonological-load, and executive-load conditions. The choice/no-choice method was used to investigate strategy execution and strategy selection independently. Results for strategy execution showed that executive working memory resources were involved in direct memory retrieval of both multiplication and division facts. Executive working memory resources were also involved in the use of nonretrieval strategies. Phonological working memory resources, on the other hand, tended to be involved in nonretrieval strategies only. Results for strategy selection showed no effects of working memory load. Finally, correlation analyses showed that both strategy execution and strategy selection correlated with individual-difference variables, such as gender, math anxiety, associative strength, calculator use, arithmetic skill, and math experience.     

The role of phonological and executive working memory resources in simple arithmetic strategies

The current study investigated the role of the central executive and the phonological loop in arithmetic strategies to solve simple addition problems (Experiment 1) and simple subtraction problems (Experiment 2). The choice/no-choice method was used to investigate strategy execution and strategy selection independently. The central executive was involved in both retrieval and procedural strategies, but played a larger role in the latter than in the former. Active phonological processes played a role in procedural strategies only. Passive phonological resources, finally, were only needed when counting was used to solve subtraction problems. No effects of working memory load on strategy selection were observed.     

Strategy use in mental subtraction determines central executive load

A dual task method was used to examine the relationship between strategy use and working memory load during subtraction problem solving. Undergraduates mentally solved subtraction problems alone and while performing secondary tasks that involved the central executive of working memory. Analyses revealed that a central executive task involving response selection and input monitoring (CRT-R task) interfered more with subtraction problem solving than a task that involved only input monitoring (SRT-R task). Additional analyses showed that the CRT-R task interfered more when participants used a nonretrieval (counting) strategy than a retrieval strategy. These findings suggest that the response selection subcomponent of the central executive is involved during both retrieval-based and non-retrieval-based simple subtraction problem solving but is involved more during the latter.     

Long-term aftereffects of response inhibition: memory retrieval, task goals, and cognitive control

Cognitive control theories attribute control to executive processes that adjust and control behavior online. Theories of automaticity attribute control to memory retrieval. In the present study, online adjustments and memory retrieval were examined, and their roles in controlling performance in the stop-signal paradigm were elucidated. There was evidence of short-term response time adjustments after unsuccessful stopping. In addition, it was found that memory retrieval can slow responses for 1-20 trials after successful inhibition, which suggests the automatic retrieval of task goals. On the basis of these findings, the authors concluded that cognitive control can rely on both memory retrieval and executive processes.     

The roles of the central executive and visuospatial storage in mental arithmetic: A comparison across strategies

Previous research has demonstrated that working memory plays an important role in arithmetic. Different arithmetical strategies rely on working memory to different extents—for example, verbal working memory has been found to be more important for procedural strategies, such as counting and decomposition, than for retrieval strategies. Surprisingly, given the close connection between spatial and mathematical skills, the role of visuospatial working memory has received less attention and is poorly understood. This study used a dual-task methodology to investigate the impact of a dynamic spatial n-back task (Experiment 1) and tasks loading the visuospatial sketchpad and central executive (Experiment 2) on adults' use of counting, decomposition, and direct retrieval strategies for addition. While Experiment 1 suggested that visuospatial working memory plays an important role in arithmetic, especially when counting, the results of Experiment 2 suggested this was primarily due to the domain-general executive demands of the n-back task. Taken together, these results suggest that maintaining visuospatial information in mind is required when adults solve addition arithmetic problems by any strategy but the role of domain-general executive resources is much greater than that of the visuospatial sketchpad.     

From poor performance to success under stress: working memory, strategy selection, and mathematical problem solving under pressure

Two experiments demonstrate how individual differences in working memory (WM) impact the strategies used to solve complex math problems and how consequential testing situations alter strategy use. In Experiment 1, individuals performed multistep math problems under low- or high-pressure conditions and reported their problem-solving strategies. Under low-pressure conditions, the higher individuals' WM, the more likely they were to use computationally demanding algorithms (vs. simpler shortcuts) to solve the problems, and the more accurate their math performance. Under high-pressure conditions, higher WM individuals used simpler (and less efficacious) problem-solving strategies, and their performance accuracy suffered. Experiment 2 turned the tables by using a math task for which a simpler strategy was optimal (produced accurate performance in few problem steps). Now, under low-pressure conditions, the lower individuals' WM, the better their performance (the more likely they relied on a simple, but accurate, problem strategy). And, under pressure, higher WM individuals performed optimally by using the simpler strategies lower WM individuals employed. WM availability influences how individuals approach math problems, with the nature of the task performed and the performance environment dictating skill success or failure.     

Strategy choices in simple and complex addition: Contributions of working memory and counting knowledge for children with mathematical disability

Groups of first-grade (mean age = 82 months), third-grade (mean age = 107 months), and fifth-grade (mean age = 131 months) children with a learning disability in mathematics (MD, n = 58) and their normally achieving peers (n = 91) were administered tasks that assessed their knowledge of counting principles, working memory, and the strategies used to solve simple (4+3) and complex (16+8) addition problems. In all grades, the children with MD showed a working memory deficit, and in first grade, the children with MD used less sophisticated strategies and committed more errors while solving simple and complex addition problems. The group differences in strategy usage and accuracy were related, in part, to the group difference in working memory and to group and individual differences in counting knowledge. Across grade-level and group, the switch from simple to complex addition problems resulted in a shift in the mix of problem-solving strategies. Individual differences in the strategy mix and in the strategy shift were related, in part, to individual differences in working memory capacity and counting knowledge.     

Visuospatial working memory influences the interaction between space and time

How do representations of space inform our perception of time? In language, spatial vocabulary is frequently used to describe temporal concepts, and spatial information biases temporal perception even in non-verbal tasks. In contrast, temporal information typically exerts little, if any, influence on the perception of spatial extent. Here, we used spatial and temporal reproduction tasks, both with and without verbal and spatial dual tasks, to investigate the mechanism underlying the asymmetric relation between space and time. Specifically, we tested whether the asymmetric interference between spatial and temporal stimulus attributes arises from interference in verbal or visuospatial working memory. We found that loading visuospatial working memory, but not verbal working memory, eliminated the asymmetric pattern of interference. This suggests that the interference between spatial and temporal representations arises due to processing constraints in visuospatial working memory. These findings are discussed in terms of the load theory of attention and the relative automaticity with which spatial and temporal information is processed.     

工作记忆对顿悟和分析型问题解决的影响

摘要 采用顿悟-分析自我报告范式,以远距离联想任务为实验材料,从工作记忆容量和工作记忆负荷两个角度考察了工作记忆对顿悟和分析型问题解决的影响。结果表明,高工作记忆容量个体分析型问题解决的表现优于低工作记忆容量者,但在顿悟表现上无显著差异;工作记忆负荷较小时个体分析型问题解决表现更佳,但对顿悟表现没有影响。说明通过分析解决创造性问题的表现依赖于工作记忆的支持,而通过顿悟解决问题的表现与工作记忆无关。     

Processing load impairs coordinate integration for the localization of touch

To perform an action toward a touch, the tactile spatial representation must be transformed from a skin-based, anatomical reference frame into an external reference frame. Evidence suggests that, after transformation, both anatomical and external coordinates are integrated for the location estimate. The present study investigated whether the calculation and integration of external coordinates are automatic processes. Participants made temporal order judgments (TOJs) of two tactile stimuli, one applied to each hand, in crossed and uncrossed postures. The influence of the external coordinates of touch was indicated by the performance difference between crossed and uncrossed postures, referred to as the crossing effect. To assess automaticity, the TOJ task was combined with a working memory task that varied in difficulty (size of the working memory set) and quality (verbal vs. spatial). In two studies, the crossing effect was consistently reduced under processing load. When the load level was adaptively adjusted to individual performance (Study 2), the crossing effect additionally varied as a function of the difficulty of the secondary task. These modulatory effects of processing load on the crossing effect were independent of the type of working memory. The sensitivity of the crossing effect to processing load suggests that coordinate integration for touch localization is not fully automatic. To reconcile the present results with previous findings, we suggest that the genuine remapping process—that is, the transformation of anatomical into external coordinates—proceeds automatically, whereas their integration in service of a combined location estimate is subject to top-down control.     

Mental addition in third,fourth, and sixth graders

Research on mental arithmetic has suggested that young children use a counting algorithm for simple mental addition, but that adults use memory retrieval from an organized representation of addition facts. To determine the age at which performance shifts from counting to retrieval, children in grades 3, 4, and 6 were tested in a true/false verification task. Reaction time patterns suggested that third grade is a transitional age with respect to memory structure for addition—half of these children seemed to be counting and half retrieving from memory. Results from fourth and sixth graders implicated retrieval quite strongly, as their results resembled adult RTs very closely. Fourth graders' processing, however, was easily disrupted when false problems were presented. The third graders' difficulties are not due to an inability to form mental representations of number; all three grades demonstrated a strong split effect, indicative of a simpler mental representation of numerical information than is necessary for addition. The results were discussed in the context of memory retrieval versus counting models of mental arithmetic, and the increase across age in automaticity of retrieval processes.     

学习困难学生视空间工作记忆提取能力的多指标分析

本实验设计高、低两种加工负载的视空间WM作业,采用WM广度、提取错误值和提取速度三项指标评估学困生视空间WM的提取能力,比较学困生和学优生视空间WM的提取能力间的差异。结果表明：无论在低加工负载条件下还是在高加工负载条件下,学困生视空间WM的提取能力都比学优生差。在不同加工负载条件下,三项指标对评估学困生和学优生视空间WM提取能力间差异的重要程度不同。低加工负载条件下WM容量和提取错误值是较好的指标,而高加工负载条件下WM容量和提取速度是较好的指标。     

The functional significance of theta and upper alpha oscillations

Recent findings are reviewed indicating that upper alpha oscillations - when analyzed with appropriate time/ frequency resolution - show a similar physiological reactivity as theta in working memory tasks. Comparable to theta, a load dependent increase in power can be observed during retention and increased evoked activity during retrieval. During retrieval attempts theta behaves like a traveling wave spreading from anterior to posterior sites. During actual retrieval, however, evoked upper alpha becomes transiently nested in theta. We suggest that theta reflects working memory functions whereas upper alpha may be important for the reactivation of long-term memory codes in short-term memory.     

Evolution of cognitive processes for solving simple additions during the first three school years

The development of a group of children's cognitive strategies forn solving simple additions was studied by analyzing verbal reports given after each problem (I+J) was solved. The evolution of the cognitive processes involved a gradual shift from more primitive and less demanding strategies (in which, e.g., the child's fingers served as memory aid) to reconstructive memory processes (in which e.g., the answer was derived in a counting process in working memory) to retrieval processes (in which the answer was obtained form long term memory search). During the first semester of the first school year 36 percent of the problems (I⁺J≤13, I≠J, I≠0, I≠1, J≠1,) could not be answered, 40 percent of the solutions were obtained in the most frequent processes utilizing external meory aid and 16 percent in reconstructive memory processes. When in the second semester of the third school year, the same children solved th same problems by utilixing the followitn most frequent strategies; 31 percent long term memory retrieval, 38 percent reconstructive memory processes and 19 percent in processes utilizing external memory aid. If a problem was solved by using a given strategy this strategy was often most likely to have been used bt the child on the occasion before and to be used during the following semester as well. For long-term memory solutions this tendency was strongest and for other strategies it was coupled with a gradual shift towards strategies with increasing sophistication in terms of memory representation.     

Learning related modulation of functional retrieval networks in man

The medial temporal lobe has been implicated in studies of episodic memory tasks involving spatio-temporal context and object-location conjunctions. We have previously demonstrated that an increased level of practice in a free-recall task parallels a decrease in the functional activity of several brain regions, including the medial temporal lobe, the prefrontal, the anterior cingulate, the anterior insular, and the posterior parietal cortices, that in concert demonstrate a move from elaborate controlled processing towards a higher degree of automaticity. Here we report data from two experiments that extend these initial observations. We used a similar experimental approach but probed for effects of retrieval paradigms and stimulus material. In the first experiment we investigated practice related changes during recognition of object-location conjunctions and in the second during free-recall of pseudo-words. Learning in a neural network is a dynamic consequence of information processing and network plasticity. The present and previous PET results indicate that practice can induce a learning related functional restructuring of information processing. Different adaptive processes likely subserve the functional re-organisation observed. These may in part be related to different demands for attentional and working memory processing. It appears that the role(s) of the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe in memory retrieval are complex, perhaps reflecting several different interacting processes or cognitive components. We suggest that an integrative interactive perspective on the role of the prefrontal and medial temporal lobe is necessary for an understanding of the processing significance of these regions in learning and memory. It appears necessary to develop elaborated and explicit computational models for prefrontal and medial temporal functions in order to derive detailed empirical predictions, and in combination with an efficient use and development of functional neuroimaging approaches, to further the understanding of the processing significance of these regions in memory.     

Counting on working memory in simple arithmetic when counting is used for problem solving

A concurrent-task methodology was used to investigate relations between the availability of aspects of working memory resources and both strategy selection and execution while simple addition equations (e.g., 4 + 3 = 8) were being verified. Consistent with prior research in which production trials have been used, undergraduates selected a variety of procedures other than retrieval. Availability of working memory resources did not generally affect strategy selection. Disrupting central executive and phonological aspects of memory affected strategy execution, but only when min counting was used to solve the problems. These and other features of the results suggest that availability of working memory resources does not contribute to individual differences in strategy selection and time to execute retrieval processes.     

Metaphors and creative thinking

This study examined how working memory plays different roles in open-ended versus closed-ended creative problem-solving processes, as represented by divergent thinking tests and insight problem-solving tasks. With respect to the analysis of different task demands and the framework of dual-process theories, the hypothesis was that the idea generation in a divergent thinking test relies more on associative, effortless system 1 processing, but insight problem solving requires rule-based, resource-limited system 2 processing, in addition to system 1 processing. Since system 1 was suggested to be more active in resource deprivation conditions, Experiment 1 adopted the dual-task paradigm, which increased participants' working memory load. The results showed that divergent thinking performance was enhanced and insight problem-solving performance was hindered. Experiment 2 using the individual differences approach found that individuals' working memory capacity correlated with insight problem solving but not with divergent thinking performance, indicating a possible involvement of system 2 processing in insight problem solving. These findings suggested that open-ended and closed-ended creative problem solving involve different processes and helped to clarify some past inconsistencies when considering the relationship of factors with creativity.