Exploring the suffix effect in serial visuospatial short-term memory

The suffix effect—the loss of recency induced by a redundant end-of-list item—was studied in a visuospatial serial recall task involving the memory for the position of dots on a screen. A visuospatial suffix markedly impaired recall of the last to-be-remembered dot. The impact on recall was roughly of equal magnitude whether the suffix shared attributes with the to-be-remembered dots (Experiment 1) or was visually distinct (Experiments 2 and 3). Although the presence of a tone suffix also impaired serial memory for the last items in the sequence, the impact of a visuospatial suffix was more marked, implying a specific as well as a possible general effect of suffix in the visuospatial domain (Experiment 4). The suffix effect seems not to be a phenomenon confined to verbal material but rather a universal phenomenon possibly related to grouping.     

Normal aging increases discriminal dispersion in visuospatial short-term memory

Computational models of cognitive aging propose that age-related decrements in cognitive performance, including short-term memory (STM), result from less distinct stimulus representations. When applied to visual STM, these models predict higher discriminal dispersion (L. L. Thurstone, 1927, Psychophysical analysis, The American Journal of Psychology, 38, 368-389.) in older adults than in younger adults. To test this prediction, we used a change-detection paradigm for visuospatial locations, with different levels of cognitive load (one, three, or five items) and retention interval (100 or 1,000 ms). Adult age differences were not reliable at Load 1, but were substantial at Loads 3 and 5. Effects of retention time did not differ across age groups, suggesting that age-related differences originated mainly from early processing stages. Applying a mixture model to the data revealed age-related increases in discriminal dispersion and decreases in asymptotic discrimination performance (indexing STM capacity). We concluded that age-related declines in discriminal dispersion, in addition to increasing capacity limitations, impair visual STM performance with advancing adult age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The objects of visuospatial short-term memory: Perceptual organization and change detection

We used a colour change-detection paradigm where participants were required to remember colours of six equally spaced circles. Items were superimposed on a background so as to perceptually group them within (a) an intact ring-shaped object, (b) a physically segmented but perceptually completed ring-shaped object, or (c) a corresponding background segmented into three arc-shaped objects. A nonpredictive cue at the location of one of the circles was followed by the memory items, which in turn were followed by a test display containing a probe indicating the circle to be judged same/different. Reaction times for correct responses revealed a same-object advantage; correct responses were faster to probes on the same object as the cue than to equidistant probes on a segmented object. This same-object advantage was identical for physically and perceptually completed objects, but was only evident in reaction times, and not in accuracy measures. Not only, therefore, is it important to consider object-level perceptual organization of stimulus elements when assessing the influence of a range of factors (e.g., number and complexity of elements) in visuospatial short-term memory, but a more detailed picture of the structure of information in memory may be revealed by measuring speed as well as accuracy.     

Audiospatial and visuospatial working memory in 6-13 year old school children

The neural processes subserving working memory, and brain structures underlying this system, continue to develop during childhood. We investigated the effects of age and gender on audiospatial and visuospatial working memory in a nonclinical sample of school-aged children using n-back tasks. The results showed that auditory and visual working memory performance improves with age, suggesting functional maturation of underlying cognitive processes and brain areas. The gender differences found in the performance of working memory tasks suggest a larger degree of immaturity in boys than girls at the age period of 6–10 yr. The differences observed between the mastering of auditory and visual working memory tasks may indicate that visual working memory reaches functional maturity earlier than the corresponding auditory system.     

Verbal and visuospatial short-term memory in children: Evidence for common and distinct mechanisms

This study was designed to identify whether verbal and visuospatial short-term memory performance in children is served by common or distinct mechanisms. Five- and 8-year-old children were tested on their verbal recall of spoken letter names and digits, and on their recall of tapped sequences of blocks. The performance of the children on the verbal and visuospatial serial recall tasks was largely unrelated, extending evidence for dissociable memory systems found in adults. Detailed characteristics of recall, such as serial position functions, migration patterns, and distribution of error types, were similar in the tasks requiring recall of letters and of blocks, although order errors predominated in the block but not the letter recall task for the older children. These results appear to reflect the application of common processes specialized for the extraction of serial order information from the phonological and visuospatial components of short-term memory.     

Measures of visuospatial short-term memory: the Knox Cube Imitation Test and the Corsi Blocks Test compared

The present investigation analyzes the characteristics of two tasks that have been considered as a measure of visuospatial abilities: The Knox Cube Imitation Test and the Corsi Blocks Test. The former was originally devised by Knox (1913) to diagnose mental retardation in potential immigrants to the United States, while the latter has been specifically designed to be used in neuropsychological practice by Corsi (1972). Although both tasks have been widely used in the past, there is little empirical research investigating the characteristics of these tasks from a theoretical point of view. In order to do so, we carried out two parallel experiments in which both tasks were presented in a baseline condition as well as in association with three different concurrent tasks (i.e., articulatory suppression, spatial tapping, and random generation) supposed to tap the various components of working memory. Results showed that neither of the tasks can be considered as a pure measure of visuospatial processing and that, at the same time, it is necessary to reconsider the architecture of working memory in order to suggest a more integrated functioning of the system.     

Age differences in visuospatial working memory

In two visuospatial working memory (VSWM) span experiments, older and young participants were tested under conditions of either high or low interference, using two different displays: computerized versions of a 3 x 3 matrix or the standard (randomly arrayed) Corsi block task (P. M. Corsi, 1972). Older adults' VSWM estimates were increased in the low-interference, compared with the high-interference, condition, replicating findings with verbal memory span studies. Young adults showed the opposite pattern, and together the findings suggest that typical VSWM span tasks include opposing components (interference and practice) that differentially affect young and older adults.     

Individual differences in the capacity limitations of visuospatial short-term memory: Research on sighted and totally congenitally blind people

The study of visuospatial imagery processes in totally congenitally blind people makes it possible to understand the specific contribution of visual experience for imagery processes. We argue that blind people may have visuospatial imagery processes, but they suffer from some capacity limitations. Similar, although smaller, limitations and individual differences may be found in sighted people. Visuospatial imagery capacity was explored by asking people to follow an imaginary pathway through either two- or three-dimensional matrices of different complexity. The blind appear to use specific visuospatial processes in this task (Experiments 2 and 3), but they have difficulty with three-dimensional matrices; sighted people have no such difficulty with three-dimensional matrices (Experiment 1). On the other hand, when a three-dimensional pattern exceeded sighted capacity, the blind and sighted showed similar patterns of errors. Subsequent analyses suggested that both visuospatial processes and verbal mediation were used.     

Intrusion errors in visuospatial working memory performance

This study tested the hypothesis that failure in active visuospatial working memory tasks involves a difficulty in avoiding intrusions due to information that is already activated. Two experiments are described, in which participants were required to process several series of locations on a 4 x 4 matrix and then to produce only the final location of each series. Results revealed a higher number of errors due to already activated locations (intrusions) compared with errors due to new locations (inventions). Moreover, when participants were required to pay extra attention to some irrelevant (non-final) locations by tapping on the table, intrusion errors increased. Results are discussed in terms of current models of working memory functioning.     

Visual short-term memory in the first year of life: capacity and recency effects.

A span task was developed to assess the amount of information infants could hold in short-term memory. In this task, infants were presented with up to 4 items in succession and then tested for recognition by successively pairing each item with a novel one. A large sample of full-terms and low-birth-weight preterms (< 1,750 g) was tested longitudinally, at 5, 7, and 12 months of age. Results were similar for both groups: (a) Longer spans were more difficult, especially at the 2 younger ages; (b) memory capacity increased over the 1st year of life--whereas less than 25% of the sample could hold as many as 3-4 items in mind at once at the younger ages, nearly half could do so by 12 months of age; (c) there was a marked recency effect (greater memory for the final item) for spans of 3 and 4 at all ages; and (d) there were modest cross-age correlations, indicating that individual differences in memory capacity showed some stability from age to age.     

Intrusion errors in visuospatial working memory performance

This study tested the hypothesis that failure in active visuospatial working memory tasks involves a difficulty in avoiding intrusions due to information that is already activated. Two experiments are described, in which participants were required to process several series of locations on a 4 × 4 matrix and then to produce only the final location of each series. Results revealed a higher number of errors due to already activated locations (intrusions) compared with errors due to new locations (inventions). Moreover, when participants were required to pay extra attention to some irrelevant (non-final) locations by tapping on the table, intrusion errors increased. Results are discussed in terms of current models of working memory functioning.     

Attention and recognition memory in the 1st year of life: a longitudinal study of preterm and full-term infants

Several aspects of visual attention and their implications for recognition memory were examined in a longitudinal sample of full-term and preterm (birth weight < 1,750 g) infants seen at 5, 7, and 12 months of age. At all 3 ages, full-terms had shorter look durations, faster shift rates, less off-task behavior, and higher novelty scores than preterms. Both groups followed similar developmental trajectories, with older infants having shorter looks and more shifts. Infants were consistent in attentional style across problems of the same type, across problems that used different types of stimuli (faces and patterns), and across the familiarization and test phases of this paired-comparison design; there was also modest cross-age stability. Shorter looks and higher shift rates during familiarization were related to better recognition memory, with shift rate adding to prediction independently of either peak or mean look. These findings underscore the importance of attention to infant information processing.     

Development of a medical management system for psychiatric patients in Prussia in the 1st half of the 19th century

In recent years, som noted authors have been reappraising the distinctive features of the history of psychiatry, setting out its relationship to social history. Trends and models, and the legal basic of psychiatric care are demonstrated, taking the early days of psychiatry in Prussia as an example. In the first half of the 19th century there was in Prussia an especially coherent development from the dual-purpose mental hospital/mental home arrangement (Neuruppin), through total separation of asylum from hospital from home for incurables (Siegburg, Leubus) inaugurated by Langermann, to the more or less linking of asylum with hospital with home for incurables (Nietleben) under Damerow.     

Age and synchrony effects in visuospatial working memory

Younger and older adults were administered a computerized version of the Corsi Block visuospatial working memory (VSWM) span task at either their peak or off-peak time of day and in either a high-interference (ascending order of administration, starting with short lists first) or low-interference (descending order, starting with longest lists first) format. Young adults' span scores were highest in the ascending format. By contrast, older adults performed better in the low-interference format, replicating findings with verbal memory span studies. Although both age groups benefited from being tested at their peak time, the advantage was far greater for older adults, but only in the low-interference format; their scores on the high-interference format were not helped by peak-time testing. These findings are consistent with the suggestion that young adults' performance on span tasks is influenced by practice and strategies, but the performance of older adults is heavily influenced by interference—which is best controlled at peak times of day. Our findings suggest that both time of testing and interference play critical roles in determining age differences in VSWM span, and both a reduction in interference and peak-time testing may be necessary to optimize older adults' performance and to maximize the reduction in age differences.     

Aging and the role of working memory resources in visuospatial attention

Visuospatial attention has been shown to be robust to the effects of increasing age. Nonetheless, models linking individual differences in working memory capacity to attentional performance suggest that older adults may experience disruptions in visuospatial attention under conditions of resource load. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of age and concurrent working memory load on two tasks that have been proposed to require posterior attentional processes. The findings suggest that loading working memory resources selectively disrupts performance on a nonintegrated Stroop task, whereas cue utilization remains intact. In addition, imposing a working memory load delays the deployment of visuospatial attention in both experiments. Regarding the effects of age, findings suggest that older adults can effectively perform both attentional tasks despite working memory load. Age differences did emerge in the time course of cue utilization. Findings point to the resilience of visuospatial attention in aging, even under conditions of significant cognitive load. We discuss these results and their implications for models postulating a role for working memory capacity in attentional behaviors.     

False memory in a short-term memory task

The Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) paradigm reliably elicits false memories for critical nonpresented words in recognition tasks. The present studies used a Sternberg (1966) task with DRM lists to determine whether false memories occur in short-term memory tasks and to assess the contribution of latency data in the measurement of false memories. Subjects studied three, five, or seven items from DRM lists and responded to a single probe (studied or nonstudied). In both experiments, critical lures were falsely recognized more often than nonpresented weak associates. Latency data indicated that correct rejections of critical lures were slower than correct rejections of weakly related items at all set sizes. False alarms to critical lures were slower than hits to list items. Latency data can distinguish veridical and false memories in a short-term memory task. Results are discussed in terms of activation-monitoring models of false memory.     

Evidence for different components in children's visuospatial working memory

There are a large number of studies demonstrating that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) involves different subcomponents, but there is no agreement on the identity of these dimensions. The present study attempts to combine different theoretical accounts by measuring VSWM. A battery composed of 13 tests was used to assess working memory and, in particular, the hypothesized mechanisms involved in the tasks, that is, active processing and passive recall of visual versus sequential‐spatial versus simultaneous‐spatial versus verbal tasks. The battery consisted of a number of tests already used in previous studies and new tests developed to examine specific components of working memory. We analysed the psychometric characteristics of the tests, the correlations amongst measured variables and estimated the measured variables with structural equation modelling in children attending third and fourth grades. Results revealed that the best model was composed of a specific verbal factor, three visuospatial passive factors (sequential‐spatial, simultaneous‐spatial, and visual) and one visuospatial active factor.     

Neuropsychological assessment in illiterates: visuospatial and memory abilities

A basic neuropsychological battery of visuospatial and memory abilities was administered to extreme educational groups (illiterates and professionals). Subjects were matched according to sex and age. The following visuospatial tasks were included: figure copy (cube, house, and Rey-Osterrieth complex figure), telling time, recognition of superimposed figures, recognition of a map, and drawing of the plan of the room. The following memory tasks were used: basic information, digit retention (forward and backward), memory curve, delayed verbal recall, sentence repetition, logical memory, delayed logical memory, immediate recall of the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure, immediate reproduction of a cube, visuospatial memory, and sequential memory. In visuospatial tasks all differences between the two groups were statistically significant. Five of the seven visuospatial tasks (all but telling time and recognition of superimposed figures) showed differences between age groups with a better performance found in the younger groups and four of the tasks (cube, house, Rey-Osterrith complex figure copying, and telling time) were significant between sexes with a better performance in men. In memory tasks, with the exception of the immediate memory of sentences, all tasks showed statistically significant differences between educational groups. Eight of the 13 memory tasks (digits forward and backward, delayed memory of words, immediate and delayed logical memory, Rey-Osterrieth immediate memory, cube immediate memory, and sequential memory) showed significant differences for age while 4 of the tasks (digits backward, memory curve, Rey-Osterrieth immediate memory, and cube immediate memory) were significant for sex. Results are analyzed with regard to current theories in cognitive psychology and anthropology. Emphasis is placed on the finding that cognitive skills usually examined by neuropsychological tests represent learned and highly trained abilities.