Testing a positional model of the Hebb effect.
In two experiments, we investigated the hypothesis that a strengthening of position-item associations underlies the improvement seen in performance on an immediate serial recall task, for a list that is surreptitiously repeated every third trial. Having established a strong effect of repetition, performance was tested on transfer lists in which half the items held the same position as in the repeated list (S-items) and the remainder moved (D-items). In Experiment 1, S-items showed a small advantage in order errors over control and D-items. A second experiment tested whether a design feature in Experiment 1 underlay this advantage. When the experimental design was better controlled, no improvement was shown for either S- or D-items over controls. These data were shown to be inconsistent with the results of computer simulations of a positional model. An alternative model is outlined.
Cumming
Nick
N
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK. nick.cumming@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Page
Mike
M
Norris
Dennis
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011581:Psychological Tests