Modality-specific effects in inhibitory mechanisms: the interaction of peripheral and central components in working memory.
Working memory is a complex system assumed to encompass both storage and processing components. At the same time, several authors have suggested the existence of separate peripheral modality-specific subsystems, in particular a verbal and a visuo-spatial mechanism. In the present research, we explored the hypothesis that modality-specific mechanisms may also operate in the central processing component. Inhibitory control has traditionally been considered as a typical function of the central executive, devoted to selecting, processing, and eliminating irrelevant information. We designed verbal and visuo-spatial tasks involving similar procedures and comparable levels of inhibitory control. Results indicate that accuracy profiles are similar in the two conditions; however, the patterns of data measuring inhibitory control, i.e., percentage of intrusion errors, are opposite in the case of verbal (intrusions decreased in more complex trials) and visuo-spatial (intrusions increased in more complex trials) material. These data are consistent with theoretical models of working memory suggesting that modality-specific effects emerge even in central processes and that both material-dependent and process-dependent features must be considered in working memory tasks.
Palladino
Paola
P
Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Pavia, Italy.
Mammarella
Nicola
N
Vecchi
Tomaso
T
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception