A working memory workout: how to expand the focus of serial attention from one to four items in 10 hours or less.
Five individuals participated in an extensive practice study (10 1-hr sessions, 11,000 trials total) on a self-paced identity-judgment (1)n-back task (n ranging from 1 to 5). Within Session 1, response time increased abruptly by about 300 ms in passing from n = 1 to n > 1, suggesting that the focus of attention can accommodate only a single item (H. Caravan, 1998; B. McElree, 2001). Within Session 10, response time was dramatically reduced and increased linearly with n for n < or = 4, with a slope of about 30 ms. The data suggest that working memory consists of a focus of attention governed by a limited-capacity search, expandable through practice, and a content-addressable region outside the focus of attention.
Verhaeghen
Paul
P
Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, 430 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-2340, USA. pverhaeg@psych.syr.edu
Cerella
John
J
Basak
Chandramallika
C
D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors