Time causes forgetting from working memory.
TLDR
The fact that longer processing times had a comparable effect on both verbal and visuospatial memory and the difference between conditions remained stable from the first to the last trials makes it difficult to account for these findings by assuming that forgetting is exclusively due to representation-based interference or buildup of proactive interference.Abstract:
Although forgetting in the short term is a ubiquitous phenomenon, its exact causes remain undecided. The aim of the present study was to test the temporal decay hypothesis according to which memory traces fade away with time when attention is diverted by concurrent activities. In two experiments involving complex span tasks, adults were asked to remember series of items (either letters or spatial locations) while verifying multiplications. The duration of processing was manipulated by presenting multiplications either in word (three × four = twelve) or digit (3 × 4 = 12) format, the former taking longer to solve, while the time available to restore memory traces after each operation was kept constant across conditions. In line with the temporal decay hypothesis, the longer solution times elicited by solving word multiplications resulted in poorer recall performance. The fact that longer processing times had a comparable effect on both verbal and visuospatial memory and that the difference between conditions remained stable from the first to the last trials makes it difficult to account for these findings by assuming that forgetting is exclusively due to representation-based interference or buildup of proactive interference.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Computational principles of memory
Rishidev Chaudhuri,Ila Fiete +1 more
TL;DR: This Review surveys theoretical principles that can allow the brain to construct persistent states for memory and identifies requirements that a memory system must satisfy and analyze existing models and hypothesized biological substrates in light of these requirements.
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As Time Goes By Temporal Constraints in Working Memory
Pierre Barrouillet,Valérie Camos +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a theory that assumes that time constraints constitute the main limitation of working memory, which leads to a sequential functioning of the working memory that alternates between processing and maintenance, leading to a trade-off between these two activities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Central and peripheral components of working memory storage.
TL;DR: This study consistently finds that the central contribution is smaller than was suggested by Saults and Cowan (2007) and that the peripheral contribution is often much larger when the task does not require the binding of features within an object.
Journal ArticleDOI
Decay theory of immediate memory: From Brown (1958) to today (2014).
TL;DR: Brown (1958) established that time-based explanations of forgetting can account for both memory capacity and forgetting of information over short periods of time.
Journal ArticleDOI
Differences between Presentation Methods in Working Memory Procedures: A Matter of Working Memory Consolidation
Timothy J. Ricker,Nelson Cowan +1 more
TL;DR: Equating the time available for working memory consolidation equates the rates of forgetting across presentation methods, and the meaning of this finding is discussed in the interpretation of previous forgetting studies and in the construction of working memory models.
References
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