| Literature DB >> 29312095 |
Abstract
Models of working memory (WM) suggest that the contents of WM are separated from perceptual input by a gate, that enables shielding information against interference when closed, and allows for rapid updating when open. Recent work in the declarative WM domain provided evidence for this notion, demonstrating the behavioral cost of opening and closing the gate. The goal of the present work was to examine gating in procedural WM, namely in a task-switching experiment. In each trial, participants were presented with a digit and a task cue, indicating whether the required task was a parity or a magnitude decision. Critically, a colored frame around the stimulus indicated whether the task cue was relevant (attend trials), or whether it had to be ignored, and the previous task set should be applied regardless of the present cue (ignore trials). Switching between tasks, and between ignore and attend trials, was manipulated. The results of two experiments demonstrated that the cost of gate opening was eliminated in task switching trials, implying that both processes operate in parallel.Entities:
Keywords: gating; referene-back; task switching; updating; working memory
Year: 2017 PMID: 29312095 PMCID: PMC5742995 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02260
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Psychol ISSN: 1664-1078
Figure 1Schematic representation of Experiment 1. Task represent the relevant task in each trial, being a magnitude or a parity judgment. When the frame was red (attend trials), the participants were instructed to respond according to the position of the digit. Specifically, a magnitude judgment was required when the digit appeared at the top part of the frame, and a parity judgment was required when the digit appeared at the bottom. Attend trials that involve a task repetition are denoted attend-repeat, and attend trials that involve a task switch (compared to the previous trial) are denoted attend-switch. When the frame was blue, the participants were required to ignore the position of the digit, and continue performing the task that was relevant in the previous trial. These trials are therefore denoted ignore trials. Accordingly, the Condition in each trial was ignore, attend-switch, or attend-repeat. In addition, Gating indicated whether the color of the frame, which corresponds to the state of the gate to WM, was switched or repeated from the previous trials. A blue frame corresponds to a closed gate, and a red frame corresponds to an open gate. Therefore, trials in which the state of the gate was repeated from the previous trial are denoted gate-repetition, and trials in which the state of the gate was different from the previous trial are denoted gate-switch. More specifically, switching from attend to ignore trials involves gate-closing, and switching from ignore to attend trials involves gate-opening.
Figure 2Box plots for reaction time (RT) and error proportions (PE) in Experiment 1.
Figure 3Box plots for reaction time (RT) and error proportions (PE) in Experiment 2.
Means and SDs (in parentheses) for the RT and PE data.
| 908 (142) | 1,205 (238) | 913 (172) | 1,149 (205) | 1,347 (211) | 1,331 (186) | |
| 1,061 (232) | 1,494 (319) | 1,155 (316) | 1,550 (385) | 1,568 (348) | 1,611 (332) | |
| 0.027 (0.017) | 0.024 (0.016) | 0.021 (0.015) | 0.011 (0.011) | 0.043 (0.029) | 0.046 (0.032) | |
| 0.035 (0.024) | 0.026 (0.024) | 0.024 (0.040) | 0.016 (0.022) | 0.055 (0.028) | 0.057 (0.057) | |