Selective inhibition and naming performance in semantic blocking, picture-word interference, and color-word Stroop tasks.

PubMed

Shao, Zeshu; Roelofs, Ardi; Martin, Randi C; Meyer, Antje S

2015-11-01

In 2 studies, we examined whether explicit distractors are necessary and sufficient to evoke selective inhibition in 3 naming tasks: the semantic blocking, picture-word interference, and color-word Stroop task. Delta plots were used to quantify the size of the interference effects as a function of reaction time (RT). Selective inhibition was operationalized as the decrease in the size of the interference effect as a function of naming RT. For all naming tasks, mean naming RTs were significantly longer in the interference condition than in the control condition. The slopes of the interference effects for the longest naming RTs correlated with the magnitude of the mean interference effect in both the semantic blocking task and the picture-word interference task, suggesting that selective inhibition was involved to reduce the interference from strong semantic competitors either invoked by a single explicit competitor or strong implicit competitors in picture naming. However, there was no correlation between the slopes and the mean interference effect in the Stroop task, suggesting less importance of selective inhibition in this task despite explicit distractors. Whereas the results of the semantic blocking task suggest that an explicit distractor is not necessary for triggering inhibition, the results of the Stroop task suggest that such a distractor is not sufficient for evoking inhibition either. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Localizing semantic interference from distractor sounds in picture naming: A dual-task study.

PubMed

Mädebach, Andreas; Kieseler, Marie-Luise; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2017-10-13

In this study we explored the locus of semantic interference in a novel picture-sound interference task in which participants name pictures while ignoring environmental distractor sounds. In a previous study using this task (Mädebach, Wöhner, Kieseler, & Jescheniak, in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43, 1629-1646, 2017), we showed that semantically related distractor sounds (e.g., BARKING dog ) interfere with a picture-naming response (e.g., "horse") more strongly than unrelated distractor sounds do (e.g., DRUMMING drum ). In the experiment reported here, we employed the psychological refractory period (PRP) approach to explore the locus of this effect. We combined a geometric form classification task (square vs. circle; Task 1) with the picture-sound interference task (Task 2). The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the tasks was systematically varied (0 vs. 500 ms). There were three central findings. First, the semantic interference effect from distractor sounds was replicated. Second, picture naming (in Task 2) was slower with the short than with the long task SOA. Third, both effects were additive-that is, the semantic interference effects were of similar magnitude at both task SOAs. This suggests that the interference arises during response selection or later stages, not during early perceptual processing. This finding corroborates the theory that semantic interference from distractor sounds reflects a competitive selection mechanism in word production.

Dual-Task Interference When A Response is Not Required

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanSelst, Mark; Johnston, James C.; Shafto, Michael (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

When subjects are required to respond to two stimuli presented in rapid succession, responses to the second stimulus are delayed. Such dual-task interference has been attributed to a fundamental processing bottleneck preventing simultaneous processing on both tasks. Two experiments show dual-task interference even when the first task does not require a response. The observed interference is caused by a bottleneck in central cognitive processing, rather than in response initiation or execution.

Effects of rotigotine on daytime symptoms in patients with primary restless legs syndrome: a randomized, placebo-controlled study.

PubMed

Garcia-Borreguero, Diego; Allen, Richard; Hudson, John; Dohin, Elisabeth; Grieger, Frank; Moran, Kimberly; Schollmayer, Erwin; Smit, René; Winkelman, John

2016-01-01

This 12 week double-blind, placebo-controlled study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01569464) was conducted to evaluate the effects of rotigotine transdermal patch on daytime symptoms in patients with idiopathic restless legs syndrome (RLS). Adult patients with moderate-to-severe RLS were randomized to rotigotine (optimal dose: 1-3 mg/24 h) or placebo. A modified four-assessment version (4:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 8:00 pm, and 10:00 pm) of the Multiple Suggested Immobilization Test (m-SIT) was performed at baseline and end of 4 week maintenance (EoM). Primary study outcomes were change from baseline to EoM in International Restless Legs Syndrome Rating Scale (IRLS) and in average of means for the m-SIT Discomfort Scale (m-SIT-DS) (combined average of mean values from each of the individual assessments). Secondary outcomes included average of means of Periodic Limb Movement during Wakefulness Index (PLMWI; PLM/hour) for the combination of m-SIT. A total of 150 patients were randomized and 137 (rotigotine: 92/101 [91.1%]; placebo: 45/49 [91.8%]) completed maintenance. All 150 randomized patients were assessed for efficacy. At EoM, mean change in IRLS was -14.9 ± 9.3 with rotigotine vs. -12.7 ± 7.6 with placebo (ANCOVA, LS mean treatment difference [95% CI]: -0.27 [-2.96, 2.42]; p = 0.8451). Changes in average of means of m-SIT-DS values of each individual SIT were comparable with rotigotine (-2.68 ± 2.31) vs. placebo (-2.62 ± 2.61) (ANCOVA, LS mean treatment difference [95% CI]: 0.07 [-0.61, 0.75]; p = 0.8336) and comparable reductions in PLMWI were observed in both treatment groups (8.34 [-8.50, 25.17]; p = 0.3290). Rotigotine was generally well tolerated. Application site reactions (rotigotine: 20 patients [19.8%]; placebo: 4 [8.2%]) and nausea (16 [15.8%]; 3 [6.1%]) were the most common AEs. Rotigotine was beneficial in improving overall RLS symptom severity (assessed by IRLS) and RLS symptom severity at various times of the day (m-SIT-DS); however, superiority to placebo was not established.

Visuospatial and verbal memory in mental arithmetic.

PubMed

Clearman, Jack; Klinger, Vojtěch; Szűcs, Dénes

2017-09-01

Working memory allows complex information to be remembered and manipulated over short periods of time. Correlations between working memory and mathematics achievement have been shown across the lifespan. However, only a few studies have examined the potentially distinct contributions of domain-specific visuospatial and verbal working memory resources in mental arithmetic computation. Here we aimed to fill this gap in a series of six experiments pairing addition and subtraction tasks with verbal and visuospatial working memory and interference tasks. In general, we found higher levels of interference between mental arithmetic and visuospatial working memory tasks than between mental arithmetic and verbal working memory tasks. Additionally, we found that interference that matched the working memory domain of the task (e.g., verbal task with verbal interference) lowered working memory performance more than mismatched interference (verbal task with visuospatial interference). Findings suggest that mental arithmetic relies on domain-specific working memory resources.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks.

PubMed

Harvey, Denise Y; Schnur, Tatiana T

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system - lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks

PubMed Central

Harvey, Denise Y.; Schnur, Tatiana T.

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system – lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures. PMID:27242621

Mapping interference resolution across task domains: A shared control process in left inferior frontal gyrus

PubMed Central

Nelson, James K.; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A.; Persson, Jonas; Sylvester, Ching-Yune C.; Jonides, John

2009-01-01

Work in functional neuroimaging has mapped interference resolution processing onto left inferior frontal regions for both verbal working memory and a variety of semantic processing tasks. The proximity of the identified regions from these different tasks suggests the existence of a common, domain-general interference resolution mechanism. The current research specifically tests this idea in a within-subject design using fMRI to assess the activation associated with variable selection requirements in a semantic retrieval task (verb generation) and a verbal working memory task with a trial-specific proactive interference manipulation (recent-probes). High interference trials on both tasks were associated with activity in the midventrolateral region of the left inferior frontal gyrus, and the regions activated in each task strongly overlapped. The results indicate that an elemental component of executive control associated with interference resolution during retrieval from working memory and from semantic memory can be mapped to a common portion of the left inferior frontal gyrus. PMID:19111526

Stopping while Going! Response Inhibition Does Not Suffer Dual-Task Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamaguchi, Motonori; Logan, Gordon D.; Bissett, Patrick G.

2012-01-01

Although dual-task interference is ubiquitous in a variety of task domains, stop-signal studies suggest that response inhibition is not subject to such interference. Nevertheless, no study has directly examined stop-signal performance in a dual-task setting. In two experiments, stop-signal performance was examined in a psychological refractory…

Interference in Ballistic Motor Learning: Specificity and Role of Sensory Error Signals

PubMed Central

Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Petersen, Tue Hvass; Rothwell, John C.; Nielsen, Jens Bo

2011-01-01

Humans are capable of learning numerous motor skills, but newly acquired skills may be abolished by subsequent learning. Here we ask what factors determine whether interference occurs in motor learning. We speculated that interference requires competing processes of synaptic plasticity in overlapping circuits and predicted specificity. To test this, subjects learned a ballistic motor task. Interference was observed following subsequent learning of an accuracy-tracking task, but only if the competing task involved the same muscles and movement direction. Interference was not observed from a non-learning task suggesting that interference requires competing learning. Subsequent learning of the competing task 4 h after initial learning did not cause interference suggesting disruption of early motor memory consolidation as one possible mechanism underlying interference. Repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of corticospinal motor output at intensities below movement threshold did not cause interference, whereas suprathreshold rTMS evoking motor responses and (re)afferent activation did. Finally, the experiments revealed that suprathreshold repetitive electrical stimulation of the agonist (but not antagonist) peripheral nerve caused interference. The present study is, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate that peripheral nerve stimulation may cause interference. The finding underscores the importance of sensory feedback as error signals in motor learning. We conclude that interference requires competing plasticity in overlapping circuits. Interference is remarkably specific for circuits involved in a specific movement and it may relate to sensory error signals. PMID:21408054

When Learning Disturbs Memory – Temporal Profile of Retroactive Interference of Learning on Memory Formation

PubMed Central

Sosic-Vasic, Zrinka; Hille, Katrin; Kröner, Julia; Spitzer, Manfred; Kornmeier, Jürgen

2018-01-01

Introduction: Consolidation is defined as the time necessary for memory stabilization after learning. In the present study we focused on effects of interference during the first 12 consolidation minutes after learning. Participants had to learn a set of German – Japanese word pairs in an initial learning task and a different set of German – Japanese word pairs in a subsequent interference task. The interference task started in different experimental conditions at different time points (0, 3, 6, and 9 min) after the learning task and was followed by subsequent cued recall tests. In a control experiment the interference periods were replaced by rest periods without any interference. Results: The interference task decreased memory performance by up to 20%, with negative effects at all interference time points and large variability between participants concerning both the time point and the size of maximal interference. Further, fast learners seem to be more affected by interference than slow learners. Discussion: Our results indicate that the first 12 min after learning are highly important for memory consolidation, without a general pattern concerning the precise time point of maximal interference across individuals. This finding raises doubts about the generalized learning recipes and calls for individuality of learning schedules. PMID:29503621

Effects of Practice on Task Architecture: Combined Evidence from Interference Experiments and Random-Walk Models of Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamienkowski, Juan E.; Pashler, Harold; Dehaene, Stanislas; Sigman, Mariano

2011-01-01

Does extensive practice reduce or eliminate central interference in dual-task processing? We explored the reorganization of task architecture with practice by combining interference analysis (delays in dual-task experiment) and random-walk models of decision making (measuring the decision and non-decision contributions to RT). The main delay…

Neurophysiological Modulations of Non-Verbal and Verbal Dual-Tasks Interference during Word Planning.

PubMed

Fargier, Raphaël; Laganaro, Marina

2016-01-01

Running a concurrent task while speaking clearly interferes with speech planning, but whether verbal vs. non-verbal tasks interfere with the same processes is virtually unknown. We investigated the neural dynamics of dual-task interference on word production using event-related potentials (ERPs) with either tones or syllables as concurrent stimuli. Participants produced words from pictures in three conditions: without distractors, while passively listening to distractors and during a distractor detection task. Production latencies increased for tasks with higher attentional demand and were longer for syllables relative to tones. ERP analyses revealed common modulations by dual-task for verbal and non-verbal stimuli around 240 ms, likely corresponding to lexical selection. Modulations starting around 350 ms prior to vocal onset were only observed when verbal stimuli were involved. These later modulations, likely reflecting interference with phonological-phonetic encoding, were observed only when overlap between tasks was maximal and the same underlying neural circuits were engaged (cross-talk).

Interference with olfactory memory by visual and verbal tasks.

PubMed

Annett, J M; Cook, N M; Leslie, J C

1995-06-01

It has been claimed that olfactory memory is distinct from memory in other modalities. This study investigated the effectiveness of visual and verbal tasks in interfering with olfactory memory and included methodological changes from other recent studies. Subjects were allocated to one of four experimental conditions involving interference tasks [no interference task; visual task; verbal task; visual-plus-verbal task] and presented 15 target odours. Either recognition of the odours or free recall of the odour names was tested on one occasion, either within 15 minutes of presentation or one week later. Recognition and recall performance both showed effects of interference of visual and verbal tasks but there was no effect for time of testing. While the results may be accommodated within a dual coding framework, further work is indicated to resolve theoretical issues relating to task complexity.

Resolving Task Rule Incongruence during Task Switching by Competitor Rule Suppression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meiran, Nachshon; Hsieh, Shulan; Dimov, Eduard

2010-01-01

Task switching requires maintaining readiness to execute any task of a given set of tasks. However, when tasks switch, the readiness to execute the now-irrelevant task generates interference, as seen in the task rule incongruence effect. Overcoming such interference requires fine-tuned inhibition that impairs task readiness only minimally. In an…

The development of non-spatial working memory capacity during childhood and adolescence and the role of interference control: an N-Back task study.

PubMed

Schleepen, Tamara M J; Jonkman, Lisa M

2010-01-01

To investigate the role of interference control on the development of working memory (WM) capacity, 6-12-year-old children and adults performed an N-Back task with differing WM-load and interference control demands. Correlation analyses between flanker interference scores and WM-load levels showed that interference control was only required in the 2-back condition. While WM maintenance (1-back task) reached adult accuracy levels at age 10-12, the ability to maintain information in WM during distraction (2-back-task) displayed protracted maturation into adolescence. This is suggested to reflect yet immature connections between prefrontal and posterior association areas, respectively involved in interference control and WM storage.

Estimating the executive demands of a one-back choice reaction time task by means of the selective interference paradigm.

PubMed

Szmalec, Arnaud; Vandierendonck, André

2007-08-01

The present study proposes a new executive task, the one-back choice reaction time (RT) task, and implements the selective interference paradigm to estimate the executive demands of the processing components involved in this task. Based on the similarities between a one-back choice RT task and the n-back updating task, it was hypothesized that one-back delaying of a choice reaction involves executive control. In three experiments, framed within Baddeley's (1986) working-memory model, a one-back choice RT task, a choice RT task, articulatory suppression, and matrix tapping were performed concurrently with primary tasks involving verbal, visuospatial, and executive processing. The results demonstrate that one-back delaying of a choice reaction interferes with tasks requiring executive control, while the potential interference at the level of the verbal or visuospatial working memory slave systems remains minimal.

Semantic interference in picture naming during dual-task performance does not vary with reading ability.

PubMed

Piai, Vitória; Roelofs, Ardi; Roete, Ingeborg

2015-01-01

Previous dual-task studies examining the locus of semantic interference of distractor words in picture naming have obtained diverging results. In these studies, participants manually responded to tones and named pictures while ignoring distractor words (picture-word interference, PWI) with varying stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between tone and PWI stimulus. Whereas some studies observed no semantic interference at short SOAs, other studies observed effects of similar magnitude at short and long SOAs. The absence of semantic interference in some studies may perhaps be due to better reading skill of participants in these than in the other studies. According to such a reading-ability account, participants' reading skill should be predictive of the magnitude of their interference effect at short SOAs. To test this account, we conducted a dual-task study with tone discrimination and PWI tasks and measured participants' reading ability. The semantic interference effect was of similar magnitude at both short and long SOAs. Participants' reading ability was predictive of their naming speed but not of their semantic interference effect, contrary to the reading ability account. We conclude that the magnitude of semantic interference in picture naming during dual-task performance does not depend on reading skill.

Assessing the Effects of Momentary Priming on Memory Retention During an Interference Task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutte, Paul C.

2007-01-01

A memory aid, that used brief (33ms) presentations of previously learned information (target words), was assessed on its ability to reinforce memory for target words while the subject was performing an interference task. The interference task required subjects to learn new words and thus interfered with their memory of the target words. The brief presentation (momentary memory priming) was hypothesized to refresh the subjects memory of the target words. 143 subjects, in a within subject design, were given a 33ms presentation of the target memory words during the interference task in a treatment condition and a blank 33ms presentation in the control condition. The primary dependent measure, memory loss over the interference trial, was not significantly different between the two conditions. The memory prime did not appear to hinder the subjects performance on the interference task. This paper describes the experiment and the results along with suggestions for future research.

Training and transfer effects of interference control training in children and young adults.

PubMed

Zhao, Xin; Jia, Lina

2018-04-24

Many studies have examined transfer of working memory (WM) training improvements to non-trained cognitive tasks, with largely disappointing results. Interference control has been suggested to be a central feature of WM. However, studies examining transfer effects of a training program exclusively and directly targeting interference control are lacking. Forty-one 10‒12 year-old children and 47 19‒24 year-old adults were assigned to an adaptive interference control training or active control condition. Transfer of training effects to tasks measuring interference control, response inhibition, WM updating, task-switching, and non-verbal fluid intelligence were assessed during a 3-month follow-up session and/or an immediate post-training session. Substantial evidence of training improvements and a positive transfer effect to a non-trained interference control task were observed for both age groups. Marginal evidence for beneficial transfer of training effects for the trained compared to non-trained participants was found for a WM task for both age groups, and for the children for another interference control task and a response inhibition task. However, these transfer effects were absent during the 3-month follow-up measurement. These results suggest some potential for interference control training programs to enhance aspects of cognitive functioning, with some evidence for a more wide-spread, but short-lived, transfer for children compared to adults.

Control and Interference in Task Switching--A Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiesel, Andrea; Steinhauser, Marco; Wendt, Mike; Falkenstein, Michael; Jost, Kerstin; Philipp, Andrea M.; Koch, Iring

2010-01-01

The task-switching paradigm offers enormous possibilities to study cognitive control as well as task interference. The current review provides an overview of recent research on both topics. First, we review different experimental approaches to task switching, such as comparing mixed-task blocks with single-task blocks, predictable task-switching…

Developmental change in cognitive organization underlying stroop tasks of Japanese orthographies.

PubMed

Toma, C; Toshima, T

1989-01-01

Cognitive processes underlying Stroop interference tasks of two Japanese orthographies, hiragana (a phonetic orthography) and kanji (a logographic orthography) were studied from the developmental point of view. Four age groups (first, second, third graders, and university students) were employed as subjects. Significant interference was yielded both in the hiragana and in the kanji version. Performance time on interference task decreased with age. For elementary school children, the error frequency on the interference task was higher than that on the task of naming patch colors or on the task of reading words printed in black ink, but the error frequencies did not differ among tasks for university students. In the interference task more word reading errors were yielded in the kanji version than in the hiragana version during and after third grade. The findings suggested that (1) the recognition system of hiragana and of kanji becomes qualitatively different during and after third grade, (2) the integrative system, which organizes cognitive processes underlying Stroop task, develops with age, and (3) efficiency of the organization increases with age.

Cognitive declines in healthy aging: evidence from multiple aspects of interference resolution.

PubMed

Pettigrew, Corinne; Martin, Randi C

2014-06-01

The present study tested the hypothesis that older adults show age-related deficits in interference resolution, also referred to as inhibitory control. Although oftentimes considered as a unitary aspect of executive function, various lines of work support the notion that interference resolution may be better understood as multiple constructs, including resistance to proactive interference (PI) and response-distractor inhibition (e.g., Friedman & Miyake, 2004). Using this dichotomy, the present study assessed whether older adults (relative to younger adults) show impaired performance across both, 1, or neither of these interference resolution constructs. To do so, we used multiple tasks to tap each construct and examined age effects at both the single task and latent variable levels. Older adults consistently demonstrated exaggerated interference effects across resistance to PI tasks. Although the results for the response-distractor inhibition tasks were less consistent at the individual task level analyses, age effects were evident on multiple tasks, as well as at the latent variable level. However, results of the latent variable modeling suggested declines in interference resolution are best explained by variance that is common to the 2 interference resolution constructs measured herein. Furthermore, the effect of age on interference resolution was found to be both distinct from declines in working memory, and independent of processing speed. These findings suggest multiple cognitive domains are independently sensitive to age, but that declines in the interference resolution constructs measured herein may originate from a common cause. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Escaping the recent past: Which stimulus dimensions influence proactive interference?

PubMed Central

Craig, Kimberly S.; Berman, Marc G.; Jonides, John; Lustig, Cindy

2013-01-01

Proactive interference occurs when information from the past disrupts current processing and is a major source of confusion and errors in short-term memory (Wickens, Born & Allen, 1963). The present investigation examines potential boundary conditions for interference, testing the hypothesis that potential competitors must be similar along task-relevant dimensions to influence proactive interference effects. We manipulated both the type of task being completed (Experiments 1, 2 and 3) and dimensions of similarity irrelevant to the current task (Experiments 4 and 5) to determine how the recent presentation of a probe item would affect the speed with which participants could reject that item. Experiments 1, 2 and 3 contrasted short-term memory judgments, which require temporal information, with semantic and perceptual judgments, for which temporal information is irrelevant. In Experiments 4 and 5, task-irrelevant information (perceptual similarity) was manipulated within the recent probes task. We found that interference from past items affected short-term memory (STM) task performance but did not affect performance in semantic or perceptual judgment tasks. Conversely, similarity along a nominally-irrelevant perceptual dimension did not affect the magnitude of interference in STM tasks. Results are consistent with the view that items in STM are represented by noisy codes consisting of multiple dimensions, and that interference occurs when items are similar to each other and thus compete along the dimensions relevant to target selection. PMID:23297049

Escaping the recent past: which stimulus dimensions influence proactive interference?

PubMed

Craig, Kimberly S; Berman, Marc G; Jonides, John; Lustig, Cindy

2013-07-01

Proactive interference occurs when information from the past disrupts current processing and is a major source of confusion and errors in short-term memory (STM; Wickens, Born, & Allen, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 2:440-445, 1963). The present investigation examines potential boundary conditions for interference, testing the hypothesis that potential competitors must be similar along task-relevant dimensions to influence proactive interference effects. We manipulated both the type of task being completed (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) and dimensions of similarity irrelevant to the current task (Experiments 4 and 5) to determine how the recent presentation of a probe item would affect the speed with which participants could reject that item. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 contrasted STM judgments, which require temporal information, with semantic and perceptual judgments, for which temporal information is irrelevant. In Experiments 4 and 5, task-irrelevant information (perceptual similarity) was manipulated within the recent probes task. We found that interference from past items affected STM task performance but did not affect performance in semantic or perceptual judgment tasks. Conversely, similarity along a nominally irrelevant perceptual dimension did not affect the magnitude of interference in STM tasks. Results are consistent with the view that items in STM are represented by noisy codes consisting of multiple dimensions and that interference occurs when items are similar to each other and, thus, compete along the dimensions relevant to target selection.

A dedicated system for topographical working memory: evidence from domain-specific interference tests.

PubMed

Piccardi, L; Nori, R; Boccia, M; Barbetti, S; Verde, P; Guariglia, C; Ferlazzo, F

2015-08-01

In the present study, we used single- and dual-task conditions to investigate the nature of topographical working memory to better understand what type of task can hamper performance during navigation. During dual-task conditions, we considered four different sources of interference: motor (M), spatial motor (SM), verbal (i.e. articulatory suppression AS) and spatial environmental (SE). In order to assess the nature of topographical working memory, we used the Walking Corsi Test, asking the participants to perform two tasks simultaneously (M, SM, AS and SE). Our results showed that only spatial-environmental interference hampers the execution of a topographical working memory task, suggesting a task-domain-specific effect. We also found general gender differences in the topographical working memory capabilities: men were more proficient than women, regardless of the type of interferences. However, like men, women performed worse when a spatial-environmental interference was present.

Single-task fMRI overlap predicts concurrent multitasking interference.

PubMed

Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer; van Rijn, Hedderik; Taatgen, Niels

2014-10-15

There is no consensus regarding the origin of behavioral interference that occurs during concurrent multitasking. Some evidence points toward a multitasking locus in the brain, while other results imply that interference is the consequence of task interactions in several brain regions. To investigate this issue, we conducted a functional MRI (fMRI) study consisting of three component tasks, which were performed both separately and in combination. The results indicated that no specific multitasking area exists. Instead, different patterns of activation across conditions could be explained by assuming that the interference is a result of task interactions. Additionally, similarity in single-task activation patterns correlated with a decrease in accuracy during dual-task conditions. Taken together, these results support the view that multitasking interference is not due to a bottleneck in a single "multitasking" brain region, but is a result of interactions between concurrently running processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Poor Stroop performances in 15-year-old dyslexic teenagers.

PubMed

Kapoula, Zoï; Lê, Thanh-Thuan; Bonnet, Audrey; Bourtoire, Pauline; Demule, Emilie; Fauvel, Caroline; Quilicci, Catherine; Yang, Qing

2010-06-01

The Stroop test enables interference between color naming and reading to be studied. Protopapas et al. (2007) reported more errors in an interference task and longer reaction times in 12.5-year-old dyslexics; also more Stroop interference with lower reading skills. The present study uses a version of the Stroop with four color cards and aims to test interference and flexibility in older dyslexic teenagers. The four cards are: color naming, reading, interference and flexibility. In the latter, subjects have to name the color of the word inhibiting reading except when the word is inside a box. This flexibility task enables the testing of the capacity for cognitive switching between tasks. Ten dyslexics (15.1 +/- 0.7 years old) and fourteen controls (14.3 +/- 1.6 years old) participated in the study. All performed the color naming, the reading, the interference and the flexibility tasks in the same order. Subsequently, they performed a sequence of 60 saccades left-right followed by the interference task. Generally, dyslexic teenagers behaved similarly to non-dyslexics as they showed fewer errors in reading and color than in the interference and flexibility tasks. However, they made more errors and needed more time to accomplish each task than non-dyslexics. The results suggest that the inhibitory and attention processes required by the Stroop test are dysfunctioning even in older dyslexics. In contrast, the study shows no evidence for particular difficulty in the flexibility task, which would constitute an argument against problems with mental switching. Following the execution of saccades, errors in the interference test were significantly reduced for dyslexics, while the time was reduced for both groups. The effects are attributed to visual attention training via saccades.

Vanishing dual-task interference after practice: has the bottleneck been eliminated or is it merely latent?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruthruff, Eric; Johnston, James C.; Van Selst, Mark; Whitsell, Shelly; Remington, Roger

2003-01-01

Practice can, in some cases, largely eliminate measured dual-task interference. Does this absence of interference indicate the absence of a processing bottleneck (defined as an inability to carry out certain stages in parallel)? The authors show that a bottleneck need not produce any observable interference, provided that there is no temporal overlap in the demand for bottleneck stages on the 2 tasks. Such a "latent" bottleneck is especially likely after practice, when central stages are short. The authors provide new evidence that a latent bottleneck occurred for a participant who produced no interference in M. Van Selst, E. Ruthruff, and J. C. Johnston (1999). These findings demonstrate that the absence of dual-task interference does not necessarily indicate the absence of a processing bottleneck.

The componential processing of fractions in adults and children: effects of stimuli variability and contextual interference

PubMed Central

Gabriel, Florence C.; Szücs, Dénes

2014-01-01

Recent studies have indicated that people have a strong tendency to compare fractions based on constituent numerators or denominators. This is called componential processing. This study explored whether componential processing was preferred in tasks involving high stimuli variability and high contextual interference, when fractions could be compared based either on the holistic values of fractions or on their denominators. Here, stimuli variability referred to the fact that fractions were not monotonous but diversiform. Contextual interference referred to the fact that the processing of fractions was interfered by other stimuli. To our ends, three tasks were used. In Task 1, participants compared a standard fraction 1/5 to unit fractions. This task was used as a low stimuli variability and low contextual interference task. In Task 2 stimuli variability was increased by mixing unit and non-unit fractions. In Task 3, high contextual interference was created by incorporating decimals into fractions. The RT results showed that the processing patterns of fractions were very similar for adults and children. In task 1 and task 3, only componential processing was utilzied. In contrast, both holistic processing and componential processing were utilized in task 2. These results suggest that, if individuals are presented with the opportunity to perform componential processing, both adults and children will tend to do so, even if they are faced with high variability of fractions or high contextual interference. PMID:25249995

The componential processing of fractions in adults and children: effects of stimuli variability and contextual interference.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Fang, Qiaochu; Gabriel, Florence C; Szücs, Dénes

2014-01-01

Recent studies have indicated that people have a strong tendency to compare fractions based on constituent numerators or denominators. This is called componential processing. This study explored whether componential processing was preferred in tasks involving high stimuli variability and high contextual interference, when fractions could be compared based either on the holistic values of fractions or on their denominators. Here, stimuli variability referred to the fact that fractions were not monotonous but diversiform. Contextual interference referred to the fact that the processing of fractions was interfered by other stimuli. To our ends, three tasks were used. In Task 1, participants compared a standard fraction 1/5 to unit fractions. This task was used as a low stimuli variability and low contextual interference task. In Task 2 stimuli variability was increased by mixing unit and non-unit fractions. In Task 3, high contextual interference was created by incorporating decimals into fractions. The RT results showed that the processing patterns of fractions were very similar for adults and children. In task 1 and task 3, only componential processing was utilzied. In contrast, both holistic processing and componential processing were utilized in task 2. These results suggest that, if individuals are presented with the opportunity to perform componential processing, both adults and children will tend to do so, even if they are faced with high variability of fractions or high contextual interference.

Measuring treatment effects on dual-task performance: a framework for research and clinical practice

PubMed Central

Plummer, Prudence; Eskes, Gail

2015-01-01

The relevance of dual-task walking to everyday ambulation is widely acknowledged, and numerous studies have demonstrated that dual-task interference can significantly impact recovery of functional walking in people with neurological disorders. The magnitude and direction of dual-task interference is influenced by the interaction between the two tasks, including how individuals spontaneously prioritize their attention. Therefore, to accurately interpret and characterize dual-task interference and identify changes over time, it is imperative to evaluate single and dual-task performance in both tasks, as well as the tasks relative to each other. Yet, reciprocal dual-task effects (DTE) are frequently ignored. The purpose of this perspective paper is to present a framework for measuring treatment effects on dual-task interference, specifically taking into account the interactions between the two tasks and how this can provide information on whether overall dual-task capacity has improved or a different attentional strategy has been adopted. In discussing the clinical implications of using this framework, we provide specific examples of using this method and provide some explicit recommendations for research and clinical practice. PMID:25972801

Eighteen-month-olds' memory interference and distraction in a modified A-not-B task is not associated with their anticipatory looking in a false-belief task.

PubMed

Zmyj, Norbert; Prinz, Wolfgang; Daum, Moritz M

2015-01-01

Infants' performance in non-verbal false-belief tasks is often interpreted as if they have understood false beliefs. This view has been questioned by a recent account that explains infants' performance in non-verbal false-belief tasks as the result of susceptibility to memory interference and distraction. We tested this alternative account by investigating the relationship between infants' false-belief understanding, susceptibility to memory interference and distraction, and general cognitive development in 18-month-old infants (N = 22). False-belief understanding was tested in an anticipatory looking paradigm of a standard false-belief task. Susceptibility to memory interference and distraction was tested in a modified A-not-B task. Cognitive development was measured via the Mental Scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. We did not find any relationship between infants' performance in the false-belief task and the A-not-B task, even after controlling for cognitive development. This study shows that there is no ubiquitous relation between susceptibility to memory interference and distraction and performance in a false-belief task in infancy.

Eighteen-month-olds’ memory interference and distraction in a modified A-not-B task is not associated with their anticipatory looking in a false-belief task

PubMed Central

Zmyj, Norbert; Prinz, Wolfgang; Daum, Moritz M.

2015-01-01

Infants’ performance in non-verbal false-belief tasks is often interpreted as if they have understood false beliefs. This view has been questioned by a recent account that explains infants’ performance in non-verbal false-belief tasks as the result of susceptibility to memory interference and distraction. We tested this alternative account by investigating the relationship between infants’ false-belief understanding, susceptibility to memory interference and distraction, and general cognitive development in 18-month-old infants (N = 22). False-belief understanding was tested in an anticipatory looking paradigm of a standard false-belief task. Susceptibility to memory interference and distraction was tested in a modified A-not-B task. Cognitive development was measured via the Mental Scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. We did not find any relationship between infants’ performance in the false-belief task and the A-not-B task, even after controlling for cognitive development. This study shows that there is no ubiquitous relation between susceptibility to memory interference and distraction and performance in a false-belief task in infancy. PMID:26157409

Mind wandering and the attention network system.

PubMed

Gonçalves, Óscar F; Rêgo, Gabriel; Oliveira-Silva, Patrícia; Leite, Jorge; Carvalho, Sandra; Fregni, Felipe; Amaro, Edson; Boggio, Paulo S

2017-01-01

Attention and mind wandering are often seen as anticorrelated. However, both attention and mind wandering are multi-component processes, and their relationship may be more complex than previously thought. In this study, we tested the interference of different types of thoughts as measured by a Thought Identification Task - TIT (on task thoughts, task related interference thoughts, external distractions, stimulus independent and task unrelated thoughts) on different components of the attention network system - ANT (alerting, orienting, executive). Results show that, during the ANT, individuals were predominantly involved in task related interference thoughts which, along with external distractors, significantly impaired their performance accuracy. However, mind wandering (i.e., stimulus independent and task unrelated thoughts) did not significantly interfere with accuracy in the ANT. No significant relationship was found between type of thoughts and alerting, orienting, or executive effects in the ANT. While task related interference thoughts and external distractions seemed to impair performance on the attention task, mind wandering was still compatible with satisfactory performance in the ANT. The present results confirmed the importance of differentiating type of "out of task" thoughts in studying the relationship between though distractors and attention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Proactive Interference Does Not Meaningfully Distort Visual Working Memory Capacity Estimates in the Canonical Change Detection Task

PubMed Central

Lin, Po-Han; Luck, Steven J.

2012-01-01

The change detection task has become a standard method for estimating the storage capacity of visual working memory. Most researchers assume that this task isolates the properties of an active short-term storage system that can be dissociated from long-term memory systems. However, long-term memory storage may influence performance on this task. In particular, memory traces from previous trials may create proactive interference that sometimes leads to errors, thereby reducing estimated capacity. Consequently, the capacity of visual working memory may be higher than is usually thought, and correlations between capacity and other measures of cognition may reflect individual differences in proactive interference rather than individual differences in the capacity of the short-term storage system. Indeed, previous research has shown that change detection performance can be influenced by proactive interference under some conditions. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the canonical version of the change detection task – in which the to-be-remembered information consists of simple, briefly presented features – is influenced by proactive interference. Two experiments were conducted using methods that ordinarily produce substantial evidence of proactive interference, but no proactive interference was observed. Thus, the canonical version of the change detection task can be used to assess visual working memory capacity with no meaningful influence of proactive interference. PMID:22403556

Proactive interference does not meaningfully distort visual working memory capacity estimates in the canonical change detection task.

PubMed

Lin, Po-Han; Luck, Steven J

2012-01-01

The change detection task has become a standard method for estimating the storage capacity of visual working memory. Most researchers assume that this task isolates the properties of an active short-term storage system that can be dissociated from long-term memory systems. However, long-term memory storage may influence performance on this task. In particular, memory traces from previous trials may create proactive interference that sometimes leads to errors, thereby reducing estimated capacity. Consequently, the capacity of visual working memory may be higher than is usually thought, and correlations between capacity and other measures of cognition may reflect individual differences in proactive interference rather than individual differences in the capacity of the short-term storage system. Indeed, previous research has shown that change detection performance can be influenced by proactive interference under some conditions. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the canonical version of the change detection task - in which the to-be-remembered information consists of simple, briefly presented features - is influenced by proactive interference. Two experiments were conducted using methods that ordinarily produce substantial evidence of proactive interference, but no proactive interference was observed. Thus, the canonical version of the change detection task can be used to assess visual working memory capacity with no meaningful influence of proactive interference.

Comparison of inhibition in two timed reaction tasks: the color and emotion Stroop tasks.

PubMed

Cothran, D Lisa; Larsen, Randy

2008-07-01

The authors examined the cross-task consistency of the ability to inhibit the processing of irrelevant information. They compared interference scores on 2 widely used inhibition tasks and found that color word Stroop interference scores correlated with emotion word Stroop interference scores. An examination of physiological reactivity showed that, in general, the color Stroop was more arousing than was the emotion Stroop, most likely due to increased response conflict.

Testing the distinctiveness of visual imagery and motor imagery in a reach paradigm.

PubMed

Gabbard, Carl; Ammar, Diala; Cordova, Alberto

2009-01-01

We examined the distinctiveness of motor imagery (MI) and visual imagery (VI) in the context of perceived reachability. The aim was to explore the notion that the two visual modes have distinctive processing properties tied to the two-visual-system hypothesis. The experiment included an interference tactic whereby participants completed two tasks at the same time: a visual or motor-interference task combined with a MI or VI-reaching task. We expected increased error would occur when the imaged task and the interference task were matched (e.g., MI with the motor task), suggesting an association based on the assumption that the two tasks were in competition for space on the same processing pathway. Alternatively, if there were no differences, dissociation could be inferred. Significant increases in the number of errors were found when the modalities for the imaged (both MI and VI) task and the interference task were matched. Therefore, it appears that MI and VI in the context of perceived reachability recruit different processing mechanisms.

Memory Reactivation Predicts Resistance to Retroactive Interference: Evidence from Multivariate Classification and Pattern Similarity Analyses

PubMed Central

Rugg, Michael D.

2016-01-01

Memory reactivation—the reinstatement of processes and representations engaged when an event is initially experienced—is believed to play an important role in strengthening and updating episodic memory. The present study examines how memory reactivation during a potentially interfering event influences memory for a previously experienced event. Participants underwent fMRI during the encoding phase of an AB/AC interference task in which some words were presented twice in association with two different encoding tasks (AB and AC trials) and other words were presented once (DE trials). The later memory test required retrieval of the encoding tasks associated with each of the study words. Retroactive interference was evident for the AB encoding task and was particularly strong when the AC encoding task was remembered rather than forgotten. We used multivariate classification and pattern similarity analysis (PSA) to measure reactivation of the AB encoding task during AC trials. The results demonstrated that reactivation of generic task information measured with multivariate classification predicted subsequent memory for the AB encoding task regardless of whether interference was strong and weak (trials for which the AC encoding task was remembered or forgotten, respectively). In contrast, reactivation of neural patterns idiosyncratic to a given AB trial measured with PSA only predicted memory when the strength of interference was low. These results suggest that reactivation of features of an initial experience shared across numerous events in the same category, but not features idiosyncratic to a particular event, are important in resisting retroactive interference caused by new learning. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reactivating a previously encoded memory is believed to provide an opportunity to strengthen the memory, but also to return the memory to a labile state, making it susceptible to interference. However, there is debate as to how memory reactivation elicited by a potentially interfering event influences subsequent retrieval of the memory. The findings of the current study indicate that reactivating features idiosyncratic to a particular experience during interference only influences subsequent memory when interference is relatively weak. Critically, reactivation of generic contextual information predicts subsequent source memory when retroactive interference is either strong and weak. The results indicate that reactivation of generic information about a prior episode mitigates forgetting due to retroactive interference. PMID:27076433

Selective Inhibition and Naming Performance in Semantic Blocking, Picture-Word Interference, and Color-Word Stroop Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shao, Zeshu; Roelofs, Ardi; Martin, Randi C.; Meyer, Antje S.

2015-01-01

In 2 studies, we examined whether explicit distractors are necessary and sufficient to evoke selective inhibition in 3 naming tasks: the semantic blocking, picture-word interference, and color-word Stroop task. Delta plots were used to quantify the size of the interference effects as a function of reaction time (RT). Selective inhibition was…

Practice-related improvement in working memory is modulated by changes in processing external interference.

PubMed

Berry, Anne S; Zanto, Theodore P; Rutman, Aaron M; Clapp, Wesley C; Gazzaley, Adam

2009-09-01

Working memory (WM) performance is impaired by the presence of external interference. Accordingly, more efficient processing of intervening stimuli with practice may lead to enhanced WM performance. To explore the role of practice on the impact that interference has on WM performance, we studied young adults with electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings as they performed three motion-direction, delayed-recognition tasks. One task was presented without interference, whereas two tasks introduced different types of interference during the interval of memory maintenance: distractors and interruptors. Distractors were to be ignored, whereas interruptors demanded attention based on task instructions for a perceptual discrimination. We show that WM performance was disrupted by both types of interference, but interference-induced disruption abated across a single experimental session through rapid learning. WM accuracy and response time improved in a manner that was correlated with changes in early neural measures of interference processing in visual cortex (i.e., P1 suppression and N1 enhancement). These results suggest practice-related changes in processing interference exert a positive influence on WM performance, highlighting the importance of filtering irrelevant information and the dynamic interactions that exist between neural processes of perception, attention, and WM during learning.

Attention and memory protection: Interactions between retrospective attention cueing and interference.

PubMed

Makovski, Tal; Pertzov, Yoni

2015-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) and attention have a number of features in common, but despite extensive research it is still unclear how the two interact. Can focused attention improve VWM precision? Can it protect VWM from interference? Here we used a partial-report, continuous-response orientation memory task to examine how attention and interference affect different aspects of VWM and how they interact with one another. Both attention and interference were orthogonally manipulated during the retention interval. Attention was manipulated by presenting informative retro-cues, whereas interference was manipulated by introducing a secondary interfering task. Mixture-model analyses revealed that retro-cues, compared to uninformative cues, improved all aspects of performance: Attention increased recall precision and decreased guessing rate and swap-errors (reporting a wrong item in memory). Similarly, performing a secondary task impaired all aspects of the VWM task. In particular, an interaction between retro-cue and secondary task interference was found primarily for swap-errors. Together these results suggest that both the quantity and quality of VWM representations are sensitive to attention cueing and interference modulations, and they highlight the role of attention in protecting the feature-location associations needed to access the correct items in memory.

Stimulus-level interference disrupts repetition benefit during task switching in middle childhood

PubMed Central

Karayanidis, Frini; Jamadar, Sharna; Sanday, Dearne

2013-01-01

The task-switching paradigm provides a powerful tool to measure the development of core cognitive control processes. In this study, we use the alternating runs task-switching paradigm to assess preparatory control processes involved in flexibly preparing for a predictable change in task and stimulus-driven control processes involved in controlling stimulus-level interference. We present three experiments that examine behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures of task-switching performance in middle childhood and young adulthood under low and high stimulus interference conditions. Experiment 1 confirms that our new child-friendly tasks produce similar behavioral and electrophysiological findings in young adults as those previously reported. Experiment 2 examines task switching with univalent stimuli across a range of preparation intervals in middle childhood. Experiment 3 compares task switching with bivalent stimuli across the same preparation intervals in children and young adults. Children produced a larger RT switch cost than adults with univalent stimuli and a short preparation interval. Both children and adults showed significant reduction in switch cost with increasing preparation interval, but in children this was caused by greater increase in RT for repeat than switch trials. Response-locked ERPs showed intact preparation for univalent, but less efficient preparation for bivalent stimulus conditions. Stimulus-locked ERPs confirmed that children showed greater stimulus-level interference for repeat trials, especially with bivalent stimuli. We conclude that children show greater stimulus-level interference especially for repeat trials under high interference conditions, suggesting weaker mental representation of the current task set. PMID:24367317

Mechanisms of Practice-Related Reductions of Dual-Task Interference with Simple Tasks: Data and Theory

PubMed Central

Strobach, Tilo; Torsten, Schubert

2017-01-01

In dual-task situations, interference between two simultaneous tasks impairs performance. With practice, however, this impairment can be reduced. To identify mechanisms leading to a practice-related improvement in sensorimotor dual tasks, the present review applied the following general hypothesis: Sources that impair dual-task performance at the beginning of practice are associated with mechanisms for the reduction of dual-task impairment at the end of practice. The following types of processes provide sources for the occurrence of this impairment: (a) capacity-limited processes within the component tasks, such as response-selection or motor response stages, and (b) cognitive control processes independent of these tasks and thus operating outside of component-task performance. Dual-task practice studies show that, under very specific conditions, capacity-limited processes within the component tasks are automatized with practice, reducing the interference between two simultaneous tasks. Further, there is evidence that response-selection stages are shortened with practice. Thus, capacity limitations at these stages are sources for dual-task costs at the beginning of practice and are overcome with practice. However, there is no evidence demonstrating the existence of practice-related mechanisms associated with capacity-limited motor-response stages. Further, during practice, there is an acquisition of executive control skills for an improved allocation of limited attention resources to two tasks as well as some evidence supporting the assumption of improved task coordination. These latter mechanisms are associated with sources of dual-task interference operating outside of component task performance at the beginning of practice and also contribute to the reduction of dual-task interference at its end. PMID:28439319

Cognitive load selectively influences the interruptive effect of pain on attention.

PubMed

Moore, David J; Eccleston, Christopher; Keogh, Edmund

2017-10-01

Pain is known to interrupt attentional performance. Such interference effects seem to occur preferentially for tasks that are complex and/or difficult. However, few studies have directly manipulated memory load in the context of pain interference to test this view. Therefore, this study examines the effect of experimental manipulations of both memory load and pain on 3 tasks previously found to be sensitive to pain interference. Three experiments were conducted. A different task was examined in each experiment, each comprising of a high- and low-cognitive load versions of the task. Experiment 1 comprised an attention span (n-back) task, experiment 2 an attention switching task, and experiment 3 a divided attention task. Each task was conducted under painful and nonpainful conditions. Within the pain condition, an experimental thermal pain induction protocol was administered at the same time participants completed the task. The load manipulations were successful in all experiments. Pain-related interference occurred under the high-load condition but only for the attention span task. No effect of pain was found on either the attentional switching or divided attention task. These results suggest that while cognitive load may influence the interruptive effect of pain on attention, this effect may be selective. Because pain affected the high-load version of the n-back task but did not interrupt performance on attentional switching or dual-task paradigms, this means that our findings did not completely support our hypotheses. Future research should explore further the parameters and conditions under which pain-related interference occurs.

Neural correlates of motor-cognitive dual-tasking in young and old adults

PubMed Central

Papegaaij, Selma; Hortobágyi, Tibor; Godde, Ben; Kaan, Wim A.; Erhard, Peter; Voelcker-Rehage, Claudia

2017-01-01

When two tasks are performed simultaneously, performance often declines in one or both tasks. These so-called dual-task costs are more pronounced in old than in young adults. One proposed neurological mechanism of the dual-task costs is that old compared with young adults tend to execute single-tasks with higher brain activation. In the brain regions that are needed for both tasks, the reduced residual capacity may interfere with performance of the dual-task. This competition for shared brain regions has been called structural interference. The purpose of the study was to determine whether structural interference indeed plays a role in the age-related decrease in dual-task performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate 23 young adults (20–29 years) and 32 old adults (66–89 years) performing a calculation (serial subtraction by seven) and balance-simulation (plantar flexion force control) task separately or simultaneously. Behavioral performance decreased during the dual-task compared with the single-tasks in both age groups, with greater dual-task costs in old compared with young adults. Brain activation was significantly higher in old than young adults during all conditions. Region of interest analyses were performed on brain regions that were active in both tasks. Structural interference was apparent in the right insula, as quantified by an age-related reduction in upregulation of brain activity from single- to dual-task. However, the magnitude of upregulation did not correlate with dual-task costs. Therefore, we conclude that the greater dual-task costs in old adults were probably not due to increased structural interference. PMID:29220349

Measuring the effects of a visual or auditory Stroop task on dual-task costs during obstacle crossing.

PubMed

Worden, Timothy A; Mendes, Matthew; Singh, Pratham; Vallis, Lori Ann

2016-10-01

Successful planning and execution of motor strategies while concurrently performing a cognitive task has been previously examined, but unfortunately the varied and numerous cognitive tasks studied has limited our fundamental understanding of how the central nervous system successfully integrates and executes these tasks simultaneously. To gain a better understanding of these mechanisms we used a set of cognitive tasks requiring similar central executive function processes and response outputs but requiring different perceptual mechanisms to perform the motor task. Thirteen healthy young adults (20.6±1.6years old) were instrumented with kinematic markers (60Hz) and completed 5 practice, 10 single-task obstacle walking trials and two 40 trial experimental blocks. Each block contained 20 trials of seated (single-task) trials followed by 20 cognitive and obstacle (30% lower leg length) crossing trials (dual-task). Blocks were randomly presented and included either an auditory Stroop task (AST; central interference only) or a visual Stroop task (VST; combined central and structural interference). Higher accuracy rates and shorter response times were observed for the VST versus AST single-task trials (p<0.05). Conversely, for the obstacle stepping performance, larger dual task costs were observed for the VST as compared to the AST for clearance measures (the VST induced larger clearance values for both the leading and trailing feet), indicating VST tasks caused greater interference for obstacle crossing (p<0.05). These results supported the hypothesis that structural interference has a larger effect on motor performance in a dual-task situation compared to cognitive tasks that pose interference at only the central processing stage. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Overcoming residual interference in mental set switching: Neural correlates and developmental trajectory

PubMed Central

Witt, Suzanne T.; Stevens, Michael C.

2012-01-01

Mental set switching is a key facet of executive control measured behaviorally through reaction time or accuracy (i.e., ‘switch costs’) when shifting among task types. One of several experimentally-dissociable influences on switch costs is ‘task set inertia’, conceptualized as the residual interference conferred when a previous stimulus-response tendency interferes with subsequent stimulus processing on a new task. Task set inertia is thought to represent the passive decay of the previous stimulus-response set from working memory, and its effects decrease with increased interstimulus interval. Closely spaced trials confer high task set inertia, while sparsely spaced trials confer low task set inertia. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study characterized, for the first time, two opposing brain systems engaged to resolve task set inertia: 1) a frontoparietal ‘cortical control’ network for overcoming high task set inertia interference and 2) a subcortical-motor network more active during trials with low task set inertia. These networks were distinct from brain regions showing general switching effects (i.e., switch > non-switch) and from other previously-characterized interference effects. Moreover, there were ongoing maturational effects throughout adolescence for the brain regions engaged to overcome high task set inertia not seen for generalized switching effects. These novel findings represent a new avenue of exploration of cognitive set switching neural function. PMID:22584223

An Integrated Model of Cognitive Control in Task Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altmann, Erik M.; Gray, Wayne D.

2008-01-01

A model of cognitive control in task switching is developed in which controlled performance depends on the system maintaining access to a code in episodic memory representing the most recently cued task. The main constraint on access to the current task code is proactive interference from old task codes. This interference and the mechanisms that…

Decision Making in Concurrent Multitasking: Do People Adapt to Task Interference?

PubMed Central

Nijboer, Menno; Taatgen, Niels A.; Brands, Annelies; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik

2013-01-01

While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the trials. This primary task had to be combined with a secondary task requiring either working memory or visual attention, resulting in different types of interference. Before each trial, participants were asked to choose which secondary task they wanted to perform concurrently with the primary task. We predicted that if people seek to maximize performance or minimize effort required to perform the dual task, they choose task combinations that minimize interference. While performance data showed that the predicted optimal task combinations indeed resulted in minimal interference between tasks, the preferential choice data showed that a third of participants did not show any adaptation, and for the remainder it took a considerable number of trials before the optimal task combinations were chosen consistently. On the basis of these results we argue that, while in principle people are able to adapt their behavior according to multitasking demands, selection of the most efficient combination of strategies is not an automatic process. PMID:24244527

Implicit and Explicit Number-Space Associations Differentially Relate to Interference Control in Young Adults With ADHD

PubMed Central

Georges, Carrie; Hoffmann, Danielle; Schiltz, Christine

2018-01-01

Behavioral evidence for the link between numerical and spatial representations comes from the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, consisting in faster reaction times to small/large numbers with the left/right hand respectively. The SNARC effect is, however, characterized by considerable intra- and inter-individual variability. It depends not only on the explicit or implicit nature of the numerical task, but also relates to interference control. To determine whether the prevalence of the latter relation in the elderly could be ascribed to younger individuals’ ceiling performances on executive control tasks, we determined whether the SNARC effect related to Stroop and/or Flanker effects in 26 young adults with ADHD. We observed a divergent pattern of correlation depending on the type of numerical task used to assess the SNARC effect and the type of interference control measure involved in number-space associations. Namely, stronger number-space associations during parity judgments involving implicit magnitude processing related to weaker interference control in the Stroop but not Flanker task. Conversely, stronger number-space associations during explicit magnitude classifications tended to be associated with better interference control in the Flanker but not Stroop paradigm. The association of stronger parity and magnitude SNARC effects with weaker and better interference control respectively indicates that different mechanisms underlie these relations. Activation of the magnitude-associated spatial code is irrelevant and potentially interferes with parity judgments, but in contrast assists explicit magnitude classifications. Altogether, the present study confirms the contribution of interference control to number-space associations also in young adults. It suggests that magnitude-associated spatial codes in implicit and explicit tasks are monitored by different interference control mechanisms, thereby explaining task-related intra-individual differences in number-space associations. PMID:29881363

Consecutive learning of opposing unimanual motor tasks using the right arm followed by the left arm causes intermanual interference

PubMed Central

Thürer, Benjamin; Stein, Thorsten

2017-01-01

Intermanual transfer (motor memory generalization across arms) and motor memory interference (impairment of retest performance in consecutive motor learning) are well-investigated motor learning phenomena. However, the interplay of these phenomena remains elusive, i.e., whether intermanual interference occurs when two unimanual tasks are consecutively learned using different arms. Here, we examine intermanual interference when subjects consecutively adapt their right and left arm movements to novel dynamics. We considered two force field tasks A and B which were of the same structure but mirrored orientation (B = -A). The first test group (ABA-group) consecutively learned task A using their right arm and task B using their left arm before being retested for task A with their right arm. Another test group (AAA-group) learned only task A in the same right-left-right arm schedule. Control subjects learned task A using their right arm without intermediate left arm learning. All groups were able to adapt their right arm movements to force field A and both test groups showed significant intermanual transfer of this initial learning to the contralateral left arm of 21.9% (ABA-group) and 27.6% (AAA-group). Consecutively, both test groups adapted their left arm movements to force field B (ABA-group) or force field A (AAA-group). For the ABA-group, left arm learning caused significant intermanual interference of the initially learned right arm task (68.3% performance decrease). The performance decrease of the AAA-group (10.2%) did not differ from controls (15.5%). These findings suggest that motor control and learning of right and left arm movements involve partly similar neural networks or underlie a vital interhemispheric connectivity. Moreover, our results suggest a preferred internal task representation in extrinsic Cartesian-based coordinates rather than in intrinsic joint-based coordinates because interference was absent when learning was performed in extrinsically equivalent fashion (AAA-group) but interference occurred when learning was performed in intrinsically equivalent fashion (ABA-group). PMID:28459833

Consecutive learning of opposing unimanual motor tasks using the right arm followed by the left arm causes intermanual interference.

PubMed

Stockinger, Christian; Thürer, Benjamin; Stein, Thorsten

2017-01-01

Intermanual transfer (motor memory generalization across arms) and motor memory interference (impairment of retest performance in consecutive motor learning) are well-investigated motor learning phenomena. However, the interplay of these phenomena remains elusive, i.e., whether intermanual interference occurs when two unimanual tasks are consecutively learned using different arms. Here, we examine intermanual interference when subjects consecutively adapt their right and left arm movements to novel dynamics. We considered two force field tasks A and B which were of the same structure but mirrored orientation (B = -A). The first test group (ABA-group) consecutively learned task A using their right arm and task B using their left arm before being retested for task A with their right arm. Another test group (AAA-group) learned only task A in the same right-left-right arm schedule. Control subjects learned task A using their right arm without intermediate left arm learning. All groups were able to adapt their right arm movements to force field A and both test groups showed significant intermanual transfer of this initial learning to the contralateral left arm of 21.9% (ABA-group) and 27.6% (AAA-group). Consecutively, both test groups adapted their left arm movements to force field B (ABA-group) or force field A (AAA-group). For the ABA-group, left arm learning caused significant intermanual interference of the initially learned right arm task (68.3% performance decrease). The performance decrease of the AAA-group (10.2%) did not differ from controls (15.5%). These findings suggest that motor control and learning of right and left arm movements involve partly similar neural networks or underlie a vital interhemispheric connectivity. Moreover, our results suggest a preferred internal task representation in extrinsic Cartesian-based coordinates rather than in intrinsic joint-based coordinates because interference was absent when learning was performed in extrinsically equivalent fashion (AAA-group) but interference occurred when learning was performed in intrinsically equivalent fashion (ABA-group).

Auditory temporal preparation induced by rhythmic cues during concurrent auditory working memory tasks.

PubMed

Cutanda, Diana; Correa, Ángel; Sanabria, Daniel

2015-06-01

The present study investigated whether participants can develop temporal preparation driven by auditory isochronous rhythms when concurrently performing an auditory working memory (WM) task. In Experiment 1, participants had to respond to an auditory target presented after a regular or an irregular sequence of auditory stimuli while concurrently performing a Sternberg-type WM task. Results showed that participants responded faster after regular compared with irregular rhythms and that this effect was not affected by WM load; however, the lack of a significant main effect of WM load made it difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the influence of the dual-task manipulation in Experiment 1. In order to enhance dual-task interference, Experiment 2 combined the auditory rhythm procedure with an auditory N-Back task, which required WM updating (monitoring and coding of the information) and was presumably more demanding than the mere rehearsal of the WM task used in Experiment 1. Results now clearly showed dual-task interference effects (slower reaction times [RTs] in the high- vs. the low-load condition). However, such interference did not affect temporal preparation induced by rhythms, with faster RTs after regular than after irregular sequences in the high-load and low-load conditions. These results revealed that secondary tasks demanding memory updating, relative to tasks just demanding rehearsal, produced larger interference effects on overall RTs in the auditory rhythm task. Nevertheless, rhythm regularity exerted a strong temporal preparation effect that survived the interference of the WM task even when both tasks competed for processing resources within the auditory modality. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Speech Motor Sequence Learning: Effect of Parkinson Disease and Normal Aging on Dual-Task Performance.

PubMed

Whitfield, Jason A; Goberman, Alexander M

2017-06-22

Everyday communication is carried out concurrently with other tasks. Therefore, determining how dual tasks interfere with newly learned speech motor skills can offer insight into the cognitive mechanisms underlying speech motor learning in Parkinson disease (PD). The current investigation examines a recently learned speech motor sequence under dual-task conditions. A previously learned sequence of 6 monosyllabic nonwords was examined using a dual-task paradigm. Participants repeated the sequence while concurrently performing a visuomotor task, and performance on both tasks was measured in single- and dual-task conditions. The younger adult group exhibited little to no dual-task interference on the accuracy and duration of the sequence. The older adult group exhibited variability in dual-task costs, with the group as a whole exhibiting an intermediate, though significant, amount of dual-task interference. The PD group exhibited the largest degree of bidirectional dual-task interference among all the groups. These data suggest that PD affects the later stages of speech motor learning, as the dual-task condition interfered with production of the recently learned sequence beyond the effect of normal aging. Because the basal ganglia is critical for the later stages of motor sequence learning, the observed deficits may result from the underlying neural dysfunction associated with PD.

Interfering with memory for faces: The cost of doing two things at once.

PubMed

Wammes, Jeffrey D; Fernandes, Myra A

2016-01-01

We inferred the processes critical for episodic retrieval of faces by measuring susceptibility to memory interference from different distracting tasks. Experiment 1 examined recognition of studied faces under full attention (FA) or each of two divided attention (DA) conditions requiring concurrent decisions to auditorily presented letters. Memory was disrupted in both DA relative to FA conditions, a result contrary to a material-specific account of interference effects. Experiment 2 investigated whether the magnitude of interference depended on competition between concurrent tasks for common processing resources. Studied faces were presented either upright (configurally processed) or inverted (featurally processed). Recognition was completed under FA, or DA with one of two face-based distracting tasks requiring either featural or configural processing. We found an interaction: memory for upright faces was lower under DA when the distracting task required configural than featural processing, while the reverse was true for memory of inverted faces. Across experiments, the magnitude of memory interference was similar (a 19% or 20% decline from FA) regardless of whether the materials in the distracting task overlapped with the to-be-remembered information. Importantly, interference was significantly larger (42%) when the processing demands of the distracting and target retrieval task overlapped, suggesting a processing-specific account of memory interference.

The influence of emotional interference on cognitive control: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies using the emotional Stroop task.

PubMed

Song, Sensen; Zilverstand, Anna; Song, Hongwen; d'Oleire Uquillas, Federico; Wang, Yongming; Xie, Chao; Cheng, Li; Zou, Zhiling

2017-05-18

The neural correlates underlying the influence of emotional interference on cognitive control remain a topic of discussion. Here, we assessed 16 neuroimaging studies that used an emotional Stroop task and that reported a significant interaction effect between emotion (stimulus type) and cognitive conflict. There were a total of 330 participants, equaling 132 foci for an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis. Results revealed consistent brain activation patterns related to emotionally-salient stimuli (as compared to emotionally-neutral trials) during cognitive conflict trials [incongruent trials (with task-irrelevant information interfering), versus congruent/baseline trials (less disturbance from task-irrelevant information)], that span the lateral prefrontal cortex (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus), the medial prefrontal cortex, and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Comparing mild emotional interference trials (without semantic conflict) versus intense emotional interference trials (with semantic conflict), revealed that while concurrent activation in similar brain regions as mentioned above was found for intense emotional interference trials, activation for mild emotional interference trials was only found in the precentral/postcentral gyrus. These data provide evidence for the potential neural mechanisms underlying emotional interference on cognitive control, and further elucidate an important distinction in brain activation patterns for different levels of emotional conflict across emotional Stroop tasks.

Dual-task interference in visual working memory: A limitation in storage capacity but not in encoding or retrieval

PubMed Central

Fougnie, Daryl; Marois, René

2009-01-01

The concurrent maintenance of two visual working memory (VWM) arrays can lead to profound interference. It is unclear, however, whether these costs arise from limitations in VWM storage capacity (Fougnie & Marois, 2006), or from interference between the storage of one visual array and encoding or retrieval of another visual array (Cowan & Morey, 2007). Here, we show that encoding a VWM array does not interfere with maintenance of another VWM array unless the two displays exceed maintenance capacity (Experiments 1 and 2). Moreover, manipulating the extent to which encoding and maintenance can interfere with one another had no discernable effect on dual-task performance (Experiment 2). Finally, maintenance of a VWM array was not affected by retrieval of information from another VWM array (Experiment 3). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that dual-task interference between two concurrent VWM tasks is due to a capacity-limited store that is independent from encoding and retrieval processes. PMID:19933566

Age-Related Changes in Brain Activation Underlying Single- and Dual-Task Performance: Visuomanual Drawing and Mental Arithmetic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Impe, A.; Coxon, J. P.; Goble, D. J.; Wenderoth, N.; Swinnen, S. P.

2011-01-01

Depending on task combination, dual-tasking can either be performed successfully or can lead to performance decrements in one or both tasks. Interference is believed to be caused by limitations in central processing, i.e. structural interference between the neural activation patterns associated with each task. In the present study, single- and…

The Crosstalk Hypothesis: Why Language Interferes with Driving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergen, Benjamin; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Wheeler, Kathryn; Drews, Frank; Strayer, David

2013-01-01

Performing two cognitive tasks at the same time can degrade performance for either domain-general reasons (e.g., both tasks require attention) or domain-specific reasons (e.g., both tasks require visual working memory). We tested predictions of these two accounts of interference on the task of driving while using language, a naturally occurring…

Facilitation and interference in naming: A consequence of the same learning process?

PubMed

Hughes, Julie W; Schnur, Tatiana T

2017-08-01

Our success with naming depends on what we have named previously, a phenomenon thought to reflect learning processes. Repeatedly producing the same name facilitates language production (i.e., repetition priming), whereas producing semantically related names hinders subsequent performance (i.e., semantic interference). Semantic interference is found whether naming categorically related items once (continuous naming) or multiple times (blocked cyclic naming). A computational model suggests that the same learning mechanism responsible for facilitation in repetition creates semantic interference in categorical naming (Oppenheim, Dell, & Schwartz, 2010). Accordingly, we tested the predictions that variability in semantic interference is correlated across categorical naming tasks and is caused by learning, as measured by two repetition priming tasks (picture-picture repetition priming, Exp. 1; definition-picture repetition priming, Exp. 2, e.g., Wheeldon & Monsell, 1992). In Experiment 1 (77 subjects) semantic interference and repetition priming effects were robust, but the results revealed no relationship between semantic interference effects across contexts. Critically, learning (picture-picture repetition priming) did not predict semantic interference effects in either task. We replicated these results in Experiment 2 (81 subjects), finding no relationship between semantic interference effects across tasks or between semantic interference effects and learning (definition-picture repetition priming). We conclude that the changes underlying facilitatory and interfering effects inherent to lexical access are the result of distinct learning processes where multiple mechanisms contribute to semantic interference in naming. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains

PubMed Central

Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes. PMID:27992565

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

PubMed

Gorin, Simon; Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

Effects of practice on interference from an auditory task while driving : a simulation study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-12-01

Experimental research on the effects of cellular phone conversations on driving indicates that the phone task interferes with many driving-related functions, especially with older drivers. Limitations of past research have been that (1) the dual task...

The interference effects of non-rotated versus counter-rotated trials in visuomotor adaptation.

PubMed

Hinder, Mark R; Walk, Laura; Woolley, Daniel G; Riek, Stephan; Carson, Richard G

2007-07-01

An isometric torque-production task was used to investigate interference and retention in adaptation to multiple visuomotor environments. Subjects produced isometric flexion-extension and pronation-supination elbow torques to move a cursor to acquire targets as quickly as possible. Adaptation to a 30 degrees counter-clockwise (CCW) rotation (task A), was followed by a period of rest (control), trials with no rotation (task B0), or trials with a 60 degrees clockwise (CW) rotation (task B60). For all groups, retention of task A was assessed 5 h later. With initial training, all groups reduced the angular deviation of cursor paths early in the movements, indicating feedforward adaptation. For the control group, performance at commencement of the retest was significantly better than that at the beginning of the initial learning. For the B0 group, performance in the retest of task A was not dissimilar to that at the start of the initial learning, while for the B60 group retest performance in task A was markedly worse than initially observed. Our results indicate that close juxtaposition of two visuomotor environments precludes improved retest performance in the initial environment. Data for the B60 group, specifically larger angular errors upon retest compared with initial exposures, are consistent with the presence of anterograde interference. Furthermore, full interference occurred even when the visuomotor environment encountered in the second task was not rotated (B0). This latter novel result differs from those obtained for force field learning, where interference does not occur when task B does not impose perturbing forces, i.e., when B consists of a null field (Brashers-Krug et al., Nature 382:252-255, 1996). The results are consistent with recent proposals suggesting different interference mechanisms for visuomotor (kinematic) compared to force field (dynamic) adaptations, and have implications for the use of washout trials when studying interference between multiple visuomotor environments.

Separating intentional inhibition of prepotent responses and resistance to proactive interference in alcohol-dependent individuals.

PubMed

Noël, Xavier; Van der Linden, Martial; Brevers, Damien; Campanella, Salvatore; Verbanck, Paul; Hanak, Catherine; Kornreich, Charles; Verbruggen, Frederick

2013-03-01

Impulsivity is a hallmark of addictive behaviors. Addicts' weakened inhibition of irrelevant prepotent responses is commonly thought to explain this association. However, inhibition is not a unitary mechanism. This study investigated the efficiency of overcoming competition due to irrelevant responses (i.e., inhibition of a prepotent response) and overcoming competition in memory (i.e., resistance to proactive interference) in sober and recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals. Three cognitive tasks assessing the inhibition of a prepotent response (Hayling task, anti-saccade task and Stroop task) and two tasks tapping into the capacity to resist proactive interference (cued recall, Brown-Peterson variant) were administered to 30 non-amnesic recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals and 30 matched healthy participants without alcohol dependency. In addition, possible confounds such as verbal updating in working memory was assessed. Alcohol-dependent subjects performed worse than healthy participants on the three cognitive tasks assessing the inhibition of irrelevant prepotent responses but group performance was similar in the tasks assessing overcoming proactive interference in memory, updating of working memory and abstract reasoning. These findings suggest that alcohol-dependence is mainly associated with impaired capacity to intentionally suppress irrelevant prepotent response information. Control of proactive interference from memory is preserved. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The similar effects of verbal and non-verbal intervening tasks on word recall in an elderly population.

PubMed

Williams, B R; Sullivan, S K; Morra, L F; Williams, J R; Donovick, P J

2014-01-01

Vulnerability to retroactive interference has been shown to increase with cognitive aging. Consistent with the findings of memory and aging literature, the authors of the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) suggest that a non-verbal task be administered during the test's delay interval to minimize the effects of retroactive interference on delayed recall. The goal of the present study was to determine the extent to which retroactive interference caused by non-verbal and verbal intervening tasks affects recall of verbal information in non-demented, older adults. The effects of retroactive interference on recall of words during Long-Delay recall on the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) were evaluated. Participants included 85 adults age 60 and older. During a 20-minute delay interval on the CVLT-II, participants received either a verbal (WAIS-III Vocabulary or Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IIIB) or non-verbal (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices or WAIS-III Block Design) intervening task. Similarly to previous research with young adults (Williams & Donovick, 2008), older adults recalled the same number of words across all groups, regardless of the type of intervening task. These findings suggest that the administration of verbal intervening tasks during the CVLT-II do not elicit more retroactive interference than non-verbal intervening tasks, and thus verbal tasks need not be avoided during the delay interval of the CVLT-II.

Between-Trial Forgetting Due to Interference and Time in Motor Adaptation.

PubMed

Kim, Sungshin; Oh, Youngmin; Schweighofer, Nicolas

2015-01-01

Learning a motor task with temporally spaced presentations or with other tasks intermixed between presentations reduces performance during training, but can enhance retention post training. These two effects are known as the spacing and contextual interference effect, respectively. Here, we aimed at testing a unifying hypothesis of the spacing and contextual interference effects in visuomotor adaptation, according to which forgetting between trials due to either spaced presentations or interference by another task will promote between-trial forgetting, which will depress performance during acquisition, but will promote retention. We first performed an experiment with three visuomotor adaptation conditions: a short inter-trial-interval (ITI) condition (SHORT-ITI); a long ITI condition (LONG-ITI); and an alternating condition with two alternated opposite tasks (ALT), with the same single-task ITI as in LONG-ITI. In the SHORT-ITI condition, there was fastest increase in performance during training and largest immediate forgetting in the retention tests. In contrast, in the ALT condition, there was slowest increase in performance during training and little immediate forgetting in the retention tests. Compared to these two conditions, in the LONG-ITI, we found intermediate increase in performance during training and intermediate immediate forgetting. To account for these results, we fitted to the data six possible adaptation models with one or two time scales, and with interference in the fast, or in the slow, or in both time scales. Model comparison confirmed that two time scales and some degree of interferences in either time scale are needed to account for our experimental results. In summary, our results suggest that retention following adaptation is modulated by the degree of between-trial forgetting, which is due to time-based decay in single adaptation task and interferences in multiple adaptation tasks.

The cognitive loci of the display and task-relevant set size effects on distractor interference: Evidence from a dual-task paradigm.

PubMed

Park, Bo Youn; Kim, Sujin; Cho, Yang Seok

2018-02-01

The congruency effect of a task-irrelevant distractor has been found to be modulated by task-relevant set size and display set size. The present study used a psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm to examine the cognitive loci of the display set size effect (dilution effect) and the task-relevant set size effect (perceptual load effect) on distractor interference. A tone discrimination task (Task 1), in which a response was made to the pitch of the target tone, was followed by a letter discrimination task (Task 2) in which different types of visual target display were used. In Experiment 1, in which display set size was manipulated to examine the nature of the display set size effect on distractor interference in Task 2, the modulation of the congruency effect by display set size was observed at both short and long stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs), indicating that the display set size effect occurred after the target was selected for processing in the focused attention stage. In Experiment 2, in which task-relevant set size was manipulated to examine the nature of the task-relevant set size effect on distractor interference in Task 2, the effects of task-relevant set size increased with SOA, suggesting that the target selection efficiency in the preattentive stage was impaired with increasing task-relevant set size. These results suggest that display set size and task-relevant set size modulate distractor processing in different ways.

Task set persistence modulates word reading following resolution of picture-word interference.

PubMed

Masson, Michael E J; Bub, Daniel N; Ishigami, Yoko

2007-12-01

We extend the finding that word reading slows following successful responses to a color-word Stroop interference task (Masson, Bub, Woodward, & Chan, 2003). Word reading was assessed in a picture-word interference task in which subjects alternated between naming a picture (with either a word or a row of Xs superimposed on it) and reading a word. For the word-reading task, words were presented either in isolation or superimposed on a picture. Word reading was slower after subjects responded to a bivalent stimulus that required resolution of conflict (naming a picture with a word superimposed on it) than after they responded to a stimulus that involved no conflict (naming a picture with Xs superimposed on it), indicating modulation of dominant task performance. This effect was found when word-reading targets were superimposed on pictures but not when those targets were presented in isolation. Modulation of word reading, therefore, appears to be the result of interference from a persistent picture-naming task set, cued by a stimulus configuration that invites execution of both competing tasks.

A Warning Intervention Improves Students' Ability to Overcome Intuitive Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babai, Reuven; Shalev, Enav; Stavy, Ruth

2015-01-01

Students' difficulties in mathematics and science may stem from interference of the task's salient irrelevant variables. Here, we focus on a comparison of perimeters task, in which the area is the irrelevant salient variable. In congruent trials (no interference), accuracy is higher and reaction time is shorter than in incongruent trials (area…

The Source of Execution-Related Dual-Task Interference: Motor Bottleneck or Response Monitoring?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bratzke, Daniel; Rolke, Bettina; Ulrich, Rolf

2009-01-01

The present study assessed the underlying mechanism of execution-related dual-task interference in the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm. The motor bottleneck hypothesis attributes this interference to a processing limitation at the motor level. By contrast, the response monitoring hypothesis attributes it to a bottleneck process that…

The Problem State: A Cognitive Bottleneck in Multitasking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borst, Jelmer P.; Taatgen, Niels A.; van Rijn, Hedderik

2010-01-01

The main challenge for theories of multitasking is to predict when and how tasks interfere. Here, we focus on interference related to the problem state, a directly accessible intermediate representation of the current state of a task. On the basis of Salvucci and Taatgen's (2008) threaded cognition theory, we predict interference if 2 or more…

Neural Systems Underlying Emotional and Non-emotional Interference Processing: An ALE Meta-Analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies

PubMed Central

Xu, Min; Xu, Guiping; Yang, Yang

2016-01-01

Understanding how the nature of interference might influence the recruitments of the neural systems is considered as the key to understanding cognitive control. Although, interference processing in the emotional domain has recently attracted great interest, the question of whether there are separable neural patterns for emotional and non-emotional interference processing remains open. Here, we performed an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of 78 neuroimaging experiments, and examined common and distinct neural systems for emotional and non-emotional interference processing. We examined brain activation in three domains of interference processing: emotional verbal interference in the face-word conflict task, non-emotional verbal interference in the color-word Stroop task, and non-emotional spatial interference in the Simon, SRC and Flanker tasks. Our results show that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was recruited for both emotional and non-emotional interference. In addition, the right anterior insula, presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA), and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were activated by interference processing across both emotional and non-emotional domains. In light of these results, we propose that the anterior insular cortex may serve to integrate information from different dimensions and work together with the dorsal ACC to detect and monitor conflicts, whereas pre-SMA and right IFG may be recruited to inhibit inappropriate responses. In contrast, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) showed different degrees of activation and distinct lateralization patterns for different processing domains, which suggests that these regions may implement cognitive control based on the specific task requirements. PMID:27895564

Stroop proactive control and task conflict are modulated by concurrent working memory load.

PubMed

Kalanthroff, Eyal; Avnit, Amir; Henik, Avishai; Davelaar, Eddy J; Usher, Marius

2015-06-01

Performance on the Stroop task reflects two types of conflict-informational (between the incongruent word and font color) and task (between the contextually relevant color-naming task and the irrelevant, but automatic, word-reading task). According to the dual mechanisms of control theory (DMC; Braver, 2012), variability in Stroop performance can result from variability in the deployment of a proactive task-demand control mechanism. Previous research has shown that when proactive control (PC) is diminished, both increased Stroop interference and a reversed Stroop facilitation (RF) are observed. Although the current DMC model accounts for the former effect, it does not predict the observed RF, which is considered to be behavioral evidence for task conflict in the Stroop task. Here we expanded the DMC model to account for Stroop RF. Assuming that a concurrent working memory (WM) task reduces PC, we predicted both increased interference and an RF. Nineteen participants performed a standard Stroop task combined with a concurrent n-back task, which was aimed at reducing available WM resources, and thus overloading PC. Although the results indicated common Stroop interference and facilitation in the low-load condition (zero-back), in the high-load condition (two-back), both increased Stroop interference and RF were observed, consistent with the model's prediction. These findings indicate that PC is modulated by concurrent WM load and serves as a common control mechanism for both informational and task Stroop conflicts.

Interference effects on commonly used memory tasks.

PubMed

Brophy, Linda M; Jackson, Martin; Crowe, Simon F

2009-02-01

This paper reports two studies which investigated the effect of interference on delayed recall scores of the WMS-III and other commonly used memory measures. In Study 1, participants completed the immediate and delayed components of the WMS-III, with or without the introduction of conceptually similar memory tasks between the recall trials. In Study 2, this order of administration was reversed, with the WMS-III subtests used as the interference items. The results indicated that the introduction of interference items during the delay negatively affected delayed recall performance on almost all sub-tests. In addition, equal effects of proactive and retroactive interference were demonstrated. These findings raise concerns regarding the standardization process for memory tasks and highlight the need to consider interference effects in clinical practice, and stand as a caution in the use of memory-related materials during the delay interval in memory testing.

Role of Gestalt grouping in selective attention: evidence from the Stroop task.

PubMed

Lamers, Martijn J M; Roelofs, Ardi

2007-11-01

Selective attention has been intensively studied using the Stroop task. Evidence suggests that Stroop interference in a color-naming task arises partly because of visual attention sharing between color and word: Removing the target color after 150 msec reduces interference (Neumann, 1986). Moreover, removing both the color and the word simultaneously reduces interference less than does removing the color only (La Heij, van der Heijden, & Plooij, 2001). These findings could also be attributed to Gestalt grouping principles, such as common fate. We report three experiments in which the role of Gestalt grouping was further investigated. Experiment I replicated the reduced interference, using words and color patches. In Experiment 2, the color patch was not removed but only repositioned (<2 degrees) after 100 msec, which also reduced interference. In Experiment 3, the distractor was repositioned while the target remained stationary, again reducing interference. These results indicate a role for Gestalt grouping in selective attention.

Isolating the Neural Mechanisms of Interference During Continuous Multisensory Dual-task Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

sion accuracy in each task, the signal detection theory sensitivity measure of d0 was used (Macmillan & Creelman , 1991; Green & Swets, 1966). First...J. (1998). Sources of dual-task interference: Evidence from human electrophysiology. Psychological Science, 9, 223–227. Macmillan, N. A., & Creelman

Task representation in individual and joint settings

PubMed Central

Prinz, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

This paper outlines a framework for task representation and discusses applications to interference tasks in individual and joint settings. The framework is derived from the Theory of Event Coding (TEC). This theory regards task sets as transient assemblies of event codes in which stimulus and response codes interact and shape each other in particular ways. On the one hand, stimulus and response codes compete with each other within their respective subsets (horizontal interactions). On the other hand, stimulus and response code cooperate with each other (vertical interactions). Code interactions instantiating competition and cooperation apply to two time scales: on-line performance (i.e., doing the task) and off-line implementation (i.e., setting the task). Interference arises when stimulus and response codes overlap in features that are irrelevant for stimulus identification, but relevant for response selection. To resolve this dilemma, the feature profiles of event codes may become restructured in various ways. The framework is applied to three kinds of interference paradigms. Special emphasis is given to joint settings where tasks are shared between two participants. Major conclusions derived from these applications include: (1) Response competition is the chief driver of interference. Likewise, different modes of response competition give rise to different patterns of interference; (2) The type of features in which stimulus and response codes overlap is also a crucial factor. Different types of such features give likewise rise to different patterns of interference; and (3) Task sets for joint settings conflate intraindividual conflicts between responses (what), with interindividual conflicts between responding agents (whom). Features of response codes may, therefore, not only address responses, but also responding agents (both physically and socially). PMID:26029085

The influence of zero-hours contracts on care worker well-being.

PubMed

Ravalier, J M; Fidalgo, A R; Morton, R; Russell, L

2017-07-01

Care workers have an important social role which is set to expand with the increasing age of the UK population. However, the majority of care workers are employed on zero-hours contracts. Firstly, to investigate the relationship between working conditions and employee outcomes such as engagement and general mental well-being in a sample of UK care workers and management. Secondly, to assess whether the use of zero-hours contracts affects employee well-being. A cross-sectional survey of domiciliary care and care home employees, undertaken using the Management Standards Indicator Tool (MSIT), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). T-tests and multivariate linear regression evaluated the differences in scoring between those with differing contractual conditions and job roles, and associations of MSIT scores with UWES and GHQ factors. Employee understanding of their role and job control were found to be priority areas for improvement in the sample. Similarly, care workers reported greater occupational demands and lower levels of control than management. However, while zero-hours contracts did not significantly influence employee well-being, these employees had greater levels of engagement in their jobs. Despite this, a greater proportion of individuals with zero-hours contracts had scores above accepted mental health cut-offs. Individual understanding of their role as care workers appears to play an important part in determining engagement and general mental well-being. However, more research is needed on the influence of zero-hours contracts on well-being, particularly in groups with increased likelihood of developing mental health disorders. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Dissociating interference-control processes between memory and response.

PubMed

Bissett, Patrick G; Nee, Derek Evan; Jonides, John

2009-09-01

The ability to mitigate interference is of central importance to cognition. Previous research has provided conflicting accounts about whether operations that resolve interference are singular in character or form a family of functions. Here, the authors examined the relationship between interference-resolution processes acting on working memory representations versus responses. The authors combined multiple forms of interference into a single paradigm by merging a directed-forgetting task, which induces proactive interference, with a stop-signal task, which taps response inhibition processes. The results demonstrated that proactive interference and response inhibition produced distinct behavioral signatures that did not interact. By contrast, combining two different measures of response inhibition by merging a go/no-go task variant and a stop signal produced overadditive behavioral interference, demonstrating that different forms of response inhibition tap the same processes. However, not all forms of response conflict interacted, suggesting that inhibition-related functions acting on response selection are dissociable from those acting on response inhibition. These results suggest that inhibition-related functions for memory and responses are dissociable. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Interference and Inhibition in Tasks of Selective Attention by Persons with and without Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merrill, Edward C.

2006-01-01

Persons with mental retardation often exhibit greater interference in visual selective attention tasks than do persons matched with them on CA. My goal here was to evaluate whether differences in distractor interference between persons with and without mental retardation may be related to differences in negative priming. Fifteen participants with…

Predicting dual-task performance with the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ).

PubMed

Boles, David B; Bursk, Jonathan H; Phillips, Jeffrey B; Perdelwitz, Jason R

2007-02-01

The objective was to assess the validity of the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ) in predicting dual-task interference. Subjective workload measures such as the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) and NASA Task Load Index are sensitive to single-task parameters and dual-task loads but have not attempted to measure workload in particular mental processes. An alternative is the MRQ. In Experiment 1, participants completed simple laboratory tasks and the MRQ after each. Interference between tasks was then correlated to three different task similarity metrics: profile similarity, based on r(2) between ratings; overlap similarity, based on summed minima; and overall demand, based on summed ratings. Experiment 2 used similar methods but more complex computer-based games. In Experiment 1 the MRQ moderately predicted interference (r = +.37), with no significant difference between metrics. In Experiment 2 the metric effect was significant, with overlap similarity excelling in predicting interference (r = +.83). Mean ratings showed high diagnosticity in identifying specific mental processing bottlenecks. The MRQ shows considerable promise as a cognitive-process-sensitive workload measure. Potential applications of the MRQ include the identification of dual-processing bottlenecks as well as process overloads in single tasks, preparatory to redesign in areas such as air traffic management, advanced flight displays, and medical imaging.

Resolving semantic and proactive interference in memory over the short-term.

PubMed

Atkins, Alexandra S; Berman, Marc G; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A; Lewis, Richard L; Jonides, John

2011-07-01

Interference is a major source of short-term errors of memory. The present investigation explores the relationship between two important forms of interference: proactive interference (PI), induced by the need to reject recently studied items no longer relevant to task performance, and semantic interference (SI), induced by the need to reject lures sharing a meaningful relationship with current memoranda. We explore the possibility that shared cognitive control processes are recruited to resolve both forms of interference. In Experiment 1, we find that the requirement to engage in articulatory suppression during the retention interval of tasks that induce either PI or SI increases both forms of interference similarly and selectively. In Experiment 2, we develop a task to examine PI and SI within the same experimental context. The results show interactive effects between factors that lead to the two forms of interference. Taken together, these findings support contextual-cuing models of short-term remembering (Nairne, Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 53-81 2002), where the context in which retrieval occurs can influence susceptibility to interference. Lastly, we discuss several theoretical hypotheses concerning the cognitive control processes that are recruited to resolve SI and PI in short-term remembering.

Resolving semantic and proactive interference in memory over the short-term

PubMed Central

Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A.; Lewis, Richard L.; Jonides, John

2011-01-01

Interference is a major source of short-term errors of memory. The present investigation explores the relationship between two important forms of interference: proactive interference (PI), induced by the need to reject recently studied items no longer relevant to task performance, and semantic interference (SI), induced by the need to reject lures sharing a meaningful relationship with current memoranda. We explore the possibility that shared cognitive control processes are recruited to resolve both forms of interference. In Experiment 1, we find that the requirement to engage in articulatory suppression during the retention interval of tasks that induce either PI or SI increases both forms of interference similarly and selectively. In Experiment 2, we develop a task to examine PI and SI within the same experimental context. The results show interactive effects between factors that lead to the two forms of interference. Taken together, these findings support contextual-cuing models of short-term remembering (Nairne, Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 53–81 2002), where the context in which retrieval occurs can influence susceptibility to interference. Lastly, we discuss several theoretical hypotheses concerning the cognitive control processes that are recruited to resolve SI and PI in short-term remembering. PMID:21327614

Time and interference: Effects on working memory.

PubMed

Botto, Marta; Palladino, Paola

2016-05-01

This study tested predictions from the time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model with a classical verbal working memory (WM) task, where target and non-target information interfere strongly with each other. Different predictions can be formulated according to the dominant perspectives (TBRS and interference hypothesis) on the role of inhibitory control in WM task performance. Here, we aimed to trace the activation of irrelevant information, examining priming effects in a lexical decision task immediately following WM recall. Results indicate the roles of both time and interference constraints in determining task performance. In particular, the role of time available seemed crucial at the highest WM loads (i.e., 3 and 4 memoranda). These were also associated with a higher activation of no-longer-relevant information but, in this case, independently from time available for processing. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Single Neurons in M1 and Premotor Cortex Directly Reflect Behavioral Interference

PubMed Central

Zach, Neta; Inbar, Dorrit; Grinvald, Yael; Vaadia, Eilon

2012-01-01

Some motor tasks, if learned together, interfere with each other's consolidation and subsequent retention, whereas other tasks do not. Interfering tasks are said to employ the same internal model whereas noninterfering tasks use different models. The division of function among internal models, as well as their possible neural substrates, are not well understood. To investigate these questions, we compared responses of single cells in the primary motor cortex and premotor cortex of primates to interfering and noninterfering tasks. The interfering tasks were visuomotor rotation followed by opposing visuomotor rotation. The noninterfering tasks were visuomotor rotation followed by an arbitrary association task. Learning two noninterfering tasks led to the simultaneous formation of neural activity typical of both tasks, at the level of single neurons. In contrast, and in accordance with behavioral results, after learning two interfering tasks, only the second task was successfully reflected in motor cortical single cell activity. These results support the hypothesis that the representational capacity of motor cortical cells is the basis of behavioral interference and division between internal models. PMID:22427923

Negative Priming Effect after Inhibition of Weight/Number Interference in a Piaget-Like Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schirlin, Olivier; Houde, Olivier

2007-01-01

Piagetian tasks have more to do with the child's ability to inhibit interference than they do with the ability to grasp their underlying logic. Here we used a chronometric paradigm with 11-year-olds, who succeed in Piaget's conservation-of-weight task, to test the role of cognitive inhibition in a priming version of this classical task. The…

When does reading dirty words impede picture processing? Taboo interference with verbal and manual responses.

PubMed

Mädebach, Andreas; Markuske, Anna-Maria; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2018-05-22

Picture naming takes longer in the presence of socially inappropriate (taboo) distractor words compared with neutral distractor words. Previous studies have attributed this taboo interference effect to increased attentional capture by taboo words or verbal self-monitoring-that is, control processes scrutinizing verbal responses before articulation. In this study, we investigated the cause and locus of the taboo interference effect by contrasting three tasks that used the same target pictures, but systematically differed with respect to the processing stages involved: picture naming (requiring conceptual processing, lexical processing, and articulation), phoneme decision (requiring conceptual and lexical processing), and natural size decision (requiring conceptual processing only). We observed taboo interference in picture naming and phoneme decision. In size decision, taboo interference was not reliably observed under the same task conditions in which the effect arose in picture naming and phoneme decision, but it emerged when the difficulty of the size decision task was increased by visually degrading the target pictures. Overall, these results suggest that taboo interference cannot be exclusively attributed to verbal self-monitoring operating over articulatory responses. Instead, taboo interference appears to arise already prior to articulatory preparation, during lexical processing and-at least with sufficiently high task difficulty-during prelexical processing stages.

Lateralized dual task interference in left-handers: initial value differences do not affect the outcome.

PubMed

McBride, D M; Cherry, B J; Kee, D W; Neale, P L

1995-07-01

The study was conducted to clarify factors involved in dual-task finger-tapping interference. Left-handers, as assessed by hand-writing preference and left-hand baseline tapping advantage, tapped both alone and while solving anagrams. Even though the left-hand baseline tapping advantage was experimentally removed on some (adjusted) trials, greater left- than right-hand tapping interference was observed during concurrent task performance. This result coupled with previous findings for right-handed subjects [Kee and Cherry, Neuropsychologia, Vol. 28, pp. 313-316, 1990] indicates that lateralized interference effects are not merely due to initial baseline tapping differences as proposed by Willis and Goodwin [Neuropsychologia, Vol. 25, pp. 719-724, 1987].

Persistency and flexibility of complex brain networks underlie dual-task interference.

PubMed

Alavash, Mohsen; Hilgetag, Claus C; Thiel, Christiane M; Gießing, Carsten

2015-09-01

Previous studies on multitasking suggest that performance decline during concurrent task processing arises from interfering brain modules. Here, we used graph-theoretical network analysis to define functional brain modules and relate the modular organization of complex brain networks to behavioral dual-task costs. Based on resting-state and task fMRI we explored two organizational aspects potentially associated with behavioral interference when human subjects performed a visuospatial and speech task simultaneously: the topological overlap between persistent single-task modules, and the flexibility of single-task modules in adaptation to the dual-task condition. Participants showed a significant decline in visuospatial accuracy in the dual-task compared with single visuospatial task. Global analysis of topological similarity between modules revealed that the overlap between single-task modules significantly correlated with the decline in visuospatial accuracy. Subjects with larger overlap between single-task modules showed higher behavioral interference. Furthermore, lower flexible reconfiguration of single-task modules in adaptation to the dual-task condition significantly correlated with larger decline in visuospatial accuracy. Subjects with lower modular flexibility showed higher behavioral interference. At the regional level, higher overlap between single-task modules and less modular flexibility in the somatomotor cortex positively correlated with the decline in visuospatial accuracy. Additionally, higher modular flexibility in cingulate and frontal control areas and lower flexibility in right-lateralized nodes comprising the middle occipital and superior temporal gyri supported dual-tasking. Our results suggest that persistency and flexibility of brain modules are important determinants of dual-task costs. We conclude that efficient dual-tasking benefits from a specific balance between flexibility and rigidity of functional brain modules. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Non-Interfering Effects of Active Post-Encoding Tasks on Episodic Memory Consolidation in Humans

PubMed Central

Varma, Samarth; Takashima, Atsuko; Krewinkel, Sander; van Kooten, Maaike; Fu, Lily; Medendorp, W. Pieter; Kessels, Roy P. C.; Daselaar, Sander M.

2017-01-01

So far, studies that investigated interference effects of post-learning processes on episodic memory consolidation in humans have used tasks involving only complex and meaningful information. Such tasks require reallocation of general or encoding-specific resources away from consolidation-relevant activities. The possibility that interference can be elicited using a task that heavily taxes our limited brain resources, but has low semantic and hippocampal related long-term memory processing demands, has never been tested. We address this question by investigating whether consolidation could persist in parallel with an active, encoding-irrelevant, minimally semantic task, regardless of its high resource demands for cognitive processing. We distinguish the impact of such a task on consolidation based on whether it engages resources that are: (1) general/executive, or (2) specific/overlapping with the encoding modality. Our experiments compared subsequent memory performance across two post-encoding consolidation periods: quiet wakeful rest and a cognitively demanding n-Back task. Across six different experiments (total N = 176), we carefully manipulated the design of the n-Back task to target general or specific resources engaged in the ongoing consolidation process. In contrast to previous studies that employed interference tasks involving conceptual stimuli and complex processing demands, we did not find any differences between n-Back and rest conditions on memory performance at delayed test, using both recall and recognition tests. Our results indicate that: (1) quiet, wakeful rest is not a necessary prerequisite for episodic memory consolidation; and (2) post-encoding cognitive engagement does not interfere with memory consolidation when task-performance has minimal semantic and hippocampally-based episodic memory processing demands. We discuss our findings with reference to resource and reactivation-led interference theories. PMID:28424596

Non-Interfering Effects of Active Post-Encoding Tasks on Episodic Memory Consolidation in Humans.

PubMed

Varma, Samarth; Takashima, Atsuko; Krewinkel, Sander; van Kooten, Maaike; Fu, Lily; Medendorp, W Pieter; Kessels, Roy P C; Daselaar, Sander M

2017-01-01

So far, studies that investigated interference effects of post-learning processes on episodic memory consolidation in humans have used tasks involving only complex and meaningful information. Such tasks require reallocation of general or encoding-specific resources away from consolidation-relevant activities. The possibility that interference can be elicited using a task that heavily taxes our limited brain resources, but has low semantic and hippocampal related long-term memory processing demands, has never been tested. We address this question by investigating whether consolidation could persist in parallel with an active, encoding-irrelevant, minimally semantic task, regardless of its high resource demands for cognitive processing. We distinguish the impact of such a task on consolidation based on whether it engages resources that are: (1) general/executive, or (2) specific/overlapping with the encoding modality. Our experiments compared subsequent memory performance across two post-encoding consolidation periods: quiet wakeful rest and a cognitively demanding n-Back task. Across six different experiments (total N = 176), we carefully manipulated the design of the n-Back task to target general or specific resources engaged in the ongoing consolidation process. In contrast to previous studies that employed interference tasks involving conceptual stimuli and complex processing demands, we did not find any differences between n-Back and rest conditions on memory performance at delayed test, using both recall and recognition tests. Our results indicate that: (1) quiet, wakeful rest is not a necessary prerequisite for episodic memory consolidation; and (2) post-encoding cognitive engagement does not interfere with memory consolidation when task-performance has minimal semantic and hippocampally-based episodic memory processing demands. We discuss our findings with reference to resource and reactivation-led interference theories.

Proactive and coactive interference in age-related performance in a recognition-based operation span task.

PubMed

Zeintl, Melanie; Kliegel, Matthias

2010-01-01

Generally, older adults perform worse than younger adults in complex working memory span tasks. So far, it is unclear which processes mainly contribute to age-related differences in working memory span. The aim of the present study was to investigate age effects and the roles of proactive and coactive interference in a recognition-based version of the operation span task. Younger and older adults performed standard versions and distracter versions of the operation span task. At retrieval, participants had to recognize target words in word lists containing targets as well as proactive and/or coactive interference-related lures. Results show that, overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the recognition of target words. Furthermore, analyses of error types indicate that, while younger adults were only affected by simultaneously presented distracter words, older adults had difficulties with both proactive and coactive interference. Results suggest that age effects in complex span tasks may not be mainly due to retrieval deficits in old age. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Sensory and motoric influences on attention dynamics during standing balance recovery in young and older adults.

PubMed

Redfern, Mark S; Chambers, April J; Jennings, J Richard; Furman, Joseph M

2017-08-01

This study investigated the impact of attention on the sensory and motor actions during postural recovery from underfoot perturbations in young and older adults. A dual-task paradigm was used involving disjunctive and choice reaction time (RT) tasks to auditory and visual stimuli at different delays from the onset of two types of platform perturbations (rotations and translations). The RTs were increased prior to the perturbation (preparation phase) and during the immediate recovery response (response initiation) in young and older adults, but this interference dissipated rapidly after the perturbation response was initiated (<220 ms). The sensory modality of the RT task impacted the results with interference being greater for the auditory task compared to the visual task. As motor complexity of the RT task increased (disjunctive versus choice) there was greater interference from the perturbation. Finally, increasing the complexity of the postural perturbation by mixing the rotational and translational perturbations together increased interference for the auditory RT tasks, but did not affect the visual RT responses. These results suggest that sensory and motoric components of postural control are under the influence of different dynamic attentional processes.

Language Proficiency and Executive Control in Proactive Interference: Evidence from Monolingual and Bilingual Children and Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bialystok, Ellen; Feng, Xiaojia

2009-01-01

Two studies are reported in which monolingual and bilingual children (Study 1) and adults (Study 2) completed a memory task involving proactive interference. In both cases, the bilinguals attained lower scores on a vocabulary test than monolinguals but performed the same on the proactive interference task. For the children, bilinguals made fewer…

A Test of Bayesian Observer Models of Processing in the Eriksen Flanker Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Corey N.; Brown, Scott; Ratcliff, Roger

2012-01-01

Two Bayesian observer models were recently proposed to account for data from the Eriksen flanker task, in which flanking items interfere with processing of a central target. One model assumes that interference stems from a perceptual bias to process nearby items as if they are compatible, and the other assumes that the interference is due to…

Computerized Testing Software for Assessing Interference Suppression in Children and Adults: The Bivalent Shape Task (BST)

PubMed Central

Mueller, Shane T.; Esposito, Alena G.

2015-01-01

We describe the Bivalent Shape Task (BST), software using the Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL), for testing of cognitive interference and the ability to suppress interference. The test is available via the GNU Public License, Version 3 (GPLv3), is freely modifiable, and has been tested on both children and adults and found to provide a simple and fast non-verbal measure of cognitive interference and suppression that requires no reading. PMID:26702358

Factors modulating the effect of divided attention during retrieval of words.

PubMed

Fernandes, Myra A; Moscovitch, Morris

2002-07-01

In this study, we examined variables modulating interference effects on episodic memory under divided attention conditions during retrieval for a list of unrelated words. In Experiment 1, we found that distracting tasks that required animacy or syllable decisions to visually presented words, without a memory load, produced large interference on free recall performance. In Experiment 2, a distracting task requiring phonemic decisions about nonsense words produced a far larger interference effect than one that required semantic decisions about pictures. In Experiment 3, we replicated the effect of the nonsense-word distracting task on memory and showed that an equally resource-demanding picture-based task produced significant interference with memory retrieval, although the effect was smaller in magnitude. Taken together, the results suggest that free recall is disrupted by competition for phonological or word-form representations during retrieval and, to a lesser extent, by competition for semantic representations.

Cognitive interference and a food-related memory bias in binge eating disorder.

PubMed

Svaldi, Jennifer; Schmitz, Florian; Trentowska, Monika; Tuschen-Caffier, Brunna; Berking, Matthias; Naumann, Eva

2014-01-01

The present study was concerned with cognitive interference and a specific memory bias for eating-related stimuli in binge eating disorder (BED). Further objectives were to find out under which circumstances such effects would occur, and whether they are related with each other and with reported severity of BED symptoms. A group of women diagnosed with BED and a matched sample of overweight controls completed two paradigms, an n-back task with lures and a recent-probes task. The BED group generally experienced more interference in the n-back task. Additionally, they revealed selectively increased interference for food items in the recent-probes task. Findings can be reconciled with the view that control functions are generally impaired in BED, and that there is an additional bias for eating-related stimuli, both of which were related with reported severity of BED symptoms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural mechanisms of proactive interference-resolution.

PubMed

Nee, Derek Evan; Jonides, John; Berman, Marc G

2007-12-01

The ability to mitigate interference from information that was previously relevant, but is no longer relevant, is central to successful cognition. Several studies have implicated left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) as a region tied to this ability, but it is unclear whether this result generalizes across different tasks. In addition, it has been suggested that left anterior prefrontal cortex (APFC) also plays a role in proactive interference-resolution although support for this claim has been limited. The present study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of these regions in resolving proactive-interference across two different tasks performed on the same subjects. Results indicate that both left VLPFC and left APFC are involved in the resolution of proactive interference across tasks. However, different functional networks related to each region suggest dissociable roles for the two regions. Additionally, regions of the posterior cingulate gyrus demonstrated unique involvement in facilitation when short- and long-term memory converged. This pattern of results serves to further specify models of proactive interference-resolution.

Bidirectional Interference between Speech and Nonspeech Tasks in Younger, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Dallin J.; Dromey, Christopher

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine divided attention over a large age range by looking at the effects of 3 nonspeech tasks on concurrent speech motor performance. The nonspeech tasks were designed to facilitate measurement of bidirectional interference, allowing examination of their sensitivity to speech activity. A cross-sectional…

Effects of nicotine on response inhibition and interference control.

PubMed

Ettinger, Ulrich; Faiola, Eliana; Kasparbauer, Anna-Maria; Petrovsky, Nadine; Chan, Raymond C K; Liepelt, Roman; Kumari, Veena

2017-04-01

Nicotine is a cholinergic agonist with known pro-cognitive effects in the domains of alerting and orienting attention. However, its effects on attentional top-down functions such as response inhibition and interference control are less well characterised. Here, we investigated the effects of 7 mg transdermal nicotine on performance on a battery of response inhibition and interference control tasks. A sample of N = 44 healthy adult non-smokers performed antisaccade, stop signal, Stroop, go/no-go, flanker, shape matching and Simon tasks, as well as the attentional network test (ANT) and a continuous performance task (CPT). Nicotine was administered in a within-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, with order of drug administration counterbalanced. Relative to placebo, nicotine led to significantly shorter reaction times on a prosaccade task and on CPT hits but did not significantly improve inhibitory or interference control performance on any task. Instead, nicotine had a negative influence in increasing the interference effect on the Simon task. Nicotine did not alter inter-individual associations between reaction times on congruent trials and error rates on incongruent trials on any task. Finally, there were effects involving order of drug administration, suggesting practice effects but also beneficial nicotine effects when the compound was administered first. Overall, our findings support previous studies showing positive effects of nicotine on basic attentional functions but do not provide direct evidence for an improvement of top-down cognitive control through acute administration of nicotine at this dose in healthy non-smokers.

The emotional counting Stroop: a task for assessing emotional interference during brain imaging.

PubMed

Whalen, Paul J; Bush, George; Shin, Lisa M; Rauch, Scott L

2006-01-01

The emotional counting Stroop (ecStroop) is an emotional variant of the counting Stroop. Both of these tasks require a motor response instead of a spoken response for the purpose of minimizing head movement during functional MRI (fMRI). During this task, subjects report, by button press, the number of words (1-4) that appear on a screen, regardless of word meaning. Neutral word-control trials contain common words (e.g., 'cabinet' written three times), while interference trials contain emotional words (e.g., 'murder' written three times). The degree to which this task represents a true 'Stroop' interference task, in the sense that emotional words will increase motor-response times compared with neutral words, depends upon the subjects of the study and the words that are presented. Much research on the emotional Stroop task demonstrates that interference effects are observed in psychopathological groups in response to words that are specific to their disorder, and in normal subjects when the words are related to current concerns endorsed by them. The ecStroop task described here will produce reaction time-interference effects that are comparable to the traditional color-naming emotional Stroop. This protocol can be completed in approximately 20 min per subject. The protocol described here employs neutral words and emotional words that include general-negative words, as well as words specific to combat-related trauma. However, this protocol is amenable to any emotional word lists.

Event-related potential evidence for separable automatic and controlled retrieval processes in proactive interference.

PubMed

Bergström, Zara M; O'Connor, Richard J; Li, Martin K-H; Simons, Jon S

2012-05-21

Interference between competing memories is a major source of retrieval failure, yet, surprisingly little is known about how competitive memory activation arises in the brain. One possibility is that interference during episodic retrieval might be produced by relatively automatic conceptual priming mechanisms that are independent of strategic retrieval processes. Such priming-driven interference might occur when the competing memories have strong pre-existing associations to the retrieval cue. We used ERPs to measure the neural dynamics of retrieval competition, and investigated whether the ERP correlates of interference were affected by varying task demands for selective retrieval. Participants encoded cue words that were presented either two or four times, paired either with the same or different strongly associated words across repetitions. In a subsequent test, participants either selectively recalled each cue's most recent associate, or simply judged how many times a cue had been presented, without requiring selective recall. Interference effects on test performance were only seen in the recall task. In contrast, ERPs during test revealed an early posterior positivity for high interference items that was present in both retrieval tasks. This early ERP effect likely reflects a conceptual priming-related N400 reduction when many associations to a cue were pre-activated. A later parietal positivity resembling the ERP correlate of conscious recollection was found only in the recall task. The results suggest that early effects of proactive interference are relatively automatic and independent of intentional retrieval processes, consistent with suggestions that interference can arise through conceptual priming. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Domain-Specific Interference Tests on Navigational Working Memory in Military Pilots.

PubMed

Verde, Paola; Boccia, Maddalena; Colangeli, Stefano; Barbetti, Sonia; Nori, Raffaella; Ferlazzo, Fabio; Piccolo, Francesco; Vitalone, Roberto; Lucertini, Elena; Piccardi, Laura

2016-06-01

Human navigation is a very complex ability that encompasses all four stages of human information processing (sensory input, perception/cognition, selection, and execution of an action), involving both cognitive and physical requirements. During flight, the pilot uses all of these stages and one of the most critical aspect is interference. In fact, spatial tasks competing for the same cognitive resource cause greater distraction from a concurrent task than another task that uses different resource modalities. Here we compared and contrasted the performance of pilots and nonpilots of both genders performing increasingly complex navigational memory tasks while exposed to various forms of interference. We investigated the effects of four different sources of interference: motor, spatial motor, verbal, and spatial environment, focusing on gender differences. We found that flight experts perform better than controls (Pilots: 6.50 ± 1.29; Nonpilots: 5.45 ± 1.41). Furthermore, in the general population, navigational working memory is compromised only by spatial environmental interference (Nonpilots: 4.52 ± 1.50); female nonpilots were less able than male nonpilots. Also, the flight expert group showed the same interference, even if reduced (Pilots: 5.24 ± 0.92); moreover, we highlighted a complete absence of gender-related effects. Spatial environmental interference is the only interference producing a decrease in performance. Nevertheless, pilots are less affected than the general population. This is probably a consequence of the need to commit substantial cognitive resources to process spatial information during flight.

Individual differences in emotionality and peri-traumatic processing.

PubMed

Logan, Shanna; O'Kearney, Richard

2012-06-01

Recent cognitive models propose that intrusive trauma memories arise and persist because high levels of emotional arousal triggered by the trauma disrupt conceptual processing of elements of the event, while enhancing sensory/perceptual processing. A trauma film analogue design was used to investigate if the predicted facilitating effects on intrusions from inhibiting conceptual processing and predicted attenuating effects on intrusions from inhibiting sensory processing are moderated by individual differences in emotionality. One hundred and five non-clinical participants viewed a traumatic film while undertaking a conceptual interference task, a sensory interference task, or no interference task. Participants recorded the frequency and intensity of intrusions over the following week. There was no facilitating effect for the conceptual interference task compared to no interference task. A significant attenuation of the frequency of intrusions was evident for those undertaking sensory interference (ŋ(2) = .04). This effect, however, was only present for those with high trait anxiety (d = .82) and not for those with low trait anxiety (d = .08). Relative to high trait anxious controls, high anxious participants who undertook sensory interference also reported lower intensity of intrusions (d = .66). This is the first trauma film analogue study to show that the attenuating effect of concurrent sensory/perceptual processing on the frequency and intensity of subsequent intrusions is evident only for people with high trait anxiety. The results have implications for conceptual models of intrusion development and for their application to the prevention of post traumatic distress. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reduced Stroop Interference for Opponent Colors May Be Due to Input Factors: Evidence from Individual Differences and a Neural Network Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laeng, Bruno; Torstein, Lag; Brennen, Tim

2005-01-01

Sensory or input factors can influence the strength of interference in the classic Stroop color-word task. Specifically, in a single-trial computerized version of the Stroop task, when color-word pairs were incongruent, opponent color pairs (e.g., the word BLUE in yellow) showed reduced Stroop interference compared with nonopponent color pairs…

Distractor Modality Can Turn Semantic Interference into Semantic Facilitation in the Picture-Word Interference Task: Implications for Theories of Lexical Access in Speech Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hantsch, Ansgar; Jescheniak, Jorg D.; Schriefers, Herbert

2009-01-01

A number of recent studies have questioned the idea that lexical selection during speech production is a competitive process. One type of evidence against selection by competition is the observation that in the picture-word interference task semantically related distractors may facilitate the naming of a picture, whereas the selection by…

Interference effects between memory systems in the acquisition of a skill.

PubMed

Gagné, Marie-Hélène; Cohen, Henri

2016-10-01

There is now converging evidence that the declarative memory system (hippocampus dependent) contributes to sequential motor learning in concert with the procedural memory system (striatum dependent). Because of the competition for shared neuronal resources, introducing a declarative memory task can impair learning of a new motor sequence and interference may occur during the procedural consolidation process. Here, we investigated the extent to which interference effects between memory systems are seen at the retrieval phase of skill learning. Healthy participants were assigned to a control (n = 15) or a declarative condition (n = 15) and trained on a sequence of finger movements (FOS task). Both groups showed similar improvement at the end of the practice session on the first day. Twenty-four hours later, controls were tested solely on the FOS task, while subjects in the declarative condition first engaged in a visuospatial task. Additional offline gains in performance were observed only in the control condition. The introduction of a visuospatial memory task just before retrieval of the motor skill was sufficient to eliminate these gains. This suggests that interference between procedural and declarative memory systems may also occur during subsequent motor recall. It is proposed that the interference effects are linked, in part, to the spatial nature of the motor and declarative tasks, which specifically depends upon hippocampal involvement.

Memory consolidation and contextual interference effects with computer games.

PubMed

Shewokis, Patricia A

2003-10-01

Some investigators of the contextual interference effect contend that there is a direct relation between the amount of practice and the contextual interference effect based on the prediction that the improvement in learning tasks in a random practice schedule, compared to a blocked practice schedule, increases in magnitude as the amount of practice during acquisition on the tasks increases. Research using computer games in contextual interference studies has yielded a large effect (f = .50) with a random practice schedule advantage during transfer. These investigations had a total of 36 and 72 acquisition trials, respectively. The present study tested this prediction by having 72 college students, who were randomly assigned to a blocked or random practice schedule, practice 102 trials of three computer-game tasks across three days. After a 24-hr. interval, 6 retention and 5 transfer trials were performed. Dependent variables were time to complete an event in seconds and number of errors. No significant differences were found for retention and transfer. These results are discussed in terms of how the amount of practice, task-related factors, and memory consolidation mediate the contextual interference effect.

Free recall and outdoor running: cognitive and physical demand interference.

PubMed

Epling, Samantha L; Blakely, Megan J; Russell, Paul N; Helton, William S

2016-10-01

Cognitive resource theory is a proposed explanation for people's limited ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Reallocation of a restricted supply of cognitive resources to two or more tasks may be detrimental to performance on one or both tasks. Many professionals in high-risk fields, such as those engaged in firefighting, military, and search and rescue missions, face simultaneous mental and physical demands, yet little is known about the resources required to move over the natural terrain these operators may encounter. In the present research, we investigated whether interference was found between outdoor running and a word recall task. As hypothesized, a reduction in word recall was observed in the dual task compared to a recall-alone task; however, the distance run was not significantly different between the dual task and the run-alone task. Subjective reports of workload, task focus, and being "spent" (measures calculated from responses on a questionnaire) were greatest in the dual task. These results support the cognitive resource theory and have important theoretical and practical implications. Further research is required to better understand the type and extent of cognitive resources required by such physical tasks and the potential interference with simultaneous mental tasks.

Explicit attention interferes with selective emotion processing in human extrastriate cortex.

PubMed

Schupp, Harald T; Stockburger, Jessica; Bublatzky, Florian; Junghöfer, Markus; Weike, Almut I; Hamm, Alfons O

2007-02-22

Brain imaging and event-related potential studies provide strong evidence that emotional stimuli guide selective attention in visual processing. A reflection of the emotional attention capture is the increased Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) for pleasant and unpleasant compared to neutral images (approximately 150-300 ms poststimulus). The present study explored whether this early emotion discrimination reflects an automatic phenomenon or is subject to interference by competing processing demands. Thus, emotional processing was assessed while participants performed a concurrent feature-based attention task varying in processing demands. Participants successfully performed the primary visual attention task as revealed by behavioral performance and selected event-related potential components (Selection Negativity and P3b). Replicating previous results, emotional modulation of the EPN was observed in a task condition with low processing demands. In contrast, pleasant and unpleasant pictures failed to elicit increased EPN amplitudes compared to neutral images in more difficult explicit attention task conditions. Further analyses determined that even the processing of pleasant and unpleasant pictures high in emotional arousal is subject to interference in experimental conditions with high task demand. Taken together, performing demanding feature-based counting tasks interfered with differential emotion processing indexed by the EPN. The present findings demonstrate that taxing processing resources by a competing primary visual attention task markedly attenuated the early discrimination of emotional from neutral picture contents. Thus, these results provide further empirical support for an interference account of the emotion-attention interaction under conditions of competition. Previous studies revealed the interference of selective emotion processing when attentional resources were directed to locations of explicitly task-relevant stimuli. The present data suggest that interference of emotion processing by competing task demands is a more general phenomenon extending to the domain of feature-based attention. Furthermore, the results are inconsistent with the notion of effortlessness, i.e., early emotion discrimination despite concurrent task demands. These findings implicate to assess the presumed automatic nature of emotion processing at the level of specific aspects rather than considering automaticity as an all-or-none phenomenon.

Explicit attention interferes with selective emotion processing in human extrastriate cortex

PubMed Central

Schupp, Harald T; Stockburger, Jessica; Bublatzky, Florian; Junghöfer, Markus; Weike, Almut I; Hamm, Alfons O

2007-01-01

Background Brain imaging and event-related potential studies provide strong evidence that emotional stimuli guide selective attention in visual processing. A reflection of the emotional attention capture is the increased Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) for pleasant and unpleasant compared to neutral images (~150–300 ms poststimulus). The present study explored whether this early emotion discrimination reflects an automatic phenomenon or is subject to interference by competing processing demands. Thus, emotional processing was assessed while participants performed a concurrent feature-based attention task varying in processing demands. Results Participants successfully performed the primary visual attention task as revealed by behavioral performance and selected event-related potential components (Selection Negativity and P3b). Replicating previous results, emotional modulation of the EPN was observed in a task condition with low processing demands. In contrast, pleasant and unpleasant pictures failed to elicit increased EPN amplitudes compared to neutral images in more difficult explicit attention task conditions. Further analyses determined that even the processing of pleasant and unpleasant pictures high in emotional arousal is subject to interference in experimental conditions with high task demand. Taken together, performing demanding feature-based counting tasks interfered with differential emotion processing indexed by the EPN. Conclusion The present findings demonstrate that taxing processing resources by a competing primary visual attention task markedly attenuated the early discrimination of emotional from neutral picture contents. Thus, these results provide further empirical support for an interference account of the emotion-attention interaction under conditions of competition. Previous studies revealed the interference of selective emotion processing when attentional resources were directed to locations of explicitly task-relevant stimuli. The present data suggest that interference of emotion processing by competing task demands is a more general phenomenon extending to the domain of feature-based attention. Furthermore, the results are inconsistent with the notion of effortlessness, i.e., early emotion discrimination despite concurrent task demands. These findings implicate to assess the presumed automatic nature of emotion processing at the level of specific aspects rather than considering automaticity as an all-or-none phenomenon. PMID:17316444

Emotional task management: neural correlates of switching between affective and non-affective task-sets

PubMed Central

Reeck, Crystal

2015-01-01

Although task-switching has been investigated extensively, its interaction with emotionally salient task content remains unclear. Prioritized processing of affective stimulus content may enhance accessibility of affective task-sets and generate increased interference when switching between affective and non-affective task-sets. Previous research has demonstrated that more dominant task-sets experience greater switch costs, as they necessitate active inhibition during performance of less entrenched tasks. Extending this logic to the affective domain, the present experiment examined (a) whether affective task-sets are more dominant than non-affective ones, and (b) what neural mechanisms regulate affective task-sets, so that weaker, non-affective task-sets can be executed. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants categorized face stimuli according to either their gender (non-affective task) or their emotional expression (affective task). Behavioral results were consistent with the affective task dominance hypothesis: participants were slower to switch to the affective task, and cross-task interference was strongest when participants tried to switch from the affective to the non-affective task. These behavioral costs of controlling the affective task-set were mirrored in the activation of a right-lateralized frontostriatal network previously implicated in task-set updating and response inhibition. Connectivity between amygdala and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was especially pronounced during cross-task interference from affective features. PMID:25552571

The effects of trait impulsivity on proactive and reactive interference control.

PubMed

Xiang, Ling; Chen, Yan; Chen, Antao; Zhang, Fenghua; Xu, Fuming; Wang, Baoxi

2018-02-01

The current study used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to explore whether self-reported trait impulsivity in healthy individuals might be differentially related to proactive and reactive interference control. Participants with high and low impulsivity (HI and LI, respectively) performed a modified version of the prime-target interference task. Proactive interference control was induced in the mostly incongruent (MI) context and reactive interference control was induced in the mostly congruent (MC) context. Although the behavioral data revealed no difference between HI and LI individuals in terms of the interference effects (incongruent - congruent) under both contexts, the ERP results showed that impulsivity has a different influence on the interference effects under different task contexts. In the MC context, the interference effects on the medial frontal negativity (MFN) and the negative sustained potential (N-SP) were greater, while that on the positive sustained potential (P-SP) were smaller in the HI compared to those in the LI group. This suggests that high levels of impulsivity might be associated with a reduced efficiency of the processes supporting reactive control to resolve interference when interference is not expected. In contrast, the three ERP indices (MFN, P-SP, and N-SP) of interference processing in the MI context were insensitive to variations in impulsivity. This suggests that HI individuals might be as effective as LI individuals in recruiting proactive control for sustained active maintenance of task goals to anticipate and prevent interference throughout the experimental blocks where interference occurs frequently. In conclusion, these results indicate that impulsivity has a more negative influence on reactive interference control than on proactive interference control. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Beyond a mask and against the bottleneck: retroactive dual-task interference during working memory consolidation of a masked visual target.

PubMed

Nieuwenstein, Mark; Wyble, Brad

2014-06-01

While studies on visual memory commonly assume that the consolidation of a visual stimulus into working memory is interrupted by a trailing mask, studies on dual-task interference suggest that the consolidation of a stimulus can continue for several hundred milliseconds after a mask. As a result, estimates of the time course of working memory consolidation differ more than an order of magnitude. Here, we contrasted these opposing views by examining if and for how long the processing of a masked display of visual stimuli can be disturbed by a trailing 2-alternative forced choice task (2-AFC; a color discrimination task or a visual or auditory parity judgment task). The results showed that the presence of the 2-AFC task produced a pronounced retroactive interference effect that dissipated across stimulus onset asynchronies of 250-1,000 ms, indicating that the processing elicited by the 2-AFC task interfered with the gradual consolidation of the earlier shown stimuli. Furthermore, this interference effect occurred regardless of whether the to-be-remembered stimuli comprised a string of letters or an unfamiliar complex visual shape, and it occurred regardless of whether these stimuli were masked. Conversely, the interference effect was reduced when the memory load for the 1st task was reduced, or when the 2nd task was a color detection task that did not require decision making. Taken together, these findings show that the formation of a durable and consciously accessible working memory trace for a briefly shown visual stimulus can be disturbed by a trailing 2-AFC task for up to several hundred milliseconds after the stimulus has been masked. By implication, the current findings challenge the common view that working memory consolidation involves an immutable central processing bottleneck, and they also make clear that consolidation does not stop when a stimulus is masked. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Task switching in video game players: Benefits of selective attention but not resistance to proactive interference.

PubMed

Karle, James W; Watter, Scott; Shedden, Judith M

2010-05-01

Research into the perceptual and cognitive effects of playing video games is an area of increasing interest for many investigators. Over the past decade, expert video game players (VGPs) have been shown to display superior performance compared to non-video game players (nVGPs) on a range of visuospatial and attentional tasks. A benefit of video game expertise has recently been shown for task switching, suggesting that VGPs also have superior cognitive control abilities compared to nVGPs. In two experiments, we examined which aspects of task switching performance this VGP benefit may be localized to. With minimal trial-to-trial interference from minimally overlapping task set rules, VGPs demonstrated a task switching benefit compared to nVGPs. However, this benefit disappeared when proactive interference between tasks was increased, with substantial stimulus and response overlap in task set rules. We suggest that VGPs have no generalized benefit in task switching-related cognitive control processes compared to nVGPs, with switch cost reductions due instead to a specific benefit in controlling selective attention. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interference Control in Preschoolers: Factors Influencing Performance on the Day-Night Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, Derek E.; Anderson, Maren; Uhl, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Two experiments investigated preschoolers' interference control in variants of the day-night task. The day-night task involves instructing children across 16 trials to say the word "day" when viewing a card depicting a nighttime sky and to say "night" when shown a picture of the daytime sky. The purpose of the experiments was to investigate…

Remote sensing frequency sharing studies, tasks 1, 2, 5, and 6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyd, Douglas; Tillotson, Tom

1986-01-01

The following tasks are discussed: adjacent and harmonic band analysis; analysis of impact of sensor resolution on interference; development of performance criteria, interference criteria, sharing criteria, and coordination criteria; and spectrum engineering for NASA microwave sensor projects.

Neuroticism influences pupillary responses during an emotional interference task.

PubMed

Prehn, Kristin; Heekeren, Hauke R; Blasek, Katharina; Lapschies, Katharina; Mews, Isabella; van der Meer, Elke

2008-10-01

We used behavioral and pupillary measures during an analogical reasoning task to investigate the processing of conceptual and emotional relations as well as their interaction. In particular, we examined how mental resource consumption is modulated by individual differences in neuroticism in healthy participants during conditions with emotional interference. Two word pairs were presented simultaneously, each with a conceptual and an emotional relation. In one experimental block, participants had to decide whether conceptual relations between the two word pairs were corresponding (conceptual task). In the other block, participants had to decide whether emotional relations were corresponding (emotional task). When participants had to focus on the correspondence of emotional relations, they were faster, more accurate, and showed greater pupillary responses than during the conceptual task. Moreover, participants with comparably higher neuroticism scores showed increased pupillary responses during conditions with emotional interference (i.e., during the conceptual task when they had to ignore incongruent information on the correspondence provided by the task-irrelevant emotional relations). These results demonstrate that affective aspects of stimuli (here: emotional relations) are preferentially selected for information processing. Moreover, increased mental resource consumption due to emotional interference in participants with comparably higher neuroticism scores might reflect a possible mechanism making these individuals more vulnerable to mood or anxiety disorders.

Interference Control In Elderly Bilinguals: Appearances Can Be Misleading.

PubMed

Ansaldo, Ana Inés; Ghazi-Saidi, Ladan; Adrover-Roig, Daniel

2015-01-01

Bilingualism has been associated with successful aging. In particular, research on the cognitive advantages of bilingualism suggests that it can enhance control over interference and help delay the onset of dementia signs. However, the evidence on the so-called cognitive advantage is not unanimous; furthermore, little is known about the neural basis of this supposed cognitive advantage in bilingual as opposed to monolingual elderly populations. In this study, elderly bilingual and monolingual participants performed a visuospatial interference control task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Response times and accuracy rates were calculated for congruent and incongruent conditions of the Simon task, and the neurofunctional correlates of performance on the Simon task were examined. The results showed equivalent performance on the Simon task across groups but different underlying neural substrates in the two groups. With incongruent trials, monolinguals activated the right middle frontal gyrus, whereas bilinguals relied upon the left inferior parietal lobule. These results show that elderly bilinguals and monolinguals have equivalent interference control abilities, but relay on different neural substrates. Thus, while monolinguals show a classical PASA (posterior-anterior shift in aging) effect, recruiting frontal areas, bilinguals activate visuospatial processing alone and thus do not show this posterior-anterior shift. Moreover, a modulation of frontal activity with task-dynamic control of interference, observed in the elderly bilingual group alone, suggests that elderly bilinguals deal with interference control without recruiting a circuit that is particularly vulnerable to aging.

What Klein's "Semantic Gradient" Does and Does Not Really Show: Decomposing Stroop Interference into Task and Informational Conflict Components.

PubMed

Levin, Yulia; Tzelgov, Joseph

2016-01-01

The present study suggests that the idea that Stroop interference originates from multiple components may gain theoretically from integrating two independent frameworks. The first framework is represented by the well-known notion of "semantic gradient" of interference and the second one is the distinction between two types of conflict - the task and the informational conflict - giving rise to the interference (MacLeod and MacDonald, 2000; Goldfarb and Henik, 2007). The proposed integration led to the conclusion that two (i.e., orthographic and lexical components) of the four theoretically distinct components represent task conflict, and the other two (i.e., indirect and direct informational conflict components) represent informational conflict. The four components were independently estimated in a series of experiments. The results confirmed the contribution of task conflict (estimated by a robust orthographic component) and of informational conflict (estimated by a strong direct informational conflict component) to Stroop interference. However, the performed critical review of the relevant literature (see General Discussion), as well as the results of the experiments reported, showed that the other two components expressing each type of conflict (i.e., the lexical component of task conflict and the indirect informational conflict) were small and unstable. The present analysis refines our knowledge of the origins of Stroop interference by providing evidence that each type of conflict has its major and minor contributions. The implications for cognitive control of an automatic reading process are also discussed.

What Klein’s “Semantic Gradient” Does and Does Not Really Show: Decomposing Stroop Interference into Task and Informational Conflict Components

PubMed Central

Levin, Yulia; Tzelgov, Joseph

2016-01-01

The present study suggests that the idea that Stroop interference originates from multiple components may gain theoretically from integrating two independent frameworks. The first framework is represented by the well-known notion of “semantic gradient” of interference and the second one is the distinction between two types of conflict – the task and the informational conflict – giving rise to the interference (MacLeod and MacDonald, 2000; Goldfarb and Henik, 2007). The proposed integration led to the conclusion that two (i.e., orthographic and lexical components) of the four theoretically distinct components represent task conflict, and the other two (i.e., indirect and direct informational conflict components) represent informational conflict. The four components were independently estimated in a series of experiments. The results confirmed the contribution of task conflict (estimated by a robust orthographic component) and of informational conflict (estimated by a strong direct informational conflict component) to Stroop interference. However, the performed critical review of the relevant literature (see General Discussion), as well as the results of the experiments reported, showed that the other two components expressing each type of conflict (i.e., the lexical component of task conflict and the indirect informational conflict) were small and unstable. The present analysis refines our knowledge of the origins of Stroop interference by providing evidence that each type of conflict has its major and minor contributions. The implications for cognitive control of an automatic reading process are also discussed. PMID:26955363

A Cognitive Framework for Understanding and Improving Interference Resolution in the Brain

PubMed Central

Mishra, Jyoti; Anguera, Joaquin A.; Ziegler, David A.; Gazzaley, Adam

2014-01-01

All of us are familiar with the negative impact of interference on achieving our task goals. We are referring to interference by information, which either impinges on our senses from an external environmental source or is internally generated by our thoughts. Informed by more than a decade of research on the cognitive and neural processing of interference, we have developed a framework for understanding how interference impacts our neural systems and especially how it is regulated and suppressed during efficient on-task performance. Importantly, externally and internally generated interferences have distinct neural signatures, and further, distinct neural processing emerges depending on whether individuals must ignore and suppress the interference, as for distractions, or engage with them in a secondary task, as during multitasking. Here, we elaborate on this cognitive framework and how it changes throughout the human lifespan, focusing mostly on research evidence from younger adults and comparing these findings to data from older adults, children, and cognitively impaired populations. With insights gleaned from our growing understanding, we then describe three novel translational efforts in our lab directed at improving distinct aspects of interference resolution using cognitive training. Critically, these training approaches were specifically developed to target improved interference resolution based on neuroplasticity principles and have shown much success in randomized controlled first version evaluations in healthy aging. Our results show not only on-task training improvements but also robust generalization of benefit to other cognitive control abilities. This research showcases how an in-depth understanding of neural mechanisms can then inform the development of effective deficit-targeted interventions, which can in turn benefit both healthy and cognitively impaired populations. PMID:24309262

Long-term habitual physical activity is associated with lower distractibility in a Stroop interference task in aging: Behavioral and ERP evidence.

PubMed

Gajewski, Patrick D; Falkenstein, Michael

2015-08-01

Aging is associated with compromised executive control functions. Several lines of evidence point to beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition which indicate that regular physical activity may counteract the age-related decline of some executive functions. Here, we investigate the effects of lifelong physical activity (about 50 years) on interference processing in two matched groups of 20 physically high active and 20 low active healthy older men using event-related potentials (ERPs). In a low interference block of the Stroop task, participants had to indicate the meaning of color-words, while color was either compatible or incompatible with the meaning. In the high interference block, participants were asked to respond according to the ink color of the word and to ignore its meaning. Physically active seniors showed faster reaction times, lower individual variability in reaction times, and higher accuracy compared to low active seniors, particularly in the high interference block. This result was confirmed in the classic paper-and-pencil version of the Stroop task showing higher interference score in the low active than high active individuals. ERPs revealed a shorter latency of the P2 and generally more negative amplitudes of the fronto-central N2 and N450 components in the high active group compared to the low active group. The amount of interference was negatively correlated with objectively measured fitness and self-reported physical activity. The positive effect of physical fitness on interference processing in the behavioral data was related to N2 and N450 amplitudes. Taken together, this suggests that seniors reporting long-term physical activity may exhibit generally enhanced activity in the frontal cortex which enables more efficient interference resolution in the Stroop task. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lexical selection in the semantically blocked cyclic naming task: the role of cognitive control and learning

PubMed Central

Crowther, Jason E.; Martin, Randi C.

2014-01-01

Studies of semantic interference in language production have provided evidence for a role of cognitive control mechanisms in regulating the activation of semantic competitors during naming. The present study investigated the relationship between individual differences in cognitive control abilities, for both younger and older adults, and the degree of semantic interference in a blocked cyclic naming task. We predicted that individuals with lower working memory capacity (as measured by word span), lesser ability to inhibit distracting responses (as measured by Stroop interference), and a lesser ability to resolve proactive interference (as measured by a recent negatives task) would show a greater increase in semantic interference in naming, with effects being larger for older adults. Instead, measures of cognitive control were found to relate to specific indices of semantic interference in the naming task, rather than overall degree of semantic interference, and few interactions with age were found, with younger and older adults performing similarly. The increase in naming latencies across naming trials within a cycle was negatively correlated with word span for both related and unrelated conditions, suggesting a strategy of narrowing response alternatives based upon memory for the set of item names. Evidence for a role of inhibition in response selection was obtained, as Stroop interference correlated positively with the change in naming latencies across cycles for the related, but not unrelated, condition. In contrast, recent negatives interference correlated negatively with the change in naming latencies across unrelated cycles, suggesting that individual differences in this tap the degree of strengthening of links in a lexical network based upon prior exposure. Results are discussed in terms of current models of lexical selection and consequences for word retrieval in more naturalistic production. PMID:24478675

Working Memory Capacity in a Go/No-Go Task: Age Differences in Interference, Processing Speed, and Attentional Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodríguez-Villagra, Odir Antonio; Göthe, Katrin; Oberauer, Klaus; Kliegl, Reinhold

2013-01-01

We tested the limits of working-memory capacity (WMC) of young adults, old adults, and children with a memory-updating task. The task consisted of mentally shifting spatial positions within a grid according to arrows, their color signaling either only go (control) or go/no-go conditions. The interference model (IM) of Oberauer and Kliegl (2006)…

The Influence of Stimulus Discriminability on Young Children's Interference Control in the Stroop-Like Happy-Sad Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bluell, Alexandra M.; Montgomery, Derek E.

2014-01-01

The day-night paradigm, where children respond to a pair of pictures with opposite labels for a series of trials, is a widely used measure of interference control. Recent research has shown that a happy-sad variant of the day-night task was significantly more difficult than the standard day-night task. The present research examined whether the…

Visual scanning with or without spatial uncertainty and time-sharing performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Yili; Wickens, Christopher D.

1989-01-01

An experiment is reported that examines the pattern of task interference between visual scanning as a sequential and selective attention process and other concurrent spatial or verbal processing tasks. A distinction is proposed between visual scanning with or without spatial uncertainty regarding the possible differential effects of these two types of scanning on interference with other concurrent processes. The experiment required the subject to perform a simulated primary tracking task, which was time-shared with a secondary spatial or verbal decision task. The relevant information that was needed to perform the decision tasks were displayed with or without spatial uncertainty. The experiment employed a 2 x 2 x 2 design with types of scanning (with or without spatial uncertainty), expected scanning distance (low/high), and codes of concurrent processing (spatial/verbal) as the three experimental factors. The results provide strong evidence that visual scanning as a spatial exploratory activity produces greater task interference with concurrent spatial tasks than with concurrent verbal tasks. Furthermore, spatial uncertainty in visual scanning is identified to be the crucial factor in producing this differential effect.

Inharmonic music elicits more negative affect and interferes more with a concurrent cognitive task than does harmonic music.

PubMed

Bonin, Tanor; Smilek, Daniel

2016-04-01

We evaluated whether task-irrelevant inharmonic music produces greater interference with cognitive performance than task-irrelevant harmonic music. Participants completed either an auditory (Experiment 1) or a visual (Experiment 2) version of the cognitively demanding 2-back task in which they were required to categorize each digit in a sequence of digits as either being a target (a digit also presented two positions earlier in the sequence) or a distractor (all other items). They were concurrently exposed to either task-irrelevant harmonic music (judged to be consonant), task-irrelevant inharmonic music (judged to be dissonant), or no music at all as a distraction. The main finding across both experiments was that performance on the 2-back task was worse when participants were exposed to inharmonic music than when they were exposed to harmonic music. Interestingly, performance on the 2-back task was generally the same regardless of whether harmonic music or no music was played. We suggest that inharmonic, dissonant music interferes with cognitive performance by requiring greater cognitive processing than harmonic, consonant music, and speculate about why this might be.

Reducing involuntary memory by interfering consolidation of stressful auditory information: A pilot study.

PubMed

Tabrizi, Fara; Jansson, Billy

2016-03-01

Intrusive emotional memories were induced by aversive auditory stimuli and modulated with cognitive tasks performed post-encoding (i.e., during consolidation). A between-subjects design was used with four conditions; three consolidation-interference tasks (a visuospatial and two verbal interference tasks) and a no-task control condition. Forty-one participants listened to a soundtrack depicting traumatic scenes (e.g., police brutality, torture and rape). Immediately after listening to the soundtrack, the subjects completed a randomly assigned task for 10 min. Intrusions from the soundtrack were reported in a diary during the following seven-day period. In line with a modality-specific approach to intrusion modulation, auditory intrusions were reduced by verbal tasks compared to both a no-task and a visuospatial interference task.. The study did not control for individual differences in imagery ability which may be a feature in intrusion development. The results provide an increased understanding of how intrusive mental images can be modulated which may have implications for preventive treatment.. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of training on the attentional blink and psychological refractory period.

PubMed

Garner, K G; Tombu, M N; Dux, P E

2014-05-01

A growing body of research suggests that dual-task interference in sensory consolidation (e.g., the attentional blink, AB) and response selection (e.g., the psychological refractory period, PRP) stems from a common central bottleneck of information processing. With regard to response selection, it is well known that training reduces dual-task interference. We tested whether training that is known to be effective for response selection can also reduce dual-task interference in sensory consolidation. Over two experiments, performance on a PRP paradigm (Exp. 1) and on AB paradigms (differing in their stimuli and task demands, Exps. 1 and 2) was examined after participants had completed a relevant training regimen (T1 practice for both paradigms), an irrelevant training regimen (comparable sensorimotor training, not related to T1 for both tasks), a visual-search training regimen (Exp. 2 only), or after participants had been allocated to a no-training control group. Training that had shown to be effective for reducing dual-task interference in response selection was also found to be effective for reducing interference in sensory consolidation. In addition, we found some evidence that training benefits transferred to the sensory consolidation of untrained stimuli. Collectively, these findings show that training benefits can transfer across cognitive operations that draw on the central bottleneck in information processing. These findings have implications for theories of the AB and for the design of cognitive-training regimens that aim to produce transferable training benefits.

Neural mechanisms of interference control in working memory capacity.

PubMed

Bomyea, Jessica; Taylor, Charles T; Spadoni, Andrea D; Simmons, Alan N

2018-02-01

The extent to which one can use cognitive resources to keep information in working memory is known to rely on (1) active maintenance of target representations and (2) downregulation of interference from irrelevant representations. Neurobiologically, the global capacity of working memory is thought to depend on the prefrontal and parietal cortices; however, the neural mechanisms involved in controlling interference specifically in working memory capacity tasks remain understudied. In this study, 22 healthy participants completed a modified complex working memory capacity task (Reading Span) with trials of varying levels of interference control demands while undergoing functional MRI. Neural activity associated with interference control demands was examined separately during encoding and recall phases of the task. Results suggested a widespread network of regions in the prefrontal, parietal, and occipital cortices, and the cingulate and cerebellum associated with encoding, and parietal and occipital regions associated with recall. Results align with prior findings emphasizing the importance of frontoparietal circuits for working memory performance, including the role of the inferior frontal gyrus, cingulate, occipital cortex, and cerebellum in regulation of interference demands. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Inhibitory Control as a Moderator of Threat-related Interference Biases in Social Anxiety

PubMed Central

Gorlin, Eugenia I.; Teachman, Bethany A.

2014-01-01

Prior findings are mixed regarding the presence and direction of threat-related interference biases in social anxiety. The current study examined general inhibitory control (IC), measured by the classic color-word Stroop, as a moderator of the relationship between both threat interference biases (indexed by the emotional Stroop) and several social anxiety indicators. High socially anxious undergraduate students (N=159) completed the emotional and color-word Stroop tasks, followed by an anxiety-inducing speech task. Participants completed measures of trait social anxiety, state anxiety before and during the speech, negative task-interfering cognitions during the speech, and overall self-evaluation of speech performance. Speech duration was used to measure behavioral avoidance. In line with hypotheses, IC moderated the relationship between emotional Stroop bias and every anxiety indicator (with the exception of behavioral avoidance), such that greater social-threat interference was associated with higher anxiety among those with weak IC, whereas lesser social-threat interference was associated with higher anxiety among those with strong IC. Implications for the theory and treatment of threat interference biases in socially anxious individuals are discussed. PMID:24967719

Visual Working Memory Capacity and Proactive Interference

PubMed Central

Hartshorne, Joshua K.

2008-01-01

Background Visual working memory capacity is extremely limited and appears to be relatively immune to practice effects or the use of explicit strategies. The recent discovery that visual working memory tasks, like verbal working memory tasks, are subject to proactive interference, coupled with the fact that typical visual working memory tasks are particularly conducive to proactive interference, suggests that visual working memory capacity may be systematically under-estimated. Methodology/Principal Findings Working memory capacity was probed behaviorally in adult humans both in laboratory settings and via the Internet. Several experiments show that although the effect of proactive interference on visual working memory is significant and can last over several trials, it only changes the capacity estimate by about 15%. Conclusions/Significance This study further confirms the sharp limitations on visual working memory capacity, both in absolute terms and relative to verbal working memory. It is suggested that future research take these limitations into account in understanding differences across a variety of tasks between human adults, prelinguistic infants and nonlinguistic animals. PMID:18648493

Visual working memory capacity and proactive interference.

PubMed

Hartshorne, Joshua K

2008-07-23

Visual working memory capacity is extremely limited and appears to be relatively immune to practice effects or the use of explicit strategies. The recent discovery that visual working memory tasks, like verbal working memory tasks, are subject to proactive interference, coupled with the fact that typical visual working memory tasks are particularly conducive to proactive interference, suggests that visual working memory capacity may be systematically under-estimated. Working memory capacity was probed behaviorally in adult humans both in laboratory settings and via the Internet. Several experiments show that although the effect of proactive interference on visual working memory is significant and can last over several trials, it only changes the capacity estimate by about 15%. This study further confirms the sharp limitations on visual working memory capacity, both in absolute terms and relative to verbal working memory. It is suggested that future research take these limitations into account in understanding differences across a variety of tasks between human adults, prelinguistic infants and nonlinguistic animals.

Emotional task management: neural correlates of switching between affective and non-affective task-sets.

PubMed

Reeck, Crystal; Egner, Tobias

2015-08-01

Although task-switching has been investigated extensively, its interaction with emotionally salient task content remains unclear. Prioritized processing of affective stimulus content may enhance accessibility of affective task-sets and generate increased interference when switching between affective and non-affective task-sets. Previous research has demonstrated that more dominant task-sets experience greater switch costs, as they necessitate active inhibition during performance of less entrenched tasks. Extending this logic to the affective domain, the present experiment examined (a) whether affective task-sets are more dominant than non-affective ones, and (b) what neural mechanisms regulate affective task-sets, so that weaker, non-affective task-sets can be executed. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants categorized face stimuli according to either their gender (non-affective task) or their emotional expression (affective task). Behavioral results were consistent with the affective task dominance hypothesis: participants were slower to switch to the affective task, and cross-task interference was strongest when participants tried to switch from the affective to the non-affective task. These behavioral costs of controlling the affective task-set were mirrored in the activation of a right-lateralized frontostriatal network previously implicated in task-set updating and response inhibition. Connectivity between amygdala and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was especially pronounced during cross-task interference from affective features. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The specific role of inhibition in reading comprehension in good and poor comprehenders.

PubMed

Borella, Erika; Carretti, Barbara; Pelegrina, Santiago

2010-01-01

Difficulties in inhibitory processes have been shown to characterize the performance of poor comprehenders. However, the inhibitory inefficiency of poor comprehenders is most often assessed by their resistance to proactive interference, that is, the ability to suppress off-goal task information from working memory (WM). In two studies tasks assessing resistance to proactive interference (intrusion errors), response to distracters (Text With Distracters task) and prepotent response inhibition (Stroop and Hayling tests), along with WM measures, were administered to children aged 10 to 11, both good and poor comprehenders. The aim of the study was to specifically determine whether general or specific inhibitory factors affect poor comprehenders' reading difficulties. Results showed that poor comprehenders, compared to good ones, are impaired in WM tasks and in inhibitory tasks that assess resistance to proactive interference. This suggests that reading comprehension difficulties of poor comprehenders are related to specific inhibitory problems.

Skill in Expert Dogs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helton, William S.

2007-01-01

The motor control of novice participants is often cognitively demanding and susceptible to interference by other tasks. As people develop expertise, their motor control becomes less susceptible to interference from other tasks. Researchers propose a transition in human motor skill from active control to automaticity. This progression may also be…

Closed head injury and perceptual processing in dual-task situations.

PubMed

Hein, G; Schubert, T; von Cramon, D Y

2005-01-01

Using a classical psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm we investigated whether increased interference between dual-task input processes is one possible source of dual-task deficits in patients with closed-head injury (CHI). Patients and age-matched controls were asked to give speeded motor reactions to an auditory and a visual stimulus. The perceptual difficulty of the visual stimulus was manipulated by varying its intensity. The results of Experiment 1 showed that CHI patients suffer from increased interference between dual-task input processes, which is related to the salience of the visual stimulus. A second experiment indicated that this input interference may be specific to brain damage following CHI. It is not evident in other groups of neurological patients like Parkinson's disease patients. We conclude that the non-interfering processing of input stages in dual-tasks requires cognitive control. A decline in the control of input processes should be considered as one source of dual-task deficits in CHI patients.

Interference effects of vocalization on dual task performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, J. M.; Goodman, L. S.; Pianka, M. J.

1984-09-01

Voice command and control systems have been proposed as a potential means of off-loading the typically overburdened visual information processing system. However, prior to introducing novel human-machine interfacing technologies in high workload environments, consideration must be given to the integration of the new technologists within existing task structures to ensure that no new sources of workload or interference are systematically introduced. This study examined the use of voice interactive systems technology in the joint performance of two cognitive information processing tasks requiring continuous memory and choice reaction wherein a basis for intertask interference might be expected. Stimuli for the continuous memory task were presented aurally and either voice or keyboard responding was required in the choice reaction task. Performance was significantly degraded in each task when voice responding was required in the choice reaction time task. Performance degradation was evident in higher error scores for both the choice reaction and continuous memory tasks. Performance decrements observed under conditions of high intertask stimulus similarity were not statistically significant. The results signal the need to consider further the task requirements for verbal short-term memory when applying speech technology in multitask environments.

Learning redundant motor tasks with and without overlapping dimensions: facilitation and interference effects.

PubMed

Ranganathan, Rajiv; Wieser, Jon; Mosier, Kristine M; Mussa-Ivaldi, Ferdinando A; Scheidt, Robert A

2014-06-11

Prior learning of a motor skill creates motor memories that can facilitate or interfere with learning of new, but related, motor skills. One hypothesis of motor learning posits that for a sensorimotor task with redundant degrees of freedom, the nervous system learns the geometric structure of the task and improves performance by selectively operating within that task space. We tested this hypothesis by examining if transfer of learning between two tasks depends on shared dimensionality between their respective task spaces. Human participants wore a data glove and learned to manipulate a computer cursor by moving their fingers. Separate groups of participants learned two tasks: a prior task that was unique to each group and a criterion task that was common to all groups. We manipulated the mapping between finger motions and cursor positions in the prior task to define task spaces that either shared or did not share the task space dimensions (x-y axes) of the criterion task. We found that if the prior task shared task dimensions with the criterion task, there was an initial facilitation in criterion task performance. However, if the prior task did not share task dimensions with the criterion task, there was prolonged interference in learning the criterion task due to participants finding inefficient task solutions. These results show that the nervous system learns the task space through practice, and that the degree of shared task space dimensionality influences the extent to which prior experience transfers to subsequent learning of related motor skills. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/348289-11$15.00/0.

Stress and binge drinking: A toxic combination for the teenage brain.

PubMed

Goldstein, Aaron; Déry, Nicolas; Pilgrim, Malcolm; Ioan, Miruna; Becker, Suzanna

2016-09-01

Young adult university students frequently binge on alcohol and have high stress levels. Based on findings in rodents, we predicted that heavy current alcohol use and elevated stress and depression scores would be associated with deficits on high interference memory tasks, while early onset, prolonged binge patterns would lead to broader cognitive deficits on tests of associative encoding and executive functions. We developed the Concentration Memory Task, a novel computerized version of the Concentration card game with a high degree of interference. We found that young adults with elevated stress, depression, and alcohol consumption scores were impaired in the Concentration Memory Task. We also analyzed data from a previous study, and found that higher alcohol consumption scores were associated with impaired performance on another high interference memory task, based on Kirwan and Stark's Mnemonic Similarity Test. On the other hand, adolescent onset of binge drinking predicted poorer performance on broader range of memory tests, including a more systematic test of spatial recognition memory, and an associative learning task. Our results are broadly consistent with findings in rodents that acute alcohol and stress exposure suppress neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, which in turn impairs performance in high interference memory tasks, while adolescent onset binge drinking causes more extensive brain damage and cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task-irrelevant distractors in the delay period interfere selectively with visual short-term memory for spatial locations.

PubMed

Marini, Francesco; Scott, Jerry; Aron, Adam R; Ester, Edward F

2017-07-01

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) enables the representation of information in a readily accessible state. VSTM is typically conceptualized as a form of "active" storage that is resistant to interference or disruption, yet several recent studies have shown that under some circumstances task-irrelevant distractors may indeed disrupt performance. Here, we investigated how task-irrelevant visual distractors affected VSTM by asking whether distractors induce a general loss of remembered information or selectively interfere with memory representations. In a VSTM task, participants recalled the spatial location of a target visual stimulus after a delay in which distractors were presented on 75% of trials. Notably, the distractor's eccentricity always matched the eccentricity of the target, while in the critical conditions the distractor's angular position was shifted either clockwise or counterclockwise relative to the target. We then computed estimates of recall error for both eccentricity and polar angle. A general interference model would predict an effect of distractors on both polar angle and eccentricity errors, while a selective interference model would predict effects of distractors on angle but not on eccentricity errors. Results showed that for stimulus angle there was an increase in the magnitude and variability of recall errors. However, distractors had no effect on estimates of stimulus eccentricity. Our results suggest that distractors selectively interfere with VSTM for spatial locations.

Testing complex animal cognition: Concept learning, proactive interference, and list memory.

PubMed

Wright, Anthony A

2018-01-01

This article describes an approach for assessing and comparing complex cognition in rhesus monkeys and pigeons by training them in a sequence of synergistic tasks, each yielding a whole function for enhanced comparisons. These species were trained in similar same/different tasks with expanding training sets (8, 16, 32, 64, 128 … 1024 pictures) followed by novel-stimulus transfer eventually resulting in full abstract-concept learning. Concept-learning functions revealed better rhesus transfer throughout and full concept learning at the 128 set, versus pigeons at the 256 set. They were then tested in delayed same/different tasks for proactive interference by inserting occasional tests within trial-unique sessions where the test stimulus matched a previous sample stimulus (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 trials prior). Proactive-interference functions revealed time-based interference for pigeons (1, 10 s delays), but event-based interference for rhesus (no effect of 1, 10, 20 s delays). They were then tested in list-memory tasks by expanding the sample to four samples in trial-unique sessions (minimizing proactive interference). The four-item, list-memory functions revealed strong recency memory at short delays, gradually changing to strong primacy memory at long delays over 30 s for rhesus, and 10 s for pigeons. Other species comparisons and future directions are discussed. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Resolving Semantic Interference during Word Production Requires Central Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinman, Daniel

2013-01-01

The semantic picture-word interference task has been used to diagnose how speakers resolve competition while selecting words for production. The attentional demands of this resolution process were assessed in 2 dual-task experiments (tone classification followed by picture naming). In Experiment 1, when pictures and distractor words were presented…

Sources of Interference in Recognition Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annis, Jeffrey; Malmberg, Kenneth J.; Criss, Amy H.; Shiffrin, Richard M.

2013-01-01

Recognition memory accuracy is harmed by prior testing (a.k.a., output interference [OI]; Tulving & Arbuckle, 1966). In several experiments, we interpolated various tasks between recognition test trials. The stimuli and the tasks were more similar (lexical decision [LD] of words and nonwords) or less similar (gender identification of male and…

Color-word matching stroop task: separating interference and response conflict.

PubMed

Zysset, S; Müller, K; Lohmann, G; von Cramon , D Y

2001-01-01

The Stroop interference task requires a person to respond to a specific dimension of a stimulus while suppressing a competing stimulus dimension. Previous PET and fMRI studies using the Color Stroop paradigm have shown increased activity in the "cognitive division" of the cingulate cortex. In our fMRI study with nine subjects, we used a Color-Word Matching Stroop task. A frontoparietal network, including structures in the lateral prefrontal cortex, the frontopolar region, the intraparietal sulcus, as well as the lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, was activated when contrasting the incongruent vs the neutral condition. However, no substantial activation in either the right or left hemisphere of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was detected. In accordance with a series of recent articles, we argue that the ACC is not specifically involved in interference processes. The ACC seems rather involved in motor preparation processes which were controlled in the present Color-Word Matching Stroop task. We argue that the region around the banks of the inferior frontal sulcus is required to solve interference problems, a concept which can also be seen as a component of task set management. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Interference and negative priming effects in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Pritchard, Verena E; Neumann, Ewald; Rucklidge, Julia J

2007-01-01

Three visual selective attention tasks were used to measure potential differences in susceptibility to interference and inhibitory cognitive control processes in 16 adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 45 similar-aged controls. Susceptibility to interference was assessed using the Stroop color and word naming test. Efficiency of distractor inhibition was assessed in two conceptual negative priming tasks. The majority of studies in this area indicate that people with ADHD demonstrate higher levels of interference and lower negative priming effects in comparison with age-matched peers. However, we found that although the ADHD group was consistently slower to name target stimuli than the control group, there were no differences in interference or negative priming between the two groups.

Resolving task rule incongruence during task switching by competitor rule suppression.

PubMed

Meiran, Nachshon; Hsieh, Shulan; Dimov, Eduard

2010-07-01

Task switching requires maintaining readiness to execute any task of a given set of tasks. However, when tasks switch, the readiness to execute the now-irrelevant task generates interference, as seen in the task rule incongruence effect. Overcoming such interference requires fine-tuned inhibition that impairs task readiness only minimally. In an experiment involving 2 object classification tasks and 2 location classification tasks, the authors show that irrelevant task rules that generate response conflicts are inhibited. This competitor rule suppression (CRS) is seen in response slowing in subsequent trials, when the competing rules become relevant. CRS is shown to operate on specific rules without affecting similar rules. CRS and backward inhibition, which is another inhibitory phenomenon, produced additive effects on reaction time, suggesting their mutual independence. Implications for current formal theories of task switching as well as for conflict monitoring theories are discussed. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Cognitive-motor interference during functional mobility after stroke: state of the science and implications for future research.

PubMed

Plummer, Prudence; Eskes, Gail; Wallace, Sarah; Giuffrida, Clare; Fraas, Michael; Campbell, Grace; Clifton, Kerrylee; Skidmore, Elizabeth R

2013-12-01

Cognitive-motor interference (CMI) is evident when simultaneous performance of a cognitive task and a motor task results in deterioration in performance in one or both of the tasks, relative to performance of each task separately. The purpose of this review is to present a framework for categorizing patterns of CMI and to examine the specific patterns of CMI evident in published studies comparing single-task and dual-task performance of cognitive and motor tasks during gait and balance activities after stroke. We also examine the literature for associations between patterns of CMI and a history of falls, as well as evidence for the effects of rehabilitation on CMI after stroke. Overall, this review suggests that during gait activities with an added cognitive task, people with stroke are likely to demonstrate significant decrements in motor performance only (cognitive-related motor interference), or decrements in both motor and cognitive performance (mutual interference). In contrast, patterns of CMI were variable among studies examining balance activities. Comparing people poststroke with and without a history of falls, patterns and magnitude of CMI were similar for fallers and nonfallers. Longitudinal studies suggest that conventional rehabilitation has minimal effects on CMI during gait or balance activities. However, early-phase pilot studies suggest that dual-task interventions may reduce CMI during gait performance in community-dwelling stroke survivors. It is our hope that this innovative and critical examination of the existing literature will highlight the limitations in current experimental designs and inform improvements in the design and reporting of dual-task studies in stroke. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selective Attention to Emotion in the Aging Brain

PubMed Central

Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Robertson, Elaine R.; Mikels, Joseph A.; Carstensen, Laura L.; Gotlib, Ian H.

2009-01-01

A growing body of research suggests that the ability to regulate emotion remains stable or improves across the adult life span. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that this pattern of findings reflects the prioritization of emotional goals. Given that goal-directed behavior requires attentional control, the present study was designed to investigate age differences in selective attention to emotional lexical stimuli under conditions of emotional interference. Both neural and behavioral measures were obtained during an experiment in which participants completed a flanker task that required them to make categorical judgments about emotional and non-emotional stimuli. Older adults showed interference in both the behavioral and neural measures on control trials, but not on emotion trials. Although older adults typically show relatively high levels of interference and reduced cognitive control during non-emotional tasks, they appear to be able successfully to reduce interference during emotional tasks. PMID:19739908

A beacon interval shifting scheme for interference mitigation in body area networks.

PubMed

Kim, Seungku; Kim, Seokhwan; Kim, Jin-Woo; Eom, Doo-Seop

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the issue of interference avoidance in body area networks (BANs). IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6 presented several schemes to reduce such interference, but these schemes are still not proper solutions for BANs. We present a novel distributed TDMA-based beacon interval shifting scheme that reduces interference in the BANs. A design goal of the scheme is to avoid the wakeup period of each BAN coinciding with other networks by employing carrier sensing before a beacon transmission. We analyze the beacon interval shifting scheme and investigate the proper back-off length when the channel is busy. We compare the performance of the proposed scheme with the schemes presented in IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6 using an OMNeT++ simulation. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme has a lower packet loss, energy consumption, and delivery-latency than the schemes of IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6.

Selective attention to emotion in the aging brain.

PubMed

Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R; Robertson, Elaine R; Mikels, Joseph A; Carstensen, Laura L; Gotlib, Ian H

2009-09-01

A growing body of research suggests that the ability to regulate emotion remains stable or improves across the adult life span. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that this pattern of findings reflects the prioritization of emotional goals. Given that goal-directed behavior requires attentional control, the present study was designed to investigate age differences in selective attention to emotional lexical stimuli under conditions of emotional interference. Both neural and behavioral measures were obtained during an experiment in which participants completed a flanker task that required them to make categorical judgments about emotional and nonemotional stimuli. Older adults showed interference in both the behavioral and neural measures on control trials but not on emotion trials. Although older adults typically show relatively high levels of interference and reduced cognitive control during nonemotional tasks, they appear to be able to successfully reduce interference during emotional tasks. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

A Beacon Interval Shifting Scheme for Interference Mitigation in Body Area Networks

PubMed Central

Kim, Seungku; Kim, Seokhwan; Kim, Jin-Woo; Eom, Doo-Seop

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the issue of interference avoidance in body area networks (BANs). IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6 presented several schemes to reduce such interference, but these schemes are still not proper solutions for BANs. We present a novel distributed TDMA-based beacon interval shifting scheme that reduces interference in the BANs. A design goal of the scheme is to avoid the wakeup period of each BAN coinciding with other networks by employing carrier sensing before a beacon transmission. We analyze the beacon interval shifting scheme and investigate the proper back-off length when the channel is busy. We compare the performance of the proposed scheme with the schemes presented in IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6 using an OMNeT++ simulation. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme has a lower packet loss, energy consumption, and delivery-latency than the schemes of IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6. PMID:23112639

Transfer and interference of motor skills in people with intellectual disability.

PubMed

Mohan, A; Singh, A P; Mandal, M K

2001-08-01

Atypical laterality (i.e. the lack of a clear pattern of lateralization) has been found to be a characteristic feature of individuals with intellectual disability (ID). The evidence for this has been based on 'handedness' studies which have contained little information about the ability of people with ID to carry out interhemispheric tasks reflecting bilateral transfer or interference. The present study examined this capacity in individuals with ID by utilizing bilateral transfer and interference paradigms. Right-handed subjects with ID (IQ = 55-76) and controls matched for age and sex were tested for bilateral transfer of motor skill in contralateral hands with a mirror-drawing task. The subjects were also tested for their ability to perform a finger-tapping task while processing verbal and non-verbal stimuli. The findings indicated that people with ID are significantly deficient relative to matched controls in bilateral transfer of motor skills from their non-preferred (left) hand to their preferred (right) one. The effect of interference during performance of the dual task was significantly greater in individuals with ID. Subjects with ID were found to perform better with their non-preferred than with their preferred hand. A within-group comparison revealed that right-handed performance was more affected by interference than left in these subjects.

An Individual Differences Analysis of Memory Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salthouse, Timothy A.; Siedlecki, Karen L.; Krueger, Lacy E.

2006-01-01

Performance on a wide variety of memory tasks can be hypothesized to be influenced by processes associated with controlling the contents of memory. In this project 328 adults ranging from 18 to 93 years of age performed six tasks (e.g., multiple trial recall with an interpolated interference list, directed forgetting, proactive interference, and…

Emotional Facilitation Effect in the Picture-Word Interference Task: An ERP Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Baolin; Xin, Shuai; Jin, Zhixing; Hu, Yu; Li, Yang

2010-01-01

In this paper, we aimed to verify the emotional facilitation effect in the picture-word interference task using event-related potentials. Twenty-one healthy subjects were asked to categorize the emotional valences of pictures accompanied by emotionally congruent, either centrally or laterally positioned Chinese words. For both the foveal and…

Locus of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming: Evidence from Dual-Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piai, Vitória; Roelofs, Ardi; Schriefers, Herbert

2014-01-01

Disagreement exists regarding the functional locus of semantic interference of distractor words in picture naming. This effect is a cornerstone of modern psycholinguistic models of word production, which assume that it arises in lexical response-selection. However, recent evidence from studies of dual-task performance suggests a locus in…

Differential Distraction Effects in Short-Term and Long-Term Retention of Pictures and Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellegrino, James W.; And Others

1976-01-01

Comparisons between recall levels following simple acoustic or visual tasks and the simultaneous visual-plus-acoustic task are not based upon equivalent amounts of interference within each modality. This research attempts to test more precisely the relationship between visual and acoustic interference by using a sequential rather than a…

Conditions for Interference Versus Facilitation During Sequential Sensorimotor Adaptation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bock, Otmar; Schneider, Stefan; Bloomberg, Jacob

2001-01-01

We investigated how sensorimotor adaptation acquired during one experimental session influenced the adaptation in a subsequent session. The subjects' task was to track a visual target using a joystick-controlled cursor, while the relationship between joystick and cursor position was manipulated to introduce a sensorimotor discordance. Each subject participated in two sessions, separated by a pause of 2 min to 1 month duration. We found that adaptation was achieved within minutes, and persisted in the memory for at least a month, with only a small decay (experiment A). When the discordances administered in the two sessions were in mutual conflict, we found evidence for task interference (experiment B). However, when the discordances were independent, we found facilitation rather than interference (experiment C); the latter finding could not be explained by the use of an "easier" discordance in the second session (experiment D). We conclude that interference is due to an incompatibility between task requirements, and not to a competition of tasks for short-term memory. We further conclude that the ability to adapt to a sensorimotor discordance.

The Intention Interference Effect: The Difficulty of Ignoring What You Intend to Do

PubMed Central

Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Kantner, Justin; Dixon, Roger A.; Lindsay, D. Stephen

2013-01-01

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which colour-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do the Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore the Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an intention interference effect suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load. PMID:21592940

Reactive control processes contributing to residual switch cost and mixing cost across the adult lifespan.

PubMed

Whitson, Lisa R; Karayanidis, Frini; Fulham, Ross; Provost, Alexander; Michie, Patricia T; Heathcote, Andrew; Hsieh, Shulan

2014-01-01

In task-switching paradigms, performance is better when repeating the same task than when alternating between tasks (switch cost) and when repeating a task alone rather than intermixed with another task (mixing cost). These costs remain even after extensive practice and when task cues enable advanced preparation (residual costs). Moreover, residual reaction time mixing cost has been consistently shown to increase with age. Residual switch and mixing costs modulate the amplitude of the stimulus-locked P3b. This mixing effect is disproportionately larger in older adults who also prepare more for and respond more cautiously on these "mixed" repeat trials (Karayanidis et al., 2011). In this paper, we analyze stimulus-locked and response-locked P3 and lateralized readiness potentials to identify whether residual switch and mixing cost arise from the need to control interference at the level of stimulus processing or response processing. Residual mixing cost was associated with control of stimulus-level interference, whereas residual switch cost was also associated with a delay in response selection. In older adults, the disproportionate increase in mixing cost was associated with greater interference at the level of decision-response mapping and response programming for repeat trials in mixed-task blocks. These findings suggest that older adults strategically recruit greater proactive and reactive control to overcome increased susceptibility to post-stimulus interference. This interpretation is consistent with recruitment of compensatory strategies to compensate for reduced repetition benefit rather than an overall decline on cognitive flexibility.

Reactive control processes contributing to residual switch cost and mixing cost across the adult lifespan

PubMed Central

Whitson, Lisa R.; Karayanidis, Frini; Fulham, Ross; Provost, Alexander; Michie, Patricia T.; Heathcote, Andrew; Hsieh, Shulan

2014-01-01

In task-switching paradigms, performance is better when repeating the same task than when alternating between tasks (switch cost) and when repeating a task alone rather than intermixed with another task (mixing cost). These costs remain even after extensive practice and when task cues enable advanced preparation (residual costs). Moreover, residual reaction time mixing cost has been consistently shown to increase with age. Residual switch and mixing costs modulate the amplitude of the stimulus-locked P3b. This mixing effect is disproportionately larger in older adults who also prepare more for and respond more cautiously on these “mixed” repeat trials (Karayanidis et al., 2011). In this paper, we analyze stimulus-locked and response-locked P3 and lateralized readiness potentials to identify whether residual switch and mixing cost arise from the need to control interference at the level of stimulus processing or response processing. Residual mixing cost was associated with control of stimulus-level interference, whereas residual switch cost was also associated with a delay in response selection. In older adults, the disproportionate increase in mixing cost was associated with greater interference at the level of decision-response mapping and response programming for repeat trials in mixed-task blocks. These findings suggest that older adults strategically recruit greater proactive and reactive control to overcome increased susceptibility to post-stimulus interference. This interpretation is consistent with recruitment of compensatory strategies to compensate for reduced repetition benefit rather than an overall decline on cognitive flexibility. PMID:24817859

Face-to-face interference in typical and atypical development

PubMed Central

Riby, Deborah M; Doherty-Sneddon, Gwyneth; Whittle, Lisa

2012-01-01

Visual communication cues facilitate interpersonal communication. It is important that we look at faces to retrieve and subsequently process such cues. It is also important that we sometimes look away from faces as they increase cognitive load that may interfere with online processing. Indeed, when typically developing individuals hold face gaze it interferes with task completion. In this novel study we quantify face interference for the first time in Williams syndrome (WS) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). These disorders of development impact on cognition and social attention, but how do faces interfere with cognitive processing? Individuals developing typically as well as those with ASD (n = 19) and WS (n = 16) were recorded during a question and answer session that involved mathematics questions. In phase 1 gaze behaviour was not manipulated, but in phase 2 participants were required to maintain eye contact with the experimenter at all times. Looking at faces decreased task accuracy for individuals who were developing typically. Critically, the same pattern was seen in WS and ASD, whereby task performance decreased when participants were required to hold face gaze. The results show that looking at faces interferes with task performance in all groups. This finding requires the caveat that individuals with WS and ASD found it harder than individuals who were developing typically to maintain eye contact throughout the interaction. Individuals with ASD struggled to hold eye contact at all points of the interaction while those with WS found it especially difficult when thinking. PMID:22356183

Zooming into creativity: individual differences in attentional global-local biases are linked to creative thinking.

PubMed

Zmigrod, Sharon; Zmigrod, Leor; Hommel, Bernhard

2015-01-01

While recent studies have investigated how processes underlying human creativity are affected by particular visual-attentional states, we tested the impact of more stable attention-related preferences. These were assessed by means of Navon's global-local task, in which participants respond to the global or local features of large letters constructed from smaller letters. Three standard measures were derived from this task: the sizes of the global precedence effect, the global interference effect (i.e., the impact of incongruent letters at the global level on local processing), and the local interference effect (i.e., the impact of incongruent letters at the local level on global processing). These measures were correlated with performance in a convergent-thinking creativity task (the Remote Associates Task), a divergent-thinking creativity task (the Alternate Uses Task), and a measure of fluid intelligence (Raven's matrices). Flexibility in divergent thinking was predicted by the local interference effect while convergent thinking was predicted by intelligence only. We conclude that a stronger attentional bias to visual information about the "bigger picture" promotes cognitive flexibility in searching for multiple solutions.

Age-Related Changes in the Processing of Emotional Faces in a Dual-Task Paradigm.

PubMed

Casares-Guillén, Carmen; García-Rodríguez, Beatriz; Delgado, Marisa; Ellgring, Heiner

2016-01-01

Background/ Study Context: Age-related changes appear to affect the ability to identify emotional facial expressions in dual-task conditions (i.e., while simultaneously performing a second visual task). The level of interference generated by the secondary task depends on the phase of emotional processing affected by the interference and the nature of the secondary task. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of these variables on age-related changes in the processing of emotional faces. The identification of emotional facial expressions (EFEs) was assessed in a dual-task paradigm using the following variables: (a) the phase during which interference was applied (encoding vs. retrieval phase); and (b) the nature of the interfering stimulus (visuospatial vs. verbal). The sample population consisted of 24 healthy aged adults (mean age = 75.38) and 40 younger adults (mean age = 26.90). The accuracy of EFE identification was calculated for all experimental conditions. Consistent with our hypothesis, the performance of the older group was poorer than that of the younger group in all experimental conditions. Dual-task performance was poorer when the interference occurred during the encoding phase of emotional face processing and when both tasks were of the same nature (i.e., when the experimental condition was more demanding in terms of attention). These results provide empirical evidence of age-related deficits in the identification of emotional facial expressions, which may be partially explained by the impairment of cognitive resources specific to this task. These findings may account for the difficulties experienced by the elderly during social interactions that require the concomitant processing of emotional and environmental information.

Ghosts in the machine: memory interference from the previous trial.

PubMed

Papadimitriou, Charalampos; Ferdoash, Afreen; Snyder, Lawrence H

2015-01-15

Previous memoranda can interfere with the memorization or storage of new information, a concept known as proactive interference. Studies of proactive interference typically use categorical memoranda and match-to-sample tasks with categorical measures such as the proportion of correct to incorrect responses. In this study we instead train five macaques in a spatial memory task with continuous memoranda and responses, allowing us to more finely probe working memory circuits. We first ask whether the memoranda from the previous trial result in proactive interference in an oculomotor delayed response task. We then characterize the spatial and temporal profile of this interference and ask whether this profile can be predicted by an attractor network model of working memory. We find that memory in the current trial shows a bias toward the location of the memorandum of the previous trial. The magnitude of this bias increases with the duration of the memory period within which it is measured. Our simulations using standard attractor network models of working memory show that these models easily replicate the spatial profile of the bias. However, unlike the behavioral findings, these attractor models show an increase in bias with the duration of the previous rather than the current memory period. To model a bias that increases with current trial duration we posit two separate memory stores, a rapidly decaying visual store that resists proactive interference effects and a sustained memory store that is susceptible to proactive interference. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Ghosts in the machine: memory interference from the previous trial

PubMed Central

Ferdoash, Afreen; Snyder, Lawrence H.

2014-01-01

Previous memoranda can interfere with the memorization or storage of new information, a concept known as proactive interference. Studies of proactive interference typically use categorical memoranda and match-to-sample tasks with categorical measures such as the proportion of correct to incorrect responses. In this study we instead train five macaques in a spatial memory task with continuous memoranda and responses, allowing us to more finely probe working memory circuits. We first ask whether the memoranda from the previous trial result in proactive interference in an oculomotor delayed response task. We then characterize the spatial and temporal profile of this interference and ask whether this profile can be predicted by an attractor network model of working memory. We find that memory in the current trial shows a bias toward the location of the memorandum of the previous trial. The magnitude of this bias increases with the duration of the memory period within which it is measured. Our simulations using standard attractor network models of working memory show that these models easily replicate the spatial profile of the bias. However, unlike the behavioral findings, these attractor models show an increase in bias with the duration of the previous rather than the current memory period. To model a bias that increases with current trial duration we posit two separate memory stores, a rapidly decaying visual store that resists proactive interference effects and a sustained memory store that is susceptible to proactive interference. PMID:25376781

The Role of Working Memory Capacity and Interference Resolution Mechanisms in Task Switching

PubMed Central

Pettigrew, Corinne; Martin, Randi C.

2015-01-01

Theories of task switching have emphasized a number of control mechanisms that may support the ability to flexibly switch between tasks. The present study examined the extent to which individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity and two measures of interference resolution, response-distractor inhibition and resistance to proactive interference (PI), account for variability in task switching, including global costs, local costs, and N-2 repetition costs. 102 young and 60 older adults were tested on a battery of tasks. Composite scores were created for WM capacity, response-distractor inhibition, and resistance to PI; shifting was indexed by rate residual scores which combine response time and accuracy and account for individual differences in processing speed. Composite scores served as predictors of task switching. WM was significantly related to global switch costs. While resistance to PI and WM explained some variance in local costs, these effects did not reach significance. In contrast, none of the control measures explained variance in N-2 repetition costs. Furthermore, age effects were only evident for N-2 repetition costs, with older adults demonstrating larger costs than young adults. Results are discussed within the context of theoretical models of task switching. PMID:26594895

The role of working memory capacity and interference resolution mechanisms in task switching.

PubMed

Pettigrew, Corinne; Martin, Randi C

2016-12-01

Theories of task switching have emphasized a number of control mechanisms that may support the ability to flexibly switch between tasks. The present study examined the extent to which individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity and two measures of interference resolution, response-distractor inhibition and resistance to proactive interference (PI), account for variability in task switching, including global costs, local costs, and N-2 repetition costs. A total of 102 young and 60 older adults were tested on a battery of tasks. Composite scores were created for WM capacity, response-distractor inhibition, and resistance to PI; shifting was indexed by rate residual scores, which combine response time and accuracy and account for individual differences in processing speed. Composite scores served as predictors of task switching. WM was significantly related to global switch costs. While resistance to PI and WM explained some variance in local costs, these effects did not reach significance. In contrast, none of the control measures explained variance in N-2 repetition costs. Furthermore, age effects were only evident for N-2 repetition costs, with older adults demonstrating larger costs than young adults. Results are discussed within the context of theoretical models of task switching.

Cognitive-Motor Interference on Upper Extremity Motor Performance in a Robot-Assisted Planar Reaching Task Among Patients With Stroke.

PubMed

Shin, Joon-Ho; Park, Gyulee; Cho, Duk Youn

2017-04-01

To explore motor performance on 2 different cognitive tasks during robotic rehabilitation in which motor performance was longitudinally assessed. Prospective study. Rehabilitation hospital. Patients (N=22) with chronic stroke and upper extremity impairment. A total of 640 repetitions of robot-assisted planar reaching, 5 times a week for 4 weeks. Longitudinal robotic evaluations regarding motor performance included smoothness, mean velocity, path error, and reach error by the type of cognitive task. Dual-task effects (DTEs) of motor performance were computed to analyze the effect of the cognitive task on dual-task interference. Cognitive task type influenced smoothness (P=.006), the DTEs of smoothness (P=.002), and the DTEs of reach error (P=.052). Robotic rehabilitation improved smoothness (P=.007) and reach error (P=.078), while stroke severity affected smoothness (P=.01), reach error (P<.001), and path error (P=.01). Robotic rehabilitation or severity did not affect the DTEs of motor performance. The results provide evidence for the effect of cognitive-motor interference on upper extremity performance among participants with stroke using a robotic-guided rehabilitation system. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Motor Interference Does Not Impair the Memory Consolidation of Imagined Movements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Debarnot, Ursula; Maley, Laura; De Rossi, Danilo; Guillot, Aymeric

2010-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate whether an interference task might impact the sleep-dependent consolidation process of a mentally learned sequence of movements. Thirty-two participants were subjected to a first training session through motor imagery (MI) or physical practice (PP) of a finger sequence learning task. After 2 h, half of the…

Impaired Inhibition of Prepotent Motor Tendencies in Friedreich Ataxia Demonstrated by the Simon Interference Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corben, L. A.; Akhlaghi, H.; Georgiou-Karistianis, N.; Bradshaw, J. L.; Egan, G. F.; Storey, E.; Churchyard, A. J.; Delatycki, M. B.

2011-01-01

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is the most common of the genetically inherited ataxias. We recently demonstrated that people with FRDA have impairment in motor planning--most likely because of pathology affecting the cerebral cortex and/or cerebello-cortical projections. We used the Simon interference task to examine how effective 13 individuals with…

The Role of the Left Head of Caudate in Suppressing Irrelevant Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ali, Nilufa; Green, David W.; Kherif, Ferath; Devlin, Joseph T.; Price, Cathy J.

2010-01-01

Suppressing irrelevant words is essential to successful speech production and is expected to involve general control mechanisms that reduce interference from task-unrelated processing. To investigate the neural mechanisms that suppress visual word interference, we used fMRI and a Stroop task, using a block design with an event-related analysis.…

Task Interference in Time-Based, Event-Based, and Dual Intention Prospective Memory Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hicks, Jason L.; Marsh, Richard L.; Cook, Gabriel I.

2005-01-01

Forming the intention to complete an activity later is the standard definition of a prospective memory task. Recently, a debate has arisen concerning the degree to which near-term intentions usurp resources away from other ongoing activities. In four experiments the authors tested how much interference was caused by holding a variety of different…

The effects of a single bout of exercise on motor memory interference in the trained and untrained hemisphere.

PubMed

Lauber, Benedikt; Franke, Steffen; Taube, Wolfgang; Gollhofer, Albert

2017-04-07

Increasing evidence suggests that cardiovascular exercise has positive effects on motor memory consolidation. In this study, we investigated whether a single session of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) mitigates the effects of practicing an interfering motor task. Furthermore, learning and interference effects were assessed in the actively trained and untrained limb as it is known that unilateral motor learning can cause bilateral adaptations. Subjects performed a ballistic training and then the HIIT either before (HIIT_before) or after (HIIT_after) practicing an interfering accuracy task (AT). The control group (No_HIIT) did not participate in the HIIT but rested instead. Performance in the ballistic task (BT) was tested before and after the ballistic training, after the exercise and practice of the AT and 24h later. After ballistic training, all groups showed comparable increases in performance in the trained and untrained limb. Despite the practice of the AT, HIIT_before maintained their BT performance after the high-intensity interval training whereas HIIT_after (trend) & No_HIIT showed prominent interference effects. After 24h, HIIT_before still did not show any interference effects but further improved ballistic motor performance. HIIT_after counteracted the interference resulting in a comparable BT performance after 24h than directly after the ballistic training while No_HIIT had a significantly lower BT performance in the retention test. The results were similar in the trained and untrained limb. The current results imply that a single session of cardiovascular exercise can prevent motor interference in the trained and untrained hemisphere. Overall learning was best, and interference least, when HIIT was performed before the interfering motor task. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Change perception and change interference within and across feature dimensions.

PubMed

Pilling, Michael; Barrett, Doug J K

2018-06-04

The ability to perceive a change in a visual object is reduced when that change is presented in competition with other changes which are task-irrelevant. We performed two experiments which investigate the basis of this change interference effect. We tested whether change interference occurs as a consequence of some form of attentional capture, or whether the interference occurs at a stage prior to attentional selection of the task-relevant change. A modified probe-detection task was used to explore this issue. Observers were required to report the presence/absence of a specified change-type (colour, shape) in the probe, in a context in which - on certain trials - irrelevant changes occur in non-probe items. There were two key variables in these experiments: the attentional state of the observer, and the dimensional congruence of changes in the probe and non-probe items. Change interference was strongest when the irrelevant changes were the same as those on the report dimension. However the interference pattern persisted even when observers did not know the report dimension at the time the changes occurred. These results seem to rule out attention as a factor. Our results fit best with an interpretation in which change interference produces feature-specific sensory noise which degrades the signal quality of the target change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ambiguity produces attention shifts in category learning

PubMed Central

Orgaz, Cristina; Luque, David; Nelson, James Byron

2016-01-01

It has been suggested that people and nonhuman animals protect their knowledge from interference by shifting attention toward the context when presented with information that contradicts their previous beliefs. Despite that suggestion, no studies have directly measured changes in attention while participants are exposed to an interference treatment. In the present experiments, we adapted a dot-probe task to track participants’ attention to cues and contexts while they were completing a simple category learning task. The results support the hypothesis that interference produces a change in the allocation of attention to cues and contexts. PMID:26980780

Comparable mechanisms of working memory interference by auditory and visual motion in youth and aging

PubMed Central

Mishra, Jyoti; Zanto, Theodore; Nilakantan, Aneesha; Gazzaley, Adam

2013-01-01

Intrasensory interference during visual working memory (WM) maintenance by object stimuli (such as faces and scenes), has been shown to negatively impact WM performance, with greater detrimental impacts of interference observed in aging. Here we assessed age-related impacts by intrasensory WM interference from lower-level stimulus features such as visual and auditory motion stimuli. We consistently found that interference in the form of ignored distractions and secondary task i nterruptions presented during a WM maintenance period, degraded memory accuracy in both the visual and auditory domain. However, in contrast to prior studies assessing WM for visual object stimuli, feature-based interference effects were not observed to be significantly greater in older adults. Analyses of neural oscillations in the alpha frequency band further revealed preserved mechanisms of interference processing in terms of post-stimulus alpha suppression, which was observed maximally for secondary task interruptions in visual and auditory modalities in both younger and older adults. These results suggest that age-related sensitivity of WM to interference may be limited to complex object stimuli, at least at low WM loads. PMID:23791629

Playing the computer game Tetris prior to viewing traumatic film material and subsequent intrusive memories: Examining proactive interference.

PubMed

James, Ella L; Lau-Zhu, Alex; Tickle, Hannah; Horsch, Antje; Holmes, Emily A

2016-12-01

Visuospatial working memory (WM) tasks performed concurrently or after an experimental trauma (traumatic film viewing) have been shown to reduce subsequent intrusive memories (concurrent or retroactive interference, respectively). This effect is thought to arise because, during the time window of memory consolidation, the film memory is labile and vulnerable to interference by the WM task. However, it is not known whether tasks before an experimental trauma (i.e. proactive interference) would also be effective. Therefore, we tested if a visuospatial WM task given before a traumatic film reduced intrusions. Findings are relevant to the development of preventative strategies to reduce intrusive memories of trauma for groups who are routinely exposed to trauma (e.g. emergency services personnel) and for whom tasks prior to trauma exposure might be beneficial. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions. In the Tetris condition (n = 28), participants engaged in the computer game for 11 min immediately before viewing a 12-min traumatic film, whereas those in the Control condition (n = 28) had no task during this period. Intrusive memory frequency was assessed using an intrusion diary over 1-week and an Intrusion Provocation Task at 1-week follow-up. Recognition memory for the film was also assessed at 1-week. Compared to the Control condition, participants in the Tetris condition did not report statistically significant difference in intrusive memories of the trauma film on either measure. There was also no statistically significant difference in recognition memory scores between conditions. The study used an experimental trauma paradigm and findings may not be generalizable to a clinical population. Compared to control, playing Tetris before viewing a trauma film did not lead to a statistically significant reduction in the frequency of later intrusive memories of the film. It is unlikely that proactive interference, at least with this task, effectively influences intrusive memory development. WM tasks administered during or after trauma stimuli, rather than proactively, may be a better focus for intrusive memory amelioration. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Multivariate fMRI and Eye Tracking Reveal Differential Effects of Visual Interference on Recognition Memory Judgments for Objects and Scenes.

PubMed

O'Neil, Edward B; Watson, Hilary C; Dhillon, Sonya; Lobaugh, Nancy J; Lee, Andy C H

2015-09-01

Recent work has demonstrated that the perirhinal cortex (PRC) supports conjunctive object representations that aid object recognition memory following visual object interference. It is unclear, however, how these representations interact with other brain regions implicated in mnemonic retrieval and how congruent and incongruent interference influences the processing of targets and foils during object recognition. To address this, multivariate partial least squares was applied to fMRI data acquired during an interference match-to-sample task, in which participants made object or scene recognition judgments after object or scene interference. This revealed a pattern of activity sensitive to object recognition following congruent (i.e., object) interference that included PRC, prefrontal, and parietal regions. Moreover, functional connectivity analysis revealed a common pattern of PRC connectivity across interference and recognition conditions. Examination of eye movements during the same task in a separate study revealed that participants gazed more at targets than foils during correct object recognition decisions, regardless of interference congruency. By contrast, participants viewed foils more than targets for incorrect object memory judgments, but only after congruent interference. Our findings suggest that congruent interference makes object foils appear familiar and that a network of regions, including PRC, is recruited to overcome the effects of interference.

Neural mechanisms of interference control in working memory: effects of interference expectancy and fluid intelligence.

PubMed

Burgess, Gregory C; Braver, Todd S

2010-09-20

A critical aspect of executive control is the ability to limit the adverse effects of interference. Previous studies have shown activation of left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex after the onset of interference, suggesting that interference may be resolved in a reactive manner. However, we suggest that interference control may also operate in a proactive manner to prevent effects of interference. The current study investigated the temporal dynamics of interference control by varying two factors - interference expectancy and fluid intelligence (gF) - that could influence whether interference control operates proactively versus reactively. A modified version of the recent negatives task was utilized. Interference expectancy was manipulated across task blocks by changing the proportion of recent negative (interference) trials versus recent positive (facilitation) trials. Furthermore, we explored whether gF affected the tendency to utilize specific interference control mechanisms. When interference expectancy was low, activity in lateral prefrontal cortex replicated prior results showing a reactive control pattern (i.e., interference-sensitivity during probe period). In contrast, when interference expectancy was high, bilateral prefrontal cortex activation was more indicative of proactive control mechanisms (interference-related effects prior to the probe period). Additional results suggested that the proactive control pattern was more evident in high gF individuals, whereas the reactive control pattern was more evident in low gF individuals. The results suggest the presence of two neural mechanisms of interference control, with the differential expression of these mechanisms modulated by both experimental (e.g., expectancy effects) and individual difference (e.g., gF) factors.

Decomposing interference during Stroop performance into different conflict factors: an event-related fMRI study.

PubMed

Melcher, Tobias; Gruber, Oliver

2009-02-01

In the current event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we sought to trace back Stroop-interference to circumscribed properties of task-irrelevant word information - response-incompatibility, semantic incongruency and task-reference - that we conceive as conflict factors. Thereby, we particularly wanted to disentangle intermingled contributions of semantic conflict and response conflict to the overall Stroop-interference effect. To delineate neural substrates of single factors, we referred to the logics of cognitive subtraction and cognitive conjunction. Moreover, in a second step, we conducted correlation analyses to determine the relationship between neural activations and behavioral interference costs (i.e., conflict-related reaction time (RT) slowing) so as to further elucidate the functional role of the respective brain regions in conflict processing. Response-incompatibility was associated with activation in the left premotor cortex which can be interpreted as indicating motor competition or conflict, i.e., the presence of competing response tendencies. Accordingly, this activation was positively correlated with behavioral conflict costs. Semantic incongruency exhibited specific activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the bilateral insula, and thalamus as well as in left somatosensory cortex. As supported by the consistent negative correlation with behavioral conflict costs, these activations most probably reflect strengthened control efforts to overcome interference and to ensure adequate task performance. Finally, task-reference elicited activation in the left temporo-polar cortex (TPC) and the right medial superior as well as in left rostroventral prefrontal cortex (rvPFC, sub-threshold activation). As strongly supported by prior studies' findings, this neural activation pattern may underlie residual semantic processing of the task-irrelevant word information.

Effect of target-masker similarity on across-ear interference in a dichotic cocktail-party listening task.

PubMed

Brungart, Douglas S; Simpson, Brian D

2007-09-01

Similarity between the target and masking voices is known to have a strong influence on performance in monaural and binaural selective attention tasks, but little is known about the role it might play in dichotic listening tasks with a target signal and one masking voice in the one ear and a second independent masking voice in the opposite ear. This experiment examined performance in a dichotic listening task with a target talker in one ear and same-talker, same-sex, or different-sex maskers in both the target and the unattended ears. The results indicate that listeners were most susceptible to across-ear interference with a different-sex within-ear masker and least susceptible with a same-talker within-ear masker, suggesting that the amount of across-ear interference cannot be predicted from the difficulty of selectively attending to the within-ear masking voice. The results also show that the amount of across-ear interference consistently increases when the across-ear masking voice is more similar to the target speech than the within-ear masking voice is, but that no corresponding decline in across-ear interference occurs when the across-ear voice is less similar to the target than the within-ear voice. These results are consistent with an "integrated strategy" model of speech perception where the listener chooses a segregation strategy based on the characteristics of the masker present in the target ear and the amount of across-ear interference is determined by the extent to which this strategy can also effectively be used to suppress the masker in the unattended ear.

Training Alters the Resolution of Lexical Interference: Evidence for Plasticity of Competition and Inhibition

PubMed Central

Kapnoula, Efthymia C.; McMurray, Bob

2016-01-01

Language learning is generally described as a problem of acquiring new information (e.g., new words). However, equally important are changes in how the system processes known information. For example, a wealth of studies has suggested dramatic changes over development in how efficiently children recognize familiar words, but it is unknown what kind of experience-dependent mechanisms of plasticity give rise to such changes in real-time processing. We examined the plasticity of the language processing system by testing whether a fundamental aspect of spoken word recognition, lexical interference, can be altered by experience. Adult participants were trained on a set of familiar words over a series of 4 tasks. In the high-competition (HC) condition, tasks were designed to encourage coactivation of similar words (e.g., net and neck) and to require listeners to resolve this competition. Tasks were similar in the low-competition (LC) condition, but did not enhance this competition. Immediately after training, interlexical interference was tested using a visual world paradigm task. Participants in the HC group resolved interference to a fuller degree than those in the LC group, demonstrating that experience can shape the way competition between words is resolved. TRACE simulations showed that the observed late differences in the pattern of interference resolution can be attributed to differences in the strength of lexical inhibition. These findings inform cognitive models in many domains that involve competition/interference processes, and suggest an experience-dependent mechanism of plasticity that may underlie longer term changes in processing efficiency associated with both typical and atypical development. PMID:26709587

Interference and Shaping in Sensorimotor Adaptations with Rewards

PubMed Central

Darshan, Ran; Leblois, Arthur; Hansel, David

2014-01-01

When a perturbation is applied in a sensorimotor transformation task, subjects can adapt and maintain performance by either relying on sensory feedback, or, in the absence of such feedback, on information provided by rewards. For example, in a classical rotation task where movement endpoints must be rotated to reach a fixed target, human subjects can successfully adapt their reaching movements solely on the basis of binary rewards, although this proves much more difficult than with visual feedback. Here, we investigate such a reward-driven sensorimotor adaptation process in a minimal computational model of the task. The key assumption of the model is that synaptic plasticity is gated by the reward. We study how the learning dynamics depend on the target size, the movement variability, the rotation angle and the number of targets. We show that when the movement is perturbed for multiple targets, the adaptation process for the different targets can interfere destructively or constructively depending on the similarities between the sensory stimuli (the targets) and the overlap in their neuronal representations. Destructive interferences can result in a drastic slowdown of the adaptation. As a result of interference, the time to adapt varies non-linearly with the number of targets. Our analysis shows that these interferences are weaker if the reward varies smoothly with the subject's performance instead of being binary. We demonstrate how shaping the reward or shaping the task can accelerate the adaptation dramatically by reducing the destructive interferences. We argue that experimentally investigating the dynamics of reward-driven sensorimotor adaptation for more than one sensory stimulus can shed light on the underlying learning rules. PMID:24415925

Neuroimaging of response interference in twins concordant or discordant for inattention and hyperactivity symptoms

PubMed Central

van ’t Ent, D.; van Beijsterveldt, C.E.M.; Derks, E.M.; Hudziak, J.J.; Veltman, D.J.; Todd, R.D.; Boomsma, D.I.; De Geus, E.J.C.

2009-01-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is to a large extent influenced by genetic factors, but environmental influences are considered important as well. To distinguish between functional brain changes underlying primarily genetically and environmentally mediated ADHD, we used functional MRI to compare response interference in monozygotic twins highly concordant or discordant for attention problems (AP). AP scores were assessed longitudinally with the Child Behavior Check List attention problem scale (CBCL-AP). Response interference was measured during two executive function paradigms; a color-word Stroop and a flanker task. The neuroimaging results indicated that, across the entire sample, children with high CBCL-AP scores, relative to children with low CBCL-AP scores, showed decreased activation to response interference in dorsolateral prefrontal, parietal and temporal brain regions. Increased activation was noted in the premotor cortex and regions associated with visual selective attention processing, possibly reflecting compensatory mechanisms to maintain task performance. Specific comparisons of high and low scoring concordant twin pairs suggest that AP of genetic origin was characterized by decreased activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the Stroop task and right parietal lobe during the flanker task. In contrast, comparison of twins from discordant monozygotic pairs, suggest that AP of environmental origin was characterized by decreased activation in left and right temporal lobe areas, but only during Stroop interference. The finding of distinct brain activation changes to response interference in inattention/hyperactivity of ‘genetic’ versus ‘environmental’ origin, indicate that genetic and environmental risk factors for attention/hyperactivity problems affect the brain in different ways. PMID:19409224

Effects of Word Recognition Training in a Picture-Word Interference Task: Automaticity vs. Speed.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehri, Linnea C.

First and second graders were taught to recognize a set of written words either more accurately or more rapidly. Both before and after word training, they named pictures printed with and without these words as distractors. Of interest was whether training would enhance or diminish the interference created by these words in the picture naming task.…

76 FR 31223 - Special Conditions: Bombardier Model BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 Airplanes, Head-up Display (HUD...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-31

... interfere with the effective use of outside visual references for required pilot tasks. 2. To avoid... the requirements of the original approval. 3. The safety and performance of the pilot tasks associated....773 does not permit visual distortions and reflections that could interfere with the pilot's normal...

Interference Effects as a Function of Semantic Similarity in the Translation Recognition Task in Bilinguals of Catalan and Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moldovan, Cornelia D.; Sanchez-Casas, Rosa; Demestre, Josep; Ferre, Pilar

2012-01-01

Previous evidence has shown that word pairs that are either related in form (e.g., "ruc-berro"; donkey-watercress) or very closely semantically related (e.g., "ruc-caballo", donkey-horse) produce interference effects in a translation recognition task (Ferre et al., 2006; Guasch et al., 2008). However, these effects are not…

When Does a Good Working Memory Counteract Proactive Interference? Surprising Evidence from a Probe Recognition Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Nelson; Saults, J. Scott

2013-01-01

It is often proposed that individuals with high working memory span overcome proactive interference (PI) from previous trials, saving working memory for task-relevant items. We examined this hypothesis in word-list probe recognition. We found no difference in PI related to span. Instead, ex-Gaussian analysis of reaction time showed speed…

Does Proactive Interference Play a Significant Role in Visual Working Memory Tasks?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Makovski, Tal

2016-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) is an online memory buffer that is typically assumed to be immune to source memory confusions. Accordingly, the few studies that have investigated the role of proactive interference (PI) in VWM tasks found only a modest PI effect at best. In contrast, a recent study has found a substantial PI effect in that performance…

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Color-Word, Emotional, and Specific Stroop Interference and on Self-Reported Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sagaspe, Patricia; Sanchez-Ortuno, Montserrat; Charles, Andre; Taillard, Jacques; Valtat, Cedric; Bioulac, Bernard; Philip, Pierre

2006-01-01

The aim of this study was principally to assess the impact of sleep deprivation on interference performance in short Stroop tasks (Color-Word, Emotional, and Specific) and on subjective anxiety. Subjective sleepiness and performance on a psychomotor sustained attention task were also investigated to validate our protocol of sleep deprivation.…

Interference resolution in major depression.

PubMed

Joormann, Jutta; Nee, Derek Evan; Berman, Marc G; Jonides, John; Gotlib, Ian H

2010-03-01

In two experiments, we investigated individual differences in the ability to resolve interference in participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). Participants were administered the "Ignore/Suppress" task, a short-term memory task composed of two steps. In Step 1 ("ignore"), participants were instructed to memorize a set of stimuli while ignoring simultaneously presented irrelevant material. In Step 2 ("suppress"), participants were instructed to forget a subset of the previously memorized material. The ability to resolve interference was indexed by response latencies on two recognition tasks in which participants decided whether a probe was a member of the target set. In Step 1, we compared response latencies to probes from the to-be-ignored list with response latencies to nonrecently presented items. In Step 2, we compared response latencies to probes from the to-be-suppressed list with response latencies to nonrecently presented items. The results indicate that, compared with control participants, depressed participants exhibited increased interference in the "suppress" but not in the "ignore" step of the task, when the stimuli were negative words. No group differences were obtained when we presented letters instead of emotional words. These findings indicate that depression is associated with difficulty in removing irrelevant negative material from short-term memory.

Auditory working memory impairments in individuals at familial high risk for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Seidman, Larry J; Meyer, Eric C; Giuliano, Anthony J; Breiter, Hans C; Goldstein, Jill M; Kremen, William S; Thermenos, Heidi W; Toomey, Rosemary; Stone, William S; Tsuang, Ming T; Faraone, Stephen V

2012-05-01

The search for predictors of schizophrenia has accelerated with a growing focus on early intervention and prevention of psychotic illness. Studying nonpsychotic relatives of individuals with schizophrenia enables identification of markers of vulnerability for the illness independent of confounds associated with psychosis. The goal of these studies was to develop new auditory continuous performance tests (ACPTs) and evaluate their effects in individuals with schizophrenia and their relatives. We carried out two studies of auditory vigilance with tasks involving working memory (WM) and interference control with increasing levels of cognitive load to discern the information-processing vulnerabilities in a sample of schizophrenia patients, and two samples of nonpsychotic relatives of individuals with schizophrenia and controls. Study 1 assessed adults (mean age = 41), and Study 2 assessed teenagers and young adults age 13-25 (M = 19). Patients with schizophrenia were impaired on all five versions of the ACPTs, whereas relatives were impaired only on WM tasks, particularly the two interference tasks that maximize cognitive load. Across all groups, the interference tasks were more difficult to perform than the other tasks. Schizophrenia patients performed worse than relatives, who performed worse than controls. For patients, the effect sizes were large (Cohen's d = 1.5), whereas for relatives they were moderate (d = ~0.40-0.50). There was no age by group interaction in the relatives-control comparison except for participants <31 years of age. Novel WM tasks that manipulate cognitive load and interference control index an important component of the vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Dissociable Patterns in the Control of Emotional Interference in Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and in Adults with Alcohol Dependence

PubMed Central

Marx, Ivo; Krause, John; Berger, Christoph; Häßler, Frank

2014-01-01

Objectives To effectively manage current task demands, attention must be focused on task-relevant information while task-irrelevant information is rejected. However, in everyday life, people must cope with emotions, which may interfere with actual task demands and may challenge functional attention allocation. Control of interfering emotions has been associated with the proper functioning of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). As DLPFC dysfunction is evident in subjects with ADHD and in subjects with alcohol dependence, the current study sought to examine the bottom-up effect of emotional distraction on task performance in both disorders. Methods Male adults with ADHD (n = 22), male adults with alcohol dependence (n = 16), and healthy controls (n = 30) performed an emotional working memory task (n-back task). In the background of the task, we presented neutral and negative stimuli that varied in emotional saliency. Results In both clinical groups, a working memory deficit was evident. Moreover, both clinical groups displayed deficient emotional interference control. The n-back performance of the controls was not affected by the emotional distractors, whereas that of subjects with ADHD deteriorated in the presence of low salient distractors, and that of alcoholics did not deteriorate until high salient distractors were presented. Subsequent to task performance, subjects with ADHD accurately recognized more distractors than did alcoholics and controls. In alcoholics, picture recognition accuracy was negatively associated with n-back performance, suggesting a functional association between the ability to suppress emotional distractors and successful task performance. In subjects with ADHD, performance accuracy was negatively associated with ADHD inattentive symptoms, suggesting that inattention contributes to the performance deficit. Conclusions Subjects with ADHD and alcoholics both display an emotional interference control deficit, which is especially pronounced in subjects with ADHD. Beyond dysfunctional attention allocation processes, a more general attention deficit seems to contribute to the more pronounced performance deficit pattern in ADHD. PMID:25265290

A Reverse Stroop Task with Mouse Tracking.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Naohide; Incera, Sara; McLennan, Conor T

2016-01-01

In a reverse Stroop task, observers respond to the meaning of a color word irrespective of the color in which the word is printed-for example, the word red may be printed in the congruent color (red), an incongruent color (e.g., blue), or a neutral color (e.g., white). Although reading of color words in this task is often thought to be neither facilitated by congruent print colors nor interfered with incongruent print colors, this interference has been detected by using a response method that does not give any bias in favor of processing of word meanings or processing of print colors. On the other hand, evidence for the presence of facilitation in this task has been scarce, even though this facilitation is theoretically possible. By modifying the task such that participants respond to a stimulus color word by pointing to a corresponding response word on a computer screen with a mouse, the present study investigated the possibility that not only interference but also facilitation would take place in a reverse Stroop task. Importantly, in this study, participants' responses were dynamically tracked by recording the entire trajectories of the mouse. Arguably, this method provided richer information about participants' performance than traditional measures such as reaction time and accuracy, allowing for more detailed (and thus potentially more sensitive) investigation of facilitation and interference in the reverse Stroop task. These trajectories showed that the mouse's approach toward correct response words was significantly delayed by incongruent print colors but not affected by congruent print colors, demonstrating that only interference, not facilitation, was present in the current task. Implications of these findings are discussed within a theoretical framework in which the strength of association between a task and its response method plays a critical role in determining how word meanings and print colors interact in reverse Stroop tasks.

A Reverse Stroop Task with Mouse Tracking

PubMed Central

Yamamoto, Naohide; Incera, Sara; McLennan, Conor T.

2016-01-01

In a reverse Stroop task, observers respond to the meaning of a color word irrespective of the color in which the word is printed—for example, the word red may be printed in the congruent color (red), an incongruent color (e.g., blue), or a neutral color (e.g., white). Although reading of color words in this task is often thought to be neither facilitated by congruent print colors nor interfered with incongruent print colors, this interference has been detected by using a response method that does not give any bias in favor of processing of word meanings or processing of print colors. On the other hand, evidence for the presence of facilitation in this task has been scarce, even though this facilitation is theoretically possible. By modifying the task such that participants respond to a stimulus color word by pointing to a corresponding response word on a computer screen with a mouse, the present study investigated the possibility that not only interference but also facilitation would take place in a reverse Stroop task. Importantly, in this study, participants’ responses were dynamically tracked by recording the entire trajectories of the mouse. Arguably, this method provided richer information about participants’ performance than traditional measures such as reaction time and accuracy, allowing for more detailed (and thus potentially more sensitive) investigation of facilitation and interference in the reverse Stroop task. These trajectories showed that the mouse’s approach toward correct response words was significantly delayed by incongruent print colors but not affected by congruent print colors, demonstrating that only interference, not facilitation, was present in the current task. Implications of these findings are discussed within a theoretical framework in which the strength of association between a task and its response method plays a critical role in determining how word meanings and print colors interact in reverse Stroop tasks. PMID:27199881

Neural correlates of the number–size interference task in children

PubMed Central

Kaufmann, Liane; Koppelstaetter, Florian; Siedentopf, Christian; Haala, Ilka; Haberlandt, Edda; Zimmerhackl, Lothar-Bernd; Felber, Stefan; Ischebeck, Anja

2010-01-01

In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, 17 children were asked to make numerical and physical magnitude classifications while ignoring the other stimulus dimension (number–size interference task). Digit pairs were either incongruent (3 8) or neutral (3 8). Generally, numerical magnitude interferes with font size (congruity effect). Moreover, relative to numerically adjacent digits far ones yield quicker responses (distance effect). Behaviourally, robust distance and congruity effects were observed in both tasks. imaging baselline contrasts revealed activations in frontal, parietal, occipital and cerebellar areas bilaterally. Different from results usually reported for adultssmaller distances activated frontal, but not (intra-)parietal areas in children. Congruity effects became significant only in physical comparisons. Thus, even with comparable behavioural performance, cerebral activation patterns may differ substantially between children and adults. PMID:16603917

Stroop color-word interference and electroencephalogram activation: evidence for age-related decline of the anterior attention system.

PubMed

West, R; Bell, M A

1997-07-01

Groups of healthy, community-dwelling younger and older adults performed a Stroop task in which color and word could be congruent or incongruent and spatially integrated or separated. During the task, continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from frontal, parietal, and occipital regions. The magnitude of the Stroop interference effect and task-related EEG activation was greater for older than younger adults when stimuli were integrated. This effect was significant over medial and lateral frontal and parietal, but not occipital, regions. In comparison, interference and EEG activation did not differ for younger and older adults when stimuli were separated. These findings support the hypothesis that the anterior attention system is more sensitive to the effects of increasing age than the posterior attention system.

Mission control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles: a workload analysis.

PubMed

Dixon, Stephen R; Wickens, Christopher D; Chang, Dervon

2005-01-01

With unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 36 licensed pilots flew both single-UAV and dual-UAV simulated military missions. Pilots were required to navigate each UAV through a series of mission legs in one of the following three conditions: a baseline condition, an auditory autoalert condition, and an autopilot condition. Pilots were responsible for (a) mission completion, (b) target search, and (c) systems monitoring. Results revealed that both the autoalert and the autopilot automation improved overall performance by reducing task interference and alleviating workload. The autoalert system benefited performance both in the automated task and mission completion task, whereas the autopilot system benefited performance in the automated task, the mission completion task, and the target search task. Practical implications for the study include the suggestion that reliable automation can help alleviate task interference and reduce workload, thereby allowing pilots to better handle concurrent tasks during single- and multiple-UAV flight control.

Aging and response interference across sensory modalities.

PubMed

Guerreiro, Maria J S; Adam, Jos J; Van Gerven, Pascal W M

2014-06-01

Advancing age is associated with decrements in selective attention. It was recently hypothesized that age-related differences in selective attention depend on sensory modality. The goal of the present study was to investigate the role of sensory modality in age-related vulnerability to distraction, using a response interference task. To this end, 16 younger (mean age = 23.1 years) and 24 older (mean age = 65.3 years) adults performed four response interference tasks, involving all combinations of visual and auditory targets and distractors. The results showed that response interference effects differ across sensory modalities, but not across age groups. These results indicate that sensory modality plays an important role in vulnerability to distraction, but not in age-related distractibility by irrelevant spatial information.

Additional-singleton interference in efficient visual search: a common salience route for detection and compound tasks.

PubMed

Zehetleitner, Michael; Proulx, Michael J; Müller, Hermann J

2009-11-01

In efficient search for feature singleton targets, additional singletons (ASs) defined in a nontarget dimension are frequently found to interfere with performance. All search tasks that are processed via a spatial saliency map of the display would be predicted to be subject to such AS interference. In contrast, dual-route models, such as feature integration theory, assume that singletons are detected not via a saliency map, but via a nonspatial route that is immune to interference from cross-dimensional ASs. Consistent with this, a number of studies have reported absent interference effects in detection tasks. However, recent work suggests that the failure to find such effects may be due to the particular frequencies at which ASs were presented, as well as to their relative saliency. These two factors were examined in the present study. In contrast to previous reports, cross-dimensional ASs were found to slow detection (target-present and target-absent) responses, modulated by both their frequency of occurrence and saliency (relative to the target). These findings challenge dual-route models and support single-route models, such as dimension weighting and guided search.

Zooming into creativity: individual differences in attentional global-local biases are linked to creative thinking

PubMed Central

Zmigrod, Sharon; Zmigrod, Leor; Hommel, Bernhard

2015-01-01

While recent studies have investigated how processes underlying human creativity are affected by particular visual-attentional states, we tested the impact of more stable attention-related preferences. These were assessed by means of Navon’s global-local task, in which participants respond to the global or local features of large letters constructed from smaller letters. Three standard measures were derived from this task: the sizes of the global precedence effect, the global interference effect (i.e., the impact of incongruent letters at the global level on local processing), and the local interference effect (i.e., the impact of incongruent letters at the local level on global processing). These measures were correlated with performance in a convergent-thinking creativity task (the Remote Associates Task), a divergent-thinking creativity task (the Alternate Uses Task), and a measure of fluid intelligence (Raven’s matrices). Flexibility in divergent thinking was predicted by the local interference effect while convergent thinking was predicted by intelligence only. We conclude that a stronger attentional bias to visual information about the “bigger picture” promotes cognitive flexibility in searching for multiple solutions. PMID:26579030

Retro-Active Emotion: Do Negative Emotional Stimuli Disrupt Consolidation in Working Memory?

PubMed

Kandemir, Güven; Akyürek, Elkan G; Nieuwenstein, Mark R

2017-01-01

While many studies have shown that a task-irrelevant emotionally arousing stimulus can interfere with the processing of a shortly following target, it remains unclear whether an emotional stimulus can also retro-actively interrupt the ongoing processing of an earlier target. In two experiments, we examined whether the presentation of a negative emotionally arousing picture can disrupt working memory consolidation of a preceding visual target. In both experiments, the effects of negative emotional pictures were compared with the effects of neutral pictures. In Experiment 1, the pictures were entirely task-irrelevant whereas in Experiment 2 the pictures were associated with a 2-alternative forced choice task that required participants to respond to the color of a frame surrounding the pictures. The results showed that the appearance of the pictures did not interfere with target consolidation when the pictures were task-irrelevant, whereas such interference was observed when the pictures were associated with a 2-AFC task. Most importantly, however, the results showed no effects of whether the picture had neutral or emotional content. Implications for further research are discussed.

Stroop interference associated with efficient reading fluency and prelexical orthographic processing.

PubMed

Mano, Quintino R; Williamson, Brady J; Pae, Hye K; Osmon, David C

2016-01-01

The Stroop Color-Word Test involves a dynamic interplay between reading and executive functioning that elicits intuitions of word reading automaticity. One such intuition is that strong reading skills (i.e., more automatized word reading) play a disruptive role within the test, contributing to Stroop interference. However, evidence has accumulated that challenges this intuition. The present study examined associations among Stroop interference, reading skills (i.e., isolated word identification, grapheme-to-phoneme mapping, phonemic awareness, reading fluency) measured on standardized tests, and orthographic skills measured on experimental computerized tasks. Among university students (N = 152), correlational analyses showed greater Stroop interference to be associated with (a) relatively low scores on all standardized reading tests, and (b) longer response latencies on orthographic tasks. Hierarchical regression demonstrated that reading fluency and prelexical orthographic processing predicted unique and significant variance in Stroop interference beyond baseline rapid naming. Results suggest that strong reading skills, including orthographic processing, play a supportive role in resolving Stroop interference.

Task choice and semantic interference in picture naming.

PubMed

Piai, Vitória; Roelofs, Ardi; Schriefers, Herbert

2015-05-01

Evidence from dual-task performance indicates that speakers prefer not to select simultaneous responses in picture naming and another unrelated task, suggesting a response selection bottleneck in naming. In particular, when participants respond to tones with a manual response and name pictures with superimposed semantically related or unrelated distractor words, semantic interference in naming tends to be constant across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between the tone stimulus and the picture-word stimulus. In the present study, we examine whether semantic interference in picture naming depends on SOA in case of a task choice (naming the picture vs reading the word of a picture-word stimulus) based on tones. This situation requires concurrent processing of the tone stimulus and the picture-word stimulus, but not a manual response to the tones. On each trial, participants either named a picture or read aloud a word depending on the pitch of a tone, which was presented simultaneously with picture-word onset or 350 ms or 1000 ms before picture-word onset. Semantic interference was present with tone pre-exposure, but absent when tone and picture-word stimulus were presented simultaneously. Against the background of the available studies, these results support an account according to which speakers tend to avoid concurrent response selection, but can engage in other types of concurrent processing, such as task choices. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speed and Lateral Inhibition of Stimulus Processing Contribute to Individual Differences in Stroop-Task Performance.

PubMed

Naber, Marnix; Vedder, Anneke; Brown, Stephen B R E; Nieuwenhuis, Sander

2016-01-01

The Stroop task is a popular neuropsychological test that measures executive control. Strong Stroop interference is commonly interpreted in neuropsychology as a diagnostic marker of impairment in executive control, possibly reflecting executive dysfunction. However, popular models of the Stroop task indicate that several other aspects of color and word processing may also account for individual differences in the Stroop task, independent of executive control. Here we use new approaches to investigate the degree to which individual differences in Stroop interference correlate with the relative processing speed of word and color stimuli, and the lateral inhibition between visual stimuli. We conducted an electrophysiological and behavioral experiment to measure (1) how quickly an individual's brain processes words and colors presented in isolation (P3 latency), and (2) the strength of an individual's lateral inhibition between visual representations with a visual illusion. Both measures explained at least 40% of the variance in Stroop interference across individuals. As these measures were obtained in contexts not requiring any executive control, we conclude that the Stroop effect also measures an individual's pre-set way of processing visual features such as words and colors. This study highlights the important contributions of stimulus processing speed and lateral inhibition to individual differences in Stroop interference, and challenges the general view that the Stroop task primarily assesses executive control.

Sex-specific neural activity when resolving cognitive interference in individuals with or without prior internalizing disorders.

PubMed

Wang, Zhishun; Jacobs, Rachel H; Marsh, Rachel; Horga, Guillermo; Qiao, Jianping; Warner, Virginia; Weissman, Myrna M; Peterson, Bradley S

2016-03-30

The processing of cognitive interference is a self-regulatory capacity that is impaired in persons with internalizing disorders. This investigation was to assess sex differences in the neural correlates of cognitive interference in individuals with and without an illness history of an internalizing disorder. We compared functional magnetic resonance imaging blood-oxygenation-level-dependent responses in both males (n=63) and females (n=80) with and without this illness history during performance of the Simon task. Females deactivated superior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobe, and posterior cingulate cortex to a greater extent than males. Females with a prior history of internalizing disorder also deactivated these regions more compared to males with that history, and they additionally demonstrated greater activation of right inferior frontal gyrus. These group differences were represented in a significant sex-by-illness interaction in these regions. These deactivated regions compose a task-negative or default mode network, whereas the inferior frontal gyrus usually activates when performing an attention-demanding task and is a key component of a task-positive network. Our findings suggest that a prior history of internalizing disorders disproportionately influences functioning of the default mode network and is associated with an accompanying activation of the task-positive network in females during the resolution of cognitive interference. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

"The mute who can sing": a cortical stimulation study on singing.

PubMed

Roux, Franck-Emmanuel; Borsa, Stefano; Démonet, Jean-François

2009-02-01

In an attempt to identify cortical areas involved in singing in addition to language areas, the authors used a singing task during direct cortical mapping in 5 patients who were amateur singers and had undergone surgery for brain tumors. The organization of the cortical areas involved in language and singing was analyzed in relation with these surgical data. One left-handed and 4 right-handed patients with brain tumors in left (2 cases) and right (3 cases) hemispheres and no significant language or singing deficits underwent surgery with the "awake surgery" technique. All patients had a special interest in singing and were involved in amateur singing activities. They were tested using naming, reading, and singing tasks. Outside primary sensorimotor areas, singing interferences were rare and were exclusively localized in small cortical areas (< 1 cm(2)). A clear distinction was found between speech and singing in the Broca region. In the Broca region, no singing interference was found in areas in which interference in naming and reading tasks were detected. Conversely, a specific singing interference was found in nondominant middle frontal gyri in one patient. This interference consisted of abrupt singing arrest without apparent face, mouth, and tongue contraction. Finally, nonspecific singing interferences were found in the right and left precentral gyri in all patients (probably by interference in final articulatory mechanisms of singing). Dissociations between speech and singing found outside primary sensorimotor areas showed that these 2 functions use, in some cortical stages, different cerebral pathways.

A Developmental Window into Trade-offs in Executive Function: The Case of Task Switching versus Response Inhibition in 6-year-olds

PubMed Central

Chatham, Christopher H.; Wiseheart, Melody; Munakata, Yuko

2014-01-01

Good executive function has been linked to many positive outcomes in academic performance, health, and social competence. However, some aspects of executive function may interfere with other cognitive processes. Childhood provides a unique test case for investigating such cognitive trade-offs, given the dramatic failures and developments observed during this period. For example, most children categorically switch or perseverate when asked to switch between rules on a card-sorting task. To test potential trade-offs with the development of task switching abilities, we compared 6-year-olds who switched versus perseverated in a card-sorting task on two aspects of inhibitory control: response inhibition (via a stop signal task) and interference control (via a Simon task). Across two studies, switchers showed worse response inhibition than perseverators, consistent with the idea of cognitive trade-offs; however, switchers showed better interference control than perseverators, consistent with prior work documenting benefits associated with the development of executive function. This pattern of positive and negative associations may reflect aspects of working memory (active maintenance of current goals, and clearing of prior goals) that help children focused on a single task-goal but hurt in situations with conflicting goals. Implications for understanding components of executive function and their relationships across development are discussed. PMID:24791710

Interference from previous distraction disrupts older adults' memory.

PubMed

Biss, Renée K; Campbell, Karen L; Hasher, Lynn

2013-07-01

Previously relevant information can disrupt the ability of older adults to remember new information. Here, the researchers examined whether prior irrelevant information, or distraction, can also interfere with older adults' memory for new information. Younger and older adults first completed a 1-back task on pictures that were superimposed with distracting words. After a delay, participants learned picture-word paired associates and memory was tested using picture-cued recall. In 1 condition (high interference), some pairs included pictures from the 1-back task now paired with new words. In a low-interference condition, the transfer list used all new items. Older adults had substantially lower cued-recall performance in the high- compared with the low-interference condition. In contrast, younger adults' performance did not vary across conditions. These findings suggest that even never-relevant information from the past can disrupt older adults' memory for new associations.

Proactive interference from items previously stored in visual working memory.

PubMed

Makovski, Tal; Jiang, Yuhong V

2008-01-01

This study investigates the fate of information that was previously stored in visual working memory but that is no longer needed. Previous research has found inconsistent results, with some showing effective release of irrelevant information and others showing proactive interference. Using change detection tasks of colors or shapes, we show that participants tend to falsely classify a changed item as "no change" if it matches one of the memory items on the preceding trial. The interference is spatially specific: Memory for the preceding trial interferes more if it matches the feature value and the location of a test item than if it does not. Interference results from retaining information in visual working memory, since it is absent when items on the preceding trials are passively viewed, or are attended but not memorized. We conclude that people cannot fully eliminate unwanted visual information from current working memory tasks.

F-16 Instructional Sequencing Plan Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-01

information). 2. Interference (learning of some tasks interferes with the learning of other tasks when they possess similar but confusing differences ...profound effect on the total training expense. This increases the desirability of systematic, precise methods of syllabus generation. Inherent in a given...the expensive to acquire. resource. Least cost The syllabus must Select sequences which provide a least total make maximum use of cost method of

The Stroop Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Interference Control in AD/HD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Mourik, Rosa; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Sergeant, Joseph A.

2005-01-01

Background: An inhibition deficit, including poor interference control, has been implicated as one of the core deficits in AD/HD. Interference control is clinically measured by the Stroop Colour-Word Task. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the strength of an interference deficit in AD/HD as measured by the Stroop Colour-Word Task…

Individuals with Low Working Memory Spans Show Greater Interference from Irrelevant Information Because of Poor Source Monitoring, Not Greater Activation

PubMed Central

Lilienthal, Lindsey; Rose, Nathan S.; Tamez, Elaine; Myerson, Joel; Hale, Sandra

2014-01-01

Although individuals with high and low working memory (WM) span appear to differ in the extent to which irrelevant information interferes with their performance on WM tasks, the locus of this interference is not clear. The present study investigated whether, when performing a WM task, high- and low-span individuals differ in the activation of formerly relevant, but now irrelevant items, and/or in their ability to correctly identify such irrelevant items. This was done in two experiments, both of which used modified complex WM span tasks. In Experiment 1, the span task included an embedded lexical decision task designed to obtain an implicit measure of the activation of both currently and formerly relevant items. In Experiment 2, the span task included an embedded recognition judgment task designed to obtain an explicit measure of both item and source recognition ability. The results of these experiments indicate that low-span individuals do not hold irrelevant information in a more active state in memory than high-span individuals, but rather that low-span individuals are significantly poorer at identifying such information as irrelevant at the time of retrieval. These results suggest that differences in the ability to monitor the source of information, rather than differences in the activation of irrelevant information, are the more important determinant of performance on WM tasks. PMID:25921723

Age difference in dual-task interference effects on procedural learning in children.

PubMed

Lejeune, Caroline; Desmottes, Lise; Catale, Corinne; Meulemans, Thierry

2015-01-01

The current study aimed to investigate the role played by explicit mechanisms during procedural learning in two age groups of children (7 and 10 years) using a dual-task paradigm. To do this, we explored the effect of an interference task during the early and late phases of a mirror tracing learning task. The results showed a differential impact of the secondary task on the two age groups, but only during the first learning phase; the performance of 10-year-olds was affected by the second task, whereas in 7-year-olds no performance difference was found between the single- and dual-task conditions. Overall, our study suggests that there are differences in the amount of effortful processing in which 7- and 10-year-olds engage at the beginning of the learning process; procedural learning in young children is mainly implicit, as attested by its lesser sensitivity to an interference task, whereas high-level explicit mechanisms seem to contribute to the procedural performance of 10-year-olds. However, these explicit mechanisms, even if they have an effect on performance, might not have an impact on the learning curve given that no difference in rate of acquisition was found between age groups. These findings are discussed in the light of classical conceptions of procedural learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short-term retention of pictures and words as a function of type of distraction and length of delay interval.

PubMed

Pellegrino, J W; Siegel, A W; Dhawan, M

1976-01-01

Picture and word triads were tested in a Brown-Peterson short-term retention task at varying delay intervals (3, 10, or 30 sec) and under acoustic and simultaneous acoustic and visual distraction. Pictures were superior to words at all delay intervals under single acoustic distraction. Dual distraction consistently reduced picture retention while simultaneously facilitating word retention. The results were interpreted in terms of the dual coding hypothesis with modality-specific interference effects in the visual and acoustic processing systems. The differential effects of dual distraction were related to the introduction of visual interference and differential levels of functional acoustic interference across dual and single distraction tasks. The latter was supported by a constant 2/1 ratio in the backward counting rates of the acoustic vs. dual distraction tasks. The results further suggest that retention may not depend on total processing load of the distraction task, per se, but rather that processing load operates within modalities.

The intention interference effect.

PubMed

Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Kantner, Justin; Dixon, Roger A; Lindsay, D Stephen

2011-01-01

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which color-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do-the-Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore-the-Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an IIE suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load.

Interference control in working memory: comparing groups of children with atypical development.

PubMed

Palladino, Paola; Ferrari, Marcella

2013-01-01

The study aimed to test whether working memory deficits in children at risk of Learning Disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be attributed to deficits in interference control, thereby implicating prefrontal systems. Two groups of children known for showing poor working memory (i.e., children with poor comprehension and children with ADHD) were compared to a group of children with specific reading decoding problems (i.e., having severe problems in phonological rather than working memory) and to a control group. All children were tested with a verbal working memory task. Interference control of irrelevant items was examined by a lexical decision task presented immediately after the final recall in about half the trials, selected at random. The interference control measure was therefore directly related to working memory performance. Results confirmed deficient working memory performance in poor comprehenders and children at risk of ADHD + LD. More interestingly, this working memory deficit was associated with greater activation of irrelevant information than in the control group. Poor decoders showed more efficient interference control, in contrast to poor comprehenders and ADHD + LD children. These results indicated that interfering items were still highly accessible to working memory in children who fail the working memory task. In turn, these findings strengthen and clarify the role of interference control, one of the most critical prefrontal functions, in working memory.

Modulating effect of COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism on interference resolution during a working memory task.

PubMed

Jaspar, Mathieu; Dideberg, Vinciane; Bours, Vincent; Maquet, Pierre; Collette, Fabienne

2015-04-01

Genetic variability related to the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has received increasing attention in the last 15years, in particular as a potential modulator of the neural substrates underlying inhibitory processes and updating in working memory (WM). In an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we administered a modified version of the Sternberg probe recency task (Sternberg, 1966) to 43 young healthy volunteers, varying the level of interference across successive items. The task was divided into two parts (high vs. low interference) to induce either proactive or reactive control processes. The participants were separated into three groups according to their COMT Val(158)Met genotype [Val/Val (VV); Val/Met (VM); Met/Met (MM)]. The general aim of the study was to determine whether COMT polymorphism has a modulating effect on the neural substrates of interference resolution during WM processing. Results indicate that interfering trials were associated with greater involvement of frontal cortices (bilateral medial frontal gyrus, left precentral and superior frontal gyri, right inferior frontal gyrus) in VV homozygous subjects (by comparison to Met allele carriers) only in the proactive condition of the task. In addition, analysis of peristimulus haemodynamic responses (PSTH) revealed that the genotype-related difference observed in the left SFG was specifically driven by a larger increase in activity from the storage to the recognition phase of the interfering trials in VV homozygous subjects. These results confirm the impact of COMT genotype on inhibitory processes during a WM task, with an advantage for Met allele carriers. Interestingly, this impact on frontal areas is present only when the level of interference is high, and especially during the transition from storage to recognition in the left superior frontal gyrus. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of Threat and Serotonin Transporter Genotype on Interference Effects

PubMed Central

Jasinska, Agnes J.; Ho, S. Shaun; Taylor, Stephan F.; Burmeister, Margit; Villafuerte, Sandra; Polk, Thad A.

2012-01-01

Emotion-cognition interactions are critical in goal-directed behavior and may be disrupted in psychopathology. Growing evidence also suggests that emotion-cognition interactions are modulated by genetic variation, including genetic variation in the serotonin system. The goal of the current study was to examine the impact of threat-related distracters and serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR/rs25531) on cognitive task performance in healthy females. Using a novel threat-distracter version of the Multi-Source Interference Task specifically designed to probe emotion-cognition interactions, we demonstrate a robust and temporally dynamic modulation of cognitive interference effects by threat-related distracters relative to other distracter types and relative to no-distracter condition. We further show that threat-related distracters have dissociable and opposite effects on cognitive task performance in easy and difficult task conditions, operationalized as the level of response interference that has to be surmounted to produce a correct response. Finally, we present evidence that the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 genotype in females modulates susceptibility to cognitive interference in a global fashion, across all distracter conditions, and irrespective of the emotional salience of distracters, rather than specifically in the presence of threat-related distracters. Taken together, these results add to our understanding of the processes through which threat-related distracters affect cognitive processing, and have implications for our understanding of disorders in which threat signals have a detrimental effect on cognition, including depression and anxiety disorders. PMID:22590463

Evidence for selective inhibitory impairment in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Christ, Shawn E; Kester, Lindsay E; Bodner, Kimberly E; Miles, Judith H

2011-11-01

The social and communicative challenges faced by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often compounded by additional difficulties with executive function. It remains unclear, however, to what the extent individuals with ASD experienced impairment in inhibitory control. The objective of the present study was to assess the three main subtypes of executive inhibitory control within a single ASD sample thus providing new insight into the unique ASD-related pattern of sparing and impairment observed across different aspects of inhibitory control. A sample of 28 children with ASD (mean age = 13.1 years) and a comparison group of 49 neurologically uncompromised children (mean age = 13.3 years) participated. A prepotent response inhibition task, a flanker visual filtering task, and a proactive interference memory task were used to evaluate prepotent response inhibition, resistance to distracter interference, and resistance to proactive interference, respectively. After accounting for individual differences in noninhibition abilities (e.g., processing speed) and overall level of functioning, there was no evidence of group-related differences in inhibitory performance on the prepotent response inhibition test or proactive interference test. ASD-related impairments in inhibitory control were evident, however, on the flanker visual filtering task. Taken together, the present findings indicate that ASD is associated with impairments in some, but not all, aspects of inhibitory control. Individuals with ASD appear to have difficulty ignoring distracting visual information, but prepotent response inhibition and resistance to proactive interference are relatively intact. The current findings also provide support for a multitype model of inhibitory control.

Stroop interference and food intake.

PubMed

Overduin, J; Jansen, A; Louwerse, E

1995-11-01

The Stroop task is aimed at assessing attentional bias. Words are displayed one by one on a computer screen and subjects are instructed to name the color in which every word is printed. The attentional bias is supposed to be reflected in the extent to which the word meanings interfere with the speed of color naming: The longer the color naming latency, the larger the attentional bias. Experiments using this task have demonstrated attentional bias for eating and body shape-related words in bulimic, anorexic, and restrained subjects. Explanations of these results have generally been formulated in terms of restricted food intake or emotional concerns about food and body shape-related themes. In contrast, in the present article it was proposed that Stroop interference might reflect a tendency either to withdraw or approach food or body shape-related stimuli. Fifty-one subjects (25 unrestrained, 26 restrained) were administered a Stroop task containing neutral, food, and body shape-related words. There were two conditions to which subjects were randomly allocated: the "appetizer" and "no-appetizer" condition. The appetizer was a bit of pudding to be ingested by the subject just before the Stroop task. Following the Stroop task an ice cream taste test was presented in which the subjects were allowed to eat as much as they liked. The amount of ice cream eaten was registered secretly. The results show that in unrestrained subjects Stroop interference for food words was found only in the appetizer condition. Restrained subjects, however, showed a permanent interference for food words. A significant correlation of .58 between Stroop food-word interference and ice cream intake was found only in unrestrained subjects. In restrained eaters the correlation was near 0. No effect of condition or restraint was found on Stroop body shape-word interference. The findings indicate that (1) ingestion of an appetizer seems to have evoked an attentional bias for food words in nonrestraints that correlated with food intake; (2) restrained eaters showed continuous attentional bias. This appears to support the urge-to-act explanation of Stroop interference. The lack of correlation between restraints' attentional bias and ad lib food intake could have been caused by inhibition of approach which is one of the characteristics of restrained eating: The present procedure seems not to have triggered disinhibited eating in these subjects. Among other things it is concluded that Stroop interference, as a measure of "craving" triggered by food cue, might be a useful aid in assessing the risk of relapse in treated binge eating patients.

Concurrent working memory load can facilitate selective attention: evidence for specialized load.

PubMed

Park, Soojin; Kim, Min-Shik; Chun, Marvin M

2007-10-01

Load theory predicts that concurrent working memory load impairs selective attention and increases distractor interference (N. Lavie, A. Hirst, J. W. de Fockert, & E. Viding). Here, the authors present new evidence that the type of concurrent working memory load determines whether load impairs selective attention or not. Working memory load was paired with a same/different matching task that required focusing on targets while ignoring distractors. When working memory items shared the same limited-capacity processing mechanisms with targets in the matching task, distractor interference increased. However, when working memory items shared processing with distractors in the matching task, distractor interference decreased, facilitating target selection. A specialized load account is proposed to describe the dissociable effects of working memory load on selective processing depending on whether the load overlaps with targets or with distractors. (c) 2007 APA

Attention and Visuospatial Working Memory Share the Same Processing Resources

PubMed Central

Feng, Jing; Pratt, Jay; Spence, Ian

2012-01-01

Attention and visuospatial working memory (VWM) share very similar characteristics; both have the same upper bound of about four items in capacity and they recruit overlapping brain regions. We examined whether both attention and VWM share the same processing resources using a novel dual-task costs approach based on a load-varying dual-task technique. With sufficiently large loads on attention and VWM, considerable interference between the two processes was observed. A further load increase on either process produced reciprocal increases in interference on both processes, indicating that attention and VWM share common resources. More critically, comparison among four experiments on the reciprocal interference effects, as measured by the dual-task costs, demonstrates no significant contribution from additional processing other than the shared processes. These results support the notion that attention and VWM share the same processing resources. PMID:22529826

Distraction during learning with hypermedia: difficult tasks help to keep task goals on track

PubMed Central

Scheiter, Katharina; Gerjets, Peter; Heise, Elke

2014-01-01

In educational hypermedia environments, students are often confronted with potential sources of distraction arising from additional information that, albeit interesting, is unrelated to their current task goal. The paper investigates the conditions under which distraction occurs and hampers performance. Based on theories of volitional action control it was hypothesized that interesting information, especially if related to a pending goal, would interfere with task performance only when working on easy, but not on difficult tasks. In Experiment 1, 66 students learned about probability theory using worked examples and solved corresponding test problems, whose task difficulty was manipulated. As a second factor, the presence of interesting information unrelated to the primary task was varied. Results showed that students solved more easy than difficult probability problems correctly. However, the presence of interesting, but task-irrelevant information did not interfere with performance. In Experiment 2, 68 students again engaged in example-based learning and problem solving in the presence of task-irrelevant information. Problem-solving difficulty was varied as a first factor. Additionally, the presence of a pending goal related to the task-irrelevant information was manipulated. As expected, problem-solving performance declined when a pending goal was present during working on easy problems, whereas no interference was observed for difficult problems. Moreover, the presence of a pending goal reduced the time on task-relevant information and increased the time on task-irrelevant information while working on easy tasks. However, as revealed by mediation analyses these changes in overt information processing behavior did not explain the decline in problem-solving performance. As an alternative explanation it is suggested that goal conflicts resulting from pending goals claim cognitive resources, which are then no longer available for learning and problem solving. PMID:24723907

Auditory working memory impairments in individuals at familial high risk for schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Seidman, Larry J.; Meyer, Eric C.; Giuliano, Anthony J.; Breiter, Hans C.; Goldstein, Jill M.; Kremen, William S.; Thermenos, Heidi W.; Toomey, Rosemary; Stone, William S.; Tsuang, Ming T.; Faraone, Stephen V.

2012-01-01

Objectives The search for predictors of schizophrenia has accelerated with a growing focus on early intervention and prevention of psychotic illness. Studying nonpsychotic relatives of individuals with schizophrenia enables identification of markers of vulnerability for the illness independent of confounds associated with psychosis. The goal of these studies was to develop new auditory continuous performance tests (ACPTs) and evaluate their effects in individuals with schizophrenia and their relatives. Methods We carried out two studies of auditory vigilance with tasks involving working memory (WM) and interference control with increasing levels of cognitive load to discern the information processing vulnerabilities in a sample of schizophrenia patients, and two samples of nonpsychotic relatives of individuals with schizophrenia and controls. Study 1 assessed adults (mean age = 41), and Study 2 assessed teenagers and young adults age 13-25 (mean =19). Results Patients with schizophrenia were impaired on all five versions of the ACPTs, while relatives were impaired only on WM tasks, particularly the two interference tasks that maximize cognitive load. Across all groups, the interference tasks were more difficult to perform than the other tasks. Schizophrenia patients performed worse than relatives who performed worse than controls. For patients, the effect sizes were large (Cohen’s d =1.5), whereas for relatives, they were moderate (d = ~0.40-0.50). There was no age by group interaction in the relatives –control comparison except for participants <31 years of age. Conclusions Novel WM tasks that manipulate cognitive load and interference control index an important component of the vulnerability to schizophrenia. PMID:22563872

Memory without Consolidation: Temporal Distinctiveness Explains Retroactive Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ecker, Ullrich K. H.; Brown, Gordon D. A.; Lewandowsky, Stephan

2015-01-01

Is consolidation needed to account for retroactive interference in free recall? Interfering mental activity during the retention interval of a memory task impairs performance, in particular if the interference occurs in temporal proximity to the encoding of the to-be-remembered (TBR) information. There are at least two rival theoretical accounts…

Decision-making under risk conditions is susceptible to interference by a secondary executive task.

PubMed

Starcke, Katrin; Pawlikowski, Mirko; Wolf, Oliver T; Altstötter-Gleich, Christine; Brand, Matthias

2011-05-01

Recent research suggests two ways of making decisions: an intuitive and an analytical one. The current study examines whether a secondary executive task interferes with advantageous decision-making in the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit and stable rules that taps executive functioning. One group of participants performed the original GDT solely, two groups performed either the GDT and a 1-back or a 2-back working memory task as a secondary task simultaneously. Results show that the group which performed the GDT and the secondary task with high executive load (2-back) decided less advantageously than the group which did not perform a secondary executive task. These findings give further evidence for the view that decision-making under risky conditions taps into the rational-analytical system which acts in a serial and not parallel way as performance on the GDT is disturbed by a parallel task that also requires executive resources.

Action Anticipation and Interference: A Test of Prospective Gaze

PubMed Central

Cannon, Erin N.; Woodward, Amanda L.

2013-01-01

In the current study we investigate the proposal that one aspect of social perception, action anticipation, involves the recruitment of representations for self-produced action. An eye tracking paradigm was implemented to measure prospective gaze to a goal while performing either a motor or working memory task. Results indicate an effect of the motor task, suggesting the interference of a shared motor and action perception representation. PMID:25285317

Does oxytocin lead to emotional interference during a working memory paradigm?

PubMed

Tollenaar, Marieke S; Ruissen, M; Elzinga, B M; de Bruijn, E R A

2017-12-01

Oxytocin administration may increase attention to emotional information. We hypothesized that this augmented emotional processing might in turn lead to interference on concurrent cognitive tasks. To test this hypothesis, we examined whether oxytocin administration would lead to heightened emotional interference during a working memory paradigm. Additionally, moderating effects of childhood maltreatment were explored. Seventy-eight healthy males received 24 IU of intranasal oxytocin or placebo in a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind between-subjects study. A working memory task was performed during which neutral, positive, and negative distractors were presented. The main outcome observed was that oxytocin did not enhance interference by emotional information during the working memory task. There was a non-significant trend for oxytocin to slow down performance irrespective of distractor valence, while accuracy was unaffected. Exploratory analyses showed that childhood maltreatment was related to lower overall accuracy, but in the placebo condition only. However, the maltreated group sample size was very small precluding any conclusions on its moderating effect. Despite oxytocin's previously proposed role in enhanced emotional processing, no proof was found that this would lead to reduced performance on a concurrent cognitive task. The routes by which oxytocin exerts its effects on cognitive and social-emotional processes remain to be fully elucidated.

Context-Sensitive Adjustment of Cognitive Control in Dual-Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Rico; Gottschalk, Caroline; Dreisbach, Gesine

2014-01-01

Performing 2 highly similar tasks at the same time requires an adaptive regulation of cognitive control to shield prioritized primary task processing from between-task (cross-talk) interference caused by secondary task processing. In the present study, the authors investigated how implicitly and explicitly delivered information promotes the…

Operation Compatibility: A Neglected Contribution to Dual-Task Costs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pannebakker, Merel M.; Band, Guido P. H.; Ridderinkhof, K. Richard

2009-01-01

Traditionally, dual-task interference has been attributed to the consequences of task load exceeding capacity limitations. However, the current study demonstrates that in addition to task load, the mutual compatibility of the concurrent processes modulates whether 2 tasks can be performed in parallel. In 2 psychological refractory period…

Naming and categorizing objects: task differences modulate the polarity of semantic effects in the picture-word interference paradigm.

PubMed

Hantsch, Ansgar; Jescheniak, Jörg D; Mädebach, Andreas

2012-07-01

The picture-word interference paradigm is a prominent tool for studying lexical retrieval during speech production. When participants name the pictures, interference from semantically related distractor words has regularly been shown. By contrast, when participants categorize the pictures, facilitation from semantically related distractors has typically been found. In the extant studies, however, differences in the task instructions (naming vs. categorizing) were confounded with the response level: While responses in naming were typically located at the basic level (e.g., "dog"), responses were located at the superordinate level in categorization (e.g., "animal"). The present study avoided this confound by having participants respond at the basic level in both naming and categorization, using the same pictures, distractors, and verbal responses. Our findings confirm the polarity reversal of the semantic effects--that is, semantic interference in naming, and semantic facilitation in categorization. These findings show that the polarity reversal of the semantic effect is indeed due to the different tasks and is not an artifact of the different response levels used in previous studies. Implications for current models of language production are discussed.

Negative mood and interference control in nonsuicidal self-injury.

PubMed

Allen, Kenneth J D; Hooley, Jill M

2017-02-01

People who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) often report high levels of impulsivity. However, results from behavioral tasks measuring impulsivity have been mixed: those with a history of NSSI generally perform comparably to healthy controls. Recent research suggests, however, that people who self-injure have specific deficits in response inhibition to negative emotional stimuli. Here, we extend this work by testing whether negative mood impairs interference control in NSSI. 33 participants reporting a history of NSSI (approximately half in the past year) and 31 age- and gender-matched healthy controls completed the multi-source interference task before and after a written negative mood induction designed to increase feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and shame. After the induction, the NSSI group reported increased negative mood but did not show worse interference control. In other words, increased negative mood did not correspond to increased behavioral impulsivity in participants reporting NSSI. Consistent with past research, the NSSI and healthy control groups showed equivalent task performance. This study adds to evidence that NSSI is not characterized by behavioral impulsivity, even in the context of negative mood. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The inhibition of proactive interference among adults with Internet gaming disorder.

PubMed

Ko, Chih-Hung; Wang, Peng-Wei; Liu, Tai-Ling; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Yen, Ju-Yu

2015-06-01

Cognitive control plays a pivotal role in the mechanism of addictive behavior. The aim of the study was to evaluate the deficit in inhibition of proactive interference of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) using a directed forgetting task among young adults. A total of 64 participants with IGD and 69 controls were recruited on a university campus. They completed the directed forgetting task for online gaming words and neutral words. The results demonstrated that the IGD group had a poorer performance on the directed forgetting task, and this represented a deficit in inhibition of proactive interference. They also had a higher tendency to remember online gaming words rather than neutral words in comparison with the control group. This demonstrated memory bias toward online gaming words. These results suggested that more attention should be paid to deficits in inhibition of proactive interference and memory bias toward gaming content when treating subjects with IGD. Furthermore, it is essential and practical to prevent exposure to online gaming-related cues when endeavoring to control online gaming behavior. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Ambiguity produces attention shifts in category learning.

PubMed

Vadillo, Miguel A; Orgaz, Cristina; Luque, David; Nelson, James Byron

2016-04-01

It has been suggested that people and nonhuman animals protect their knowledge from interference by shifting attention toward the context when presented with information that contradicts their previous beliefs. Despite that suggestion, no studies have directly measured changes in attention while participants are exposed to an interference treatment. In the present experiments, we adapted a dot-probe task to track participants' attention to cues and contexts while they were completing a simple category learning task. The results support the hypothesis that interference produces a change in the allocation of attention to cues and contexts. © 2016 Vadillo et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Domain-general contributions to social reasoning: theory of mind and deontic reasoning re-explored.

PubMed

McKinnon, Margaret C; Moscovitch, Morris

2007-02-01

Using older adults and dual-task interference, we examined performance on two social reasoning tasks: theory of mind (ToM) tasks and versions of the deontic selection task involving social contracts and hazardous conditions. In line with performance accounts of social reasoning, evidence from both aging and the dual-task method suggested that domain-general resources contribute to performance of these tasks. Specifically, older adults were impaired relative to younger adults on all types of social reasoning tasks tested; performance varied as a function of the demands these tasks placed on domain-general resources. Moreover, in younger adults, simultaneous performance of a working memory task interfered with younger adults' performance on both types of social reasoning tasks; here too, the magnitude of the interference effect varied with the processing demands of each task. Limits placed on social reasoning by executive functions contribute a great deal to performance, even in old age and in healthy younger adults under conditions of divided attention. The role of potentially non-modular and modular contributions to social reasoning is discussed.

Cognition and speech-in-noise recognition: the role of proactive interference.

PubMed

Ellis, Rachel J; Rönnberg, Jerker

2014-01-01

Complex working memory (WM) span tasks have been shown to predict speech-in-noise (SIN) recognition. Studies of complex WM span tasks suggest that, rather than indexing a single cognitive process, performance on such tasks may be governed by separate cognitive subprocesses embedded within WM. Previous research has suggested that one such subprocess indexed by WM tasks is proactive interference (PI), which refers to difficulties memorizing current information because of interference from previously stored long-term memory representations for similar information. The aim of the present study was to investigate phonological PI and to examine the relationship between PI (semantic and phonological) and SIN perception. A within-subjects experimental design was used. An opportunity sample of 24 young listeners with normal hearing was recruited. Measures of resistance to, and release from, semantic and phonological PI were calculated alongside the signal-to-noise ratio required to identify 50% of keywords correctly in a SIN recognition task. The data were analyzed using t-tests and correlations. Evidence of release from and resistance to semantic interference was observed. These measures correlated significantly with SIN recognition. Limited evidence of phonological PI was observed. The results show that capacity to resist semantic PI can be used to predict SIN recognition scores in young listeners with normal hearing. On the basis of these findings, future research will focus on investigating whether tests of PI can be used in the treatment and/or rehabilitation of hearing loss. American Academy of Audiology.

Building a Framework for a Dual Task Taxonomy

PubMed Central

McIsaac, Tara L.; Lamberg, Eric M.; Muratori, Lisa M.

2015-01-01

The study of dual task interference has gained increasing attention in the literature for the past 35 years, with six MEDLINE citations in 1979 growing to 351 citations indexed in 2014 and a peak of 454 cited papers in 2013. Increasingly, researchers are examining dual task cost in individuals with pathology, including those with neurodegenerative diseases. While the influence of these papers has extended from the laboratory to the clinic, the field has evolved without clear definitions of commonly used terms and with extreme variations in experimental procedures. As a result, it is difficult to examine the interference literature as a single body of work. In this paper we present a new taxonomy for classifying cognitive-motor and motor-motor interference within the study of dual task behaviors that connects traditional concepts of learning and principles of motor control with current issues of multitasking analysis. As a first step in the process we provide an operational definition of dual task, distinguishing it from a complex single task. We present this new taxonomy, inclusive of both cognitive and motor modalities, as a working model; one that we hope will generate discussion and create a framework from which one can view previous studies and develop questions of interest. PMID:25961027

EEG measures reveal dual-task interference in postural performance in young adults

PubMed Central

Woollacott, Marjorie

2014-01-01

The study used a dual-task (DT) postural paradigm (two tasks performed at once) that included electroencephalography (EEG) to examine cortical interference when a visual working memory (VWM) task was paired with a postural task. The change detection task was used, as it requires storage of information without updating or manipulation and predicts VWM capacity. Ground reaction forces (GRFs) (horizontal and vertical), EMG, and EEG elements, time locked to support surface perturbations, were used to infer the active neural processes underlying the automatic control of balance in 14 young adults. A significant reduction was seen between single task (ST) and DT conditions in VWM capacity (F(1,13) = 6.175, p < 0.05, r = 0.6) and event-related potential (ERP) N1 component amplitude over the L motor (p < 0.001) and R sensory (p < 0.05) cortical areas. In addition, a significant increase in the COP trajectory peak (pkcopx) was seen in the DT versus ST condition. Modulation of VWM capacity as well as ERP amplitude and pkcopx in DT conditions provided evidence of an interference pattern, suggesting that the two modalities shared a similar set of attentional resources. The results provide direct evidence of the competition for central processing attentional resources between the two modalities, through the reduction in amplitude of the ERP evoked by the postural perturbation. PMID:25273924

Effects of visual and verbal interference tasks on olfactory memory: the role of task complexity.

PubMed

Annett, J M; Leslie, J C

1996-08-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that visual and verbal suppression tasks interfere with olfactory memory in a manner which is partially consistent with a dual coding interpretation. However, it has been suggested that total task complexity rather than modality specificity of the suppression tasks might account for the observed pattern of results. This study addressed the issue of whether or not the level of difficulty and complexity of suppression tasks could explain the apparent modality effects noted in earlier experiments. A total of 608 participants were each allocated to one of 19 experimental conditions involving interference tasks which varied suppression type (visual or verbal), nature of complexity (single, double or mixed) and level of difficulty (easy, optimal or difficult) and presented with 13 target odours. Either recognition of the odours or free recall of the odour names was tested on one occasion, either within 15 minutes of presentation or one week later. Both recognition and recall performance showed an overall effect for suppression nature, suppression level and time of testing with no effect for suppression type. The results lend only limited support to Paivio's (1986) dual coding theory, but have a number of characteristics which suggest that an adequate account of olfactory memory may be broadly similar to current theories of face and object recognition. All of these phenomena might be dealt with by an appropriately modified version of dual coding theory.

Ego Depletion Does Not Interfere With Working Memory Performance.

PubMed

Singh, Ranjit K; Göritz, Anja S

2018-01-01

Ego depletion happens if exerting self-control reduces a person's capacity to subsequently control themselves. Previous research has suggested that ego depletion not only interferes with subsequent self-control but also with working memory. However, recent meta-analytical evidence casts doubt onto this. The present study tackles the question if ego depletion does interfere with working memory performance. We induced ego depletion in two ways: using an e-crossing task and using a Stroop task. We then measured working memory performance using the letter-number sequencing task. There was no evidence of ego depletion interfering with working memory performance. Several aspects of our study render this null finding highly robust. We had a large and heterogeneous sample of N = 1,385, which provided sufficient power. We deployed established depletion tasks from two task families (e-crossing task and Stroop), thus making it less likely that the null finding is due to a specific depletion paradigm. We derived several performance scores from the working memory task and ran different analyses to maximize the chances of finding an effect. Lastly, we controlled for two potential moderators, the implicit theories about willpower and dispositional self-control capacity, to ensure that a possible effect on working memory is not obscured by an interaction effect. In sum, this experiment strengthens the position that ego depletion works but does not affect working memory performance.

Ego Depletion Does Not Interfere With Working Memory Performance

PubMed Central

Singh, Ranjit K.; Göritz, Anja S.

2018-01-01

Ego depletion happens if exerting self-control reduces a person’s capacity to subsequently control themselves. Previous research has suggested that ego depletion not only interferes with subsequent self-control but also with working memory. However, recent meta-analytical evidence casts doubt onto this. The present study tackles the question if ego depletion does interfere with working memory performance. We induced ego depletion in two ways: using an e-crossing task and using a Stroop task. We then measured working memory performance using the letter-number sequencing task. There was no evidence of ego depletion interfering with working memory performance. Several aspects of our study render this null finding highly robust. We had a large and heterogeneous sample of N = 1,385, which provided sufficient power. We deployed established depletion tasks from two task families (e-crossing task and Stroop), thus making it less likely that the null finding is due to a specific depletion paradigm. We derived several performance scores from the working memory task and ran different analyses to maximize the chances of finding an effect. Lastly, we controlled for two potential moderators, the implicit theories about willpower and dispositional self-control capacity, to ensure that a possible effect on working memory is not obscured by an interaction effect. In sum, this experiment strengthens the position that ego depletion works but does not affect working memory performance. PMID:29706923

Interference Conditions of the Reconsolidation Process in Humans: The Role of Valence and Different Memory Systems

PubMed Central

Fernández, Rodrigo S.; Bavassi, Luz; Kaczer, Laura; Forcato, Cecilia; Pedreira, María E.

2016-01-01

Following the presentation of a reminder, consolidated memories become reactivated followed by a process of re-stabilization, which is referred to as reconsolidation. The most common behavioral tool used to reveal this process is interference produced by new learning shortly after memory reactivation. Memory interference is defined as a decrease in memory retrieval, the effect is generated when new information impairs an acquired memory. In general, the target memory and the interference task used are the same. Here we investigated how different memory systems and/or their valence could produce memory reconsolidation interference. We showed that a reactivated neutral declarative memory could be interfered by new learning of a different neutral declarative memory. Then, we revealed that an aversive implicit memory could be interfered by the presentation of a reminder followed by a threatening social event. Finally, we showed that the reconsolidation of a neutral declarative memory is unaffected by the acquisition of an aversive implicit memory and conversely, this memory remains intact when the neutral declarative memory is used as interference. These results suggest that the interference of memory reconsolidation is effective when two task rely on the same memory system or both evoke negative valence. PMID:28066212

Interference Conditions of the Reconsolidation Process in Humans: The Role of Valence and Different Memory Systems.

PubMed

Fernández, Rodrigo S; Bavassi, Luz; Kaczer, Laura; Forcato, Cecilia; Pedreira, María E

2016-01-01

Following the presentation of a reminder, consolidated memories become reactivated followed by a process of re-stabilization, which is referred to as reconsolidation. The most common behavioral tool used to reveal this process is interference produced by new learning shortly after memory reactivation. Memory interference is defined as a decrease in memory retrieval, the effect is generated when new information impairs an acquired memory. In general, the target memory and the interference task used are the same. Here we investigated how different memory systems and/or their valence could produce memory reconsolidation interference. We showed that a reactivated neutral declarative memory could be interfered by new learning of a different neutral declarative memory. Then, we revealed that an aversive implicit memory could be interfered by the presentation of a reminder followed by a threatening social event. Finally, we showed that the reconsolidation of a neutral declarative memory is unaffected by the acquisition of an aversive implicit memory and conversely, this memory remains intact when the neutral declarative memory is used as interference. These results suggest that the interference of memory reconsolidation is effective when two task rely on the same memory system or both evoke negative valence.

Different Measures of Auditory and Visual Stroop Interference and Their Relationship to Speech Intelligibility in Noise

PubMed Central

Knight, Sarah; Heinrich, Antje

2017-01-01

Inhibition—the ability to suppress goal-irrelevant information—is thought to be an important cognitive skill in many situations, including speech-in-noise (SiN) perception. One way to measure inhibition is by means of Stroop tasks, in which one stimulus dimension must be named while a second, more prepotent dimension is ignored. The to-be-ignored dimension may be relevant or irrelevant to the target dimension, and the inhibition measure—Stroop interference (SI)—is calculated as the reaction time difference between the relevant and irrelevant conditions. Both SiN perception and inhibition are suggested to worsen with age, yet attempts to connect age-related declines in these two abilities have produced mixed results. We suggest that the inconsistencies between studies may be due to methodological issues surrounding the use of Stroop tasks. First, the relationship between SI and SiN perception may differ depending on the modality of the Stroop task; second, the traditional SI measure may not account for generalized slowing or sensory declines, and thus may not provide a pure interference measure. We investigated both claims in a group of 50 older adults, who performed two Stroop tasks (visual and auditory) and two SiN perception tasks. For each Stroop task, we calculated interference scores using both the traditional difference measure and methods designed to address its various problems, and compared the ability of these different scoring methods to predict SiN performance, alone and in combination with hearing sensitivity. Results from the two Stroop tasks were uncorrelated and had different relationships to SiN perception. Changing the scoring method altered the nature of the predictive relationship between Stroop scores and SiN perception, which was additionally influenced by hearing sensitivity. These findings raise questions about the extent to which different Stroop tasks and/or scoring methods measure the same aspect of cognition. They also highlight the importance of considering additional variables such as hearing ability when analyzing cognitive variables. PMID:28367129

Irrelevant Features of a Stimulus Can Either Facilitate or Disrupt Performance in a Working Memory Task: The Role of Fluid Intelligence

PubMed Central

Perfetti, Bernardo; Tesse, Marcello; Varanese, Sara; Saggino, Aristide; Onofrj, Marco

2011-01-01

It has been shown that fluid intelligence (gf) is fundamental to overcome interference due to information of a previously encoded item along a task-relevant domain. However, the biasing effect of task-irrelevant dimensions is still unclear as well as its relation with gf. The present study aimed at clarifying these issues. Gf was assessed in 60 healthy subjects. In a different session, the same subjects performed two versions (letter-detection and spatial) of a three-back working memory task with a set of physically identical stimuli (letters) presented at different locations on the screen. In the letter-detection task, volunteers were asked to match stimuli on the basis of their identity whereas, in the spatial task, they were required to match items on their locations. Cross-domain bias was manipulated by pseudorandomly inserting a match between the current and the three back items on the irrelevant domain. Our findings showed that a task-irrelevant feature of a salient stimulus can actually bias the ongoing performance. We revealed that, at trials in which the current and the three-back items matched on the irrelevant domain, group accuracy was lower (interference). On the other hand, at trials in which the two items matched on both the relevant and irrelevant domains, the group showed an enhancement of the performance (facilitation). Furthermore, we demonstrated that individual differences in fluid intelligence covaries with the ability to override cross-domain interference in that higher gf subjects showed better performance at interference trials than low gf subjects. Altogether, our findings suggest that stimulus features irrelevant to the task can affect cognitive performance along the relevant domain and that gf plays an important role in protecting relevant memory contents from the hampering effect of such a bias. PMID:22022580

Semantic Interference in Immediate and Delayed Naming and Reading: Attention and Task Decisions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piai, Vitoria; Roelofs, Ardi; Schriefers, Herbert

2011-01-01

Disagreement exists about whether lexical selection in word production is a competitive process. Competition predicts semantic interference from distractor words in immediate but not in delayed picture naming. In contrast, Janssen, Schirm, Mahon, and Caramazza (2008) obtained semantic interference in delayed picture naming when participants had to…

Effect of Auditory Interference on Memory of Haptic Perceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anater, Paul F.

1980-01-01

The effect of auditory interference on the processing of haptic information by 61 visually impaired students (8 to 20 years old) was the focus of the research described in this article. It was assumed that as the auditory interference approximated the verbalized activity of the haptic task, accuracy of recall would decline. (Author)

Negative Transfer and Positive Interference: Some Confusion in Introductory Psychology Textbooks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Edward

1981-01-01

Discusses weakness in 11 introductory psychology textbooks in distinguishing between the terms proactive behavior and negative transfer. Negative transfer relates to a detrimental effect of prior experience on the learning of a new task, whereas proactive interference concerns a detrimental affect of prior interference on the recall of a second…

Feature-based interference from unattended visual field during attentional tracking in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Störmer, Viola S; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R; Lindenberger, Ulman

2011-02-01

The ability to attend to multiple objects that move in the visual field is important for many aspects of daily functioning. The attentional capacity for such dynamic tracking, however, is highly limited and undergoes age-related decline. Several aspects of the tracking process can influence performance. Here, we investigated effects of feature-based interference from distractor objects that appear in unattended regions of the visual field with a hemifield-tracking task. Younger and older participants performed an attentional tracking task in one hemifield while distractor objects were concurrently presented in the unattended hemifield. Feature similarity between objects in the attended and unattended hemifields as well as motion speed and the number of to-be-tracked objects were parametrically manipulated. The results show that increasing feature overlap leads to greater interference from the unattended visual field. This effect of feature-based interference was only present in the slow speed condition, indicating that the interference is mainly modulated by perceptual demands. High-performing older adults showed a similar interference effect as younger adults, whereas low-performing adults showed poor tracking performance overall.

Second Language Interference during First Language Processing by Arabic–English Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Alsaigh, Tahani; Kennison, Shelia M.

2017-01-01

The research investigated whether a bilinguals’ second language (L2) is activated during a task involving only the first language (L1). We tested the hypothesis that the amount of L2 interference can vary across settings, with less interference occurring in testing locations where L2 is rarely used. In Experiment 1, we compared language processing for 50 Arabic–English bilinguals tested in Saudi Arabia and 49 Arabic–English tested in the United States. In the task, participants viewed a picture and judged whether a phoneme presented over headphones was part of the L1 picture name. The results showed no effect of testing location on processing. For both groups of bilinguals, we observed L2 interference in mean error rates, but not in mean response times. We also found evidence for L2 interference in correlational analyses between response times and (a) participants’ weekly L2 usage and (b) frequency of English picture names. A second experiment with 24 Arabic monolinguals supported the conclusion that the results with bilinguals were due to L2 interference. Implications for theories of bilingual memory are discussed. PMID:29163322

Reduced Short-Term Memory Span in Aphasia and Susceptibility to Interference: Contribution of Material-Specific Maintenance Deficits

PubMed Central

Barde, Laura H.F.; Schwartz, Myrna F.; Chrysikou, Evangelia G.; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L.

2010-01-01

Semantic short-term memory (STM) deficits have been traditionally defined as an inability to maintain semantic representations over a delay (R. Martin, Shelton & Yaffee, 1994). Yet some patients with semantic STM deficits make numerous intrusions of items from previously presented lists, thus presenting an interesting paradox: Why should an inability to maintain semantic representations produce an increase in intrusions from earlier lists? In this study, we investigated the relationship between maintenance deficits and susceptibility to interference in a group of 20 aphasic patients characterized with weak semantic or weak phonological STM. Patients and matched control participants performed a modified item-recognition task designed to elicit semantic or phonological interference from list items located one, two, or three trials back (Hamilton & R. Martin, 2007). Controls demonstrated significant effects of interference in both versions of the task. Interference in patients was predicted by the type and severity of their STM deficit; that is, shorter semantic spans were associated with greater semantic interference and shorter phonological spans were associated with greater phonological interference. We interpret these results through a new perspective, the reactivation hypothesis, and we discuss their importance for accounts emphasizing the contribution of maintenance mechanisms for STM impairments in aphasia as well as susceptibility to interference. PMID:19925813

Cognitive-motor interference during fine and gross motor tasks in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).

PubMed

Schott, Nadja; El-Rajab, Inaam; Klotzbier, Thomas

2016-10-01

While typically developing children produce relatively automatized postural control processes, children with DCD seem to exhibit an automatization deficit. Dual tasks with various cognitive loads seem to be an effective way to assess the automatic deficit hypothesis. The aims of the study were: (1) to examine the effect of a concurrent cognitive task on fine and gross motor tasks in children with DCD, and (2) to determine whether the effect varied with different difficulty levels of the concurrent task. We examined dual-task performance (Trail-Making-Test, Trail-Walking-Test) in 20 children with DCD and 39 typically developing children. Based on the idea of the Trail-Making-Test, participants walked along a fixed pathway, following a prescribed path, delineated by target markers of (1) increasing sequential numbers, and (2) increasing sequential numbers and letters. The motor and cognitive dual-task effects (DTE) were calculated for each task. Regardless of the cognitive task, children with DCD performed equally well in fine and gross motor tasks, and were slower in the dual task conditions than under single task-conditions, compared with children without DCD. Increased cognitive task complexity resulted in slow trail walking as well as slower trail tracing. The motor interference for the gross motor tasks was least for the simplest conditions and greatest for the complex conditions and was more pronounced in children with DCD. Cognitive interference was low irrespective of the motor task. Children with DCD show a different approach to allocation of cognitive resources, and have difficulties making motor skills automatic. The latter notion is consistent with impaired cerebellar function and the "automatization deficit hypothesis", suggesting that any deficit in the automatization process will appear if conscious monitoring of the motor skill is made more difficult by integrating another task requiring attentional resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contrasting single and multi-component working-memory systems in dual tasking.

PubMed

Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer; van Rijn, Hedderik; Taatgen, Niels

2016-05-01

Working memory can be a major source of interference in dual tasking. However, there is no consensus on whether this interference is the result of a single working memory bottleneck, or of interactions between different working memory components that together form a complete working-memory system. We report a behavioral and an fMRI dataset in which working memory requirements are manipulated during multitasking. We show that a computational cognitive model that assumes a distributed version of working memory accounts for both behavioral and neuroimaging data better than a model that takes a more centralized approach. The model's working memory consists of an attentional focus, declarative memory, and a subvocalized rehearsal mechanism. Thus, the data and model favor an account where working memory interference in dual tasking is the result of interactions between different resources that together form a working-memory system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Individual Differences in Children's Corepresentation of Self and Other in Joint Action.

PubMed

Milward, Sophie J; Kita, Sotaro; Apperly, Ian A

2017-05-01

Previous research has shown that children aged 4-5 years, but not 2-3 years, show adult-like interference from a partner when performing a joint task (Milward, Kita, & Apperly, 2014). This raises questions about the cognitive skills involved in the development of such "corepresentation (CR)" of a partner (Sebanz, Knoblich, & Prinz, 2003). Here, individual differences data from one hundred and thirteen 4- to 5-year-olds showed theory of mind (ToM) and inhibitory control (IC) as predictors of ability to avoid CR interference, suggesting that children with better ToM abilities are more likely to succeed in decoupling self and other representations in a joint task, while better IC is likely to help children avoid interference from a partner's response when selecting their own response on the task. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.

Age-Group Differences in Interference from Young and Older Emotional Faces.

PubMed

Ebner, Natalie C; Johnson, Marcia K

2010-11-01

Human attention is selective, focusing on some aspects of events at the expense of others. In particular, angry faces engage attention. Most studies have used pictures of young faces, even when comparing young and older age groups. Two experiments asked (1) whether task-irrelevant faces of young and older individuals with happy, angry, and neutral expressions disrupt performance on a face-unrelated task, (2) whether interference varies for faces of different ages and different facial expressions, and (3) whether young and older adults differ in this regard. Participants gave speeded responses on a number task while irrelevant faces appeared in the background. Both age groups were more distracted by own than other-age faces. In addition, young participants' responses were slower for angry than happy faces, whereas older participants' responses were slower for happy than angry faces. Factors underlying age-group differences in interference from emotional faces of different ages are discussed.

Selective impairment of auditory selective attention under concurrent cognitive load.

PubMed

Dittrich, Kerstin; Stahl, Christoph

2012-06-01

Load theory predicts that concurrent cognitive load impairs selective attention. For visual stimuli, it has been shown that this impairment can be selective: Distraction was specifically increased when the stimulus material used in the cognitive load task matches that of the selective attention task. Here, we report four experiments that demonstrate such selective load effects for auditory selective attention. The effect of two different cognitive load tasks on two different auditory Stroop tasks was examined, and selective load effects were observed: Interference in a nonverbal-auditory Stroop task was increased under concurrent nonverbal-auditory cognitive load (compared with a no-load condition), but not under concurrent verbal-auditory cognitive load. By contrast, interference in a verbal-auditory Stroop task was increased under concurrent verbal-auditory cognitive load but not under nonverbal-auditory cognitive load. This double-dissociation pattern suggests the existence of different and separable verbal and nonverbal processing resources in the auditory domain.

Working Memory Capacity and Resistance to Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oberauer, Klaus; Lange, Elke; Engle, Randall W.

2004-01-01

Single-task and dual-task versions of verbal and spatial serial order memory tasks were administered to 120 students tested for working memory capacity with four previously validated measures. In the dual-task versions, similarity between the memory material and the material of the secondary processing task was varied. With verbal material, three…

Comparing cognition by integrating concept learning, proactive interference, and list memory.

PubMed

Wright, Anthony A; Kelly, Debbie M; Katz, Jeffrey S

2018-06-01

This article describes an approach for training a variety of species to learn the abstract concept of same/different, which in turn forms the basis for testing proactive interference and list memory. The stimulus set for concept-learning training was progressively doubled from 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 . . . to 1,024 different pictures with novel-stimulus transfer following learning. All species fully learned the same/different abstract concept: capuchin and rhesus monkeys learned more readily than pigeons; nutcrackers and magpies were at least equivalent to monkeys and transferred somewhat better following initial training sets. A similar task using the 1,024-picture set plus delays was used to test proactive interference on occasional trials. Pigeons revealed greater interference with 10-s than with 1-s delays, whereas delay time had no effect on rhesus monkeys, suggesting that the monkeys' interference was event based. This same single-item same/different task was expanded to a 4-item list memory task to test animal list memory. Humans were tested similarly with lists of kaleidoscope pictures. Delays between the list and test were manipulated, resulting in strong initial recency effects (i.e., strong 4th-item memory) at short delays and changing to a strong primacy effect (i.e., strong 1st-item memory) at long delays (pigeons 0-s to 10-s delays; monkeys 0-s to 30-s delays; humans 0-s to 100-s delays). Results and findings are discussed in terms of these species' cognition and memory comparisons, evolutionary implications, and future directions for testing other species in these synergistically related tasks.

Electrophysiological correlates of proactive interference in the 'Recent Probes' verbal working memory task.

PubMed

Zhang, John X; Wu, Renhua; Kong, Lingyue; Weng, Xuchu; Du, Yingchun

2010-06-01

Using event-related potentials (ERPs), the present study examined the temporal dynamics of proactive interference in working memory using a recent probes task. Participants memorized and retained a target set of four letters over a short retention interval. They then responded to a recognition probe by judging whether it was from the memory set. ERP waveforms elicited by positive probes compared to those from negative probes showed positive shifts in a fronto-central early N2 component and a parietal late positive component (LPC). The LPC was identified as the electrophysiological signature of proactive interference, as it differentiated between two types of negative probes defined based on whether they were recently encountered. These results indicate that the proactive interference we observed arises from a mismatch between familiarity and contextual information during recognition memory. When considered together with related studies in the literature, the results also suggest that there are different forms of proactive interference associated with different neural correlates. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intrusive trauma recollections is associated with impairment of interference inhibition and psychomotor speed in PTSD.

PubMed

Kertzman, Semion; Avital, Avi; Weizman, Abraham; Segal, Michael

2014-10-01

Intrusive cognitions that enter consciousness involuntarily are prominent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study aimed to identify neuropsychological mechanisms involved. Fifty PTSD outpatients and 50 healthy controls were tested using Finger Tapping, Simple and Choice Reaction Times and Stroop Tasks, to measure motor, psychomotor speed, response selection, and interference inhibition ability respectively. PTSD patients performed poorly in all tests, presumably owing to their generalized slowness of information processing and motor reaction. Psychomotor speed was a predictor of slowness and high error rate during the Stroop. Impaired inhibition, as measured by the interference index of the Stroop task, explained 9.7% of the predicated variance in frequency of re-experiencing PTSD symptoms and 23.5% of the predicated variance in augmentation of the interference response time. Impaired interference control may be related to internal (re-experiencing) and external (sensory) stimuli that leads to cognitive deficits in PTSD patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rostro-caudal and dorso-ventral gradients in medial and lateral prefrontal cortex during cognitive control of affective and cognitive interference.

PubMed

Rahm, Christoffer; Liberg, Benny; Wiberg-Kristoffersen, Maria; Aspelin, Peter; Msghina, Mussie

2013-04-01

Characterizing the anatomical substrates of major brain functions such as cognition and emotion is of utmost importance to the ongoing efforts of understanding the nature of psychiatric ailments and their potential treatment. The aim of our study was to investigate how the brain handles affective and cognitive interferences on cognitive processes. Functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation was performed on healthy individuals, comparing the brain oxygenation level dependent activation patterns during affective and cognitive counting Stroop tasks. The affective Stroop task activated rostral parts of medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and rostral and ventral parts of lateral PFC, while cognitive Stroop activated caudal parts of medial PFC and caudal and dorsal parts of lateral PFC. Our findings suggest that the brain may handle affective and cognitive interference on cognitive processes differentially, with affective interference preferentially activating rostral and ventral PFC networks and cognitive interference activating caudal and dorsal PFC networks. © 2013 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Suppression of biodynamic interference in head-tracked teleoperation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lifshitz, S.; Merhav, S. J.; Grunwald, A. J.; Tucker, G. E.; Tischler, M. B.

1991-01-01

The utility of helmet-tracked sights to provide pointing commands for teleoperation of cameras, lasers, or antennas in aircraft is degraded by the presence of uncommanded, involuntary heat motion, referred to as biodynamic interference. This interference limits the achievable precision required in pointing tasks. The noise contributions due to biodynamic interference consists of an additive component which is correlated with aircraft vibration and an uncorrelated, nonadditive component, referred to as remnant. An experimental simulation study is described which investigated the improvements achievable in pointing and tracking precision using dynamic display shifting in the helmet-mounted display. The experiment was conducted in a six degree of freedom motion base simulator with an emulated helmet-mounted display. Highly experienced pilot subjects performed precision head-pointing tasks while manually flying a visual flight-path tracking task. Four schemes using adaptive and low-pass filtering of the head motion were evaluated to determine their effects on task performance and pilot workload in the presence of whole-body vibration characteristic of helicopter flight. The results indicate that, for tracking tasks involving continuously moving targets, improvements of up to 70 percent can be achieved in percent on-target dwelling time and of up to 35 percent in rms tracking error, with the adaptive plus low-pass filter configuration. The results with the same filter configuration for the task of capturing randomly-positioned, stationary targets show an increase of up to 340 percent in the number of targets captured and an improvement of up to 24 percent in the average capture time. The adaptive plus low-pass filter combination was considered to exhibit the best overall display dynamics by each of the subjects.

Training of resistance to proactive interference and working memory in older adults: a randomized double-blind study.

PubMed

Loosli, Sandra V; Falquez, Rosalux; Unterrainer, Josef M; Weiller, Cornelius; Rahm, Benjamin; Kaller, Christoph P

2016-03-01

Working memory (WM) performance is often decreased in older adults. Despite the growing popularity of WM trainings, underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Resistance to proactive interference (PI) constitutes a candidate process that contributes to WM performance and might influence training or transfer effects. Here, we investigated whether PI resistance can be enhanced in older adults using a WM training with specifically increased PI-demands. Further, we investigated whether potential effects of such a training were stable and entailed any transfer on non-trained tasks. Healthy old adults (N = 25, 68.8 ± 5.5 years) trained with a recent-probes and an n-back task daily for two weeks. Two different training regimens (high vs. low PI-amount in the tasks) were applied as between-participants manipulation, to which participants were randomly assigned. Near transfer tasks included interference tasks; far transfer tasks assessed fluid intelligence (gF) or speed. Immediate transfer was assessed directly after training; a follow-up measurement was conducted after two months. Both groups similarly improved in PI resistance in both training tasks. Thus, PI susceptibility was generally reduced in the two training groups and there was no difference between WM training with high versus low PI demands. Further, there was no differential near or far transfer on non-trained tasks, neither immediately after the training nor in the follow-up. PI-demands in WM training tasks do not seem critical for enhancing WM performance or PI resistance in older adults. Instead, improved resistance to PI appears to be an unspecific side-effect of a WM training.

The role of rehearsal in a novel call center-type task.

PubMed

Perham, Nick; Banbury, Simon

2012-01-01

Laboratory research has long demonstrated the disruptive effects of background sound to task performance yet the real-world implications of such effects are less well known. We report two experiments that demonstrate the importance of the role of rehearsal to a novel call center-type task. In Experiment 1, performance of a novel train timetable task-in which participants identified four train journeys following presentation of train journey information-was disrupted by realistic office noise. However, in Experiment 2, when the need for rehearsal was reduced by presenting the information and the timetable at the same time, no disruption occurred . Results are discussed in terms of interference-by-process and interference-by-content approaches to short-term memory.

General proactive interference and the N450 response.

PubMed

Tays, William J; Dywan, Jane; Segalowitz, Sidney J

2009-10-25

Strategic repetition of verbal stimuli can effectively produce proactive interference (PI) effects in the Sternberg working memory task. Unique fronto-cortical activation to PI-eliciting letter probes has been interpreted as reflecting brain responses to PI. However, the use of only a small set of stimuli (e.g., letters and digits) requires constant repetition of stimuli in both PI and baseline trials, potentially creating a general PI effect in all conditions. We used event-related potentials to examine general PI effects by contrasting the interference-related frontal N450 response in two Sternberg tasks using a small versus large set size. We found that the N450 response differed significantly from baseline during the small set-size task only for response-conflict PI trials but not when PI was created solely from stimulus repetition. During the large set-size task N450 responses in both the familiarity-based and response-conflict PI conditions differed from baseline but not from each other. We conclude that the general stimulus repetition inherent in small set-size conditions can mask effects of familiarity-based PI and complicate the interpretation of any associated neural response.

Age-related changes in cognitive conflict processing: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Mager, Ralph; Bullinger, Alex H; Brand, Serge; Schmidlin, Maria; Schärli, Heinz; Müller-Spahn, Franz; Störmer, Robert; Falkenstein, Michael

2007-12-01

Cognitive tasks involving conflicting stimuli and responses are associated with an early age-related decline in performance. Conflict and conflict-induced interference can be stimulus- or response-related. In classical stimulus-response compatibility tasks, such as the Stroop task, the event-related potential (ERP) usually reveals a greater negativity on incongruent versus congruent trials which has often been linked with conflict processing. However, it is unclear whether this negativity is related to stimulus- or response-related conflict, thus rendering the meaning of age-related changes inconclusive. In the present study, a modified Stroop task was used to focus on stimulus-related interference processes while excluding response-related interference. Since we intended to study work-relevant effects ERPs and performance were determined in young (about 30 years old) and middle-aged (about 50 years old) healthy subjects (total n=80). In the ERP, a broad negativity developed after incongruent versus congruent stimuli between 350 and 650 ms. An age-related increase of the latency and amplitude of this negativity was observed. These results indicate age-related alterations in the processing of conflicting stimuli already in middle age.

Impaired memory for material related to a problem solved prior to encoding: suppression at learning or interference at recall?

PubMed

Kowalczyk, Marek

2017-07-01

Earlier research by the author revealed that material encoded incidentally in a speeded affective classification task and related to the demands of a divergent problem tends to be recalled worse in participants who solved the problem prior to encoding than in participants in the control, no-problem condition. The aim of the present experiment was to replicate this effect with a new, size-comparison orienting task, and to test for possible mechanisms of impaired recall. Participants either solved a problem before the orienting task or not, and classified each item in this task either once or three times. There was a reliable effect of impaired recall of problem-related items in the repetition condition, but not in the no-repetition condition. Solving the problem did not influence repetition priming for these items. These results support an account that attributes the impaired recall to inhibitory processes at learning and speak against a proactive interference explanation. However, they can be also accommodated by an account that refers to inefficient context cues and competitor interference at retrieval.

Cognitive-motor dual-task interference: A systematic review of neural correlates.

PubMed

Leone, Carmela; Feys, Peter; Moumdjian, Lousin; D'Amico, Emanuele; Zappia, Mario; Patti, Francesco

2017-04-01

Cognitive-motor interference refers to dual-tasking (DT) interference (DTi) occurring when the simultaneous performance of a cognitive and a motor task leads to a percentage change in one or both tasks. Several theories exist to explain DTi in humans: the capacity-sharing, the bottleneck and the cross-talk theories. Numerous studies investigating whether a specific brain locus is associated with cognitive-motor DTi have been conducted, but not systematically reviewed. We aimed to review the evidences on brain activity associated with the cognitive-motor DT, in order to better understand the neurological basis of the CMi. Results were reported according to the technique used to assess brain activity. Twenty-three articles met the inclusion criteria. Out of them, nine studies used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show an additive, under-additive, over- additive, or a mixed activation pattern of the brain. Seven studies used near-infrared spectroscopy, and seven neurophysiological instruments. Yet a specific DT locus in the brain cannot be concluded from the overall current literature. Future studies are warranted to overcome the shortcomings identified. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interleaved Practice in Multi-Dimensional Learning Tasks: Which Dimension Should We Interleave?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rau, Martina A.; Aleven, Vincent; Rummel, Nikol

2013-01-01

Research shows that multiple representations can enhance student learning. Many curricula use multiple representations across multiple task types. The temporal sequence of representations and task types is likely to impact student learning. Research on contextual interference shows that interleaving learning tasks leads to better learning results…

Interference Control, Working Memory Capacity, and Cognitive Abilities: A Latent Variable Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Unsworth, Nash

2010-01-01

The present study examined whether various indices of interference control were related to one another and to other cognitive abilities. It was found that the interference control measures were weakly correlated and could form a single factor that was related to overall memory performance on the tasks as well as to measures of working memory…

Interference between oculomotor and postural tasks in 7-8-year-old children and adults.

PubMed

Legrand, Agathe; Doré Mazars, Karine; Lemoine, Christelle; Nougier, Vincent; Olivier, Isabelle

2016-06-01

Several studies in adults having observed the effect of eye movements on postural control provided contradictory results. In the present study, we explored the effect of various oculomotor tasks on postural control and the effect of different postural tasks on eye movements in eleven children (7.8 ± 0.5 years) and nine adults (30.4 ± 6.3 years). To vary the difficulty of the oculomotor task, three conditions were tested: fixation, prosaccades (reactive saccades made toward the target) and antisaccades (voluntary saccades made in the direction opposite to the visual target). To vary the difficulty of postural control, two postural tasks were tested: Standard Romberg (SR) and Tandem Romberg (TR). Postural difficulty did not affect oculomotor behavior, except by lengthening adults' latencies in the prosaccade task. For both groups, postural control was altered in the antisaccade task as compared to fixation and prosaccade tasks. Moreover, a ceiling effect was found in the more complex postural task. This study highlighted a cortical interference between oculomotor and postural control systems.

Biased emotional attention in post-traumatic stress disorder: a help as well as a hindrance?

PubMed

Vythilingam, M; Blair, K S; McCaffrey, D; Scaramozza, M; Jones, M; Nakic, M; Mondillo, K; Hadd, K; Bonne, O; Mitchell, D G V; Pine, D S; Charney, D S; Blair, R J R

2007-10-01

From a cognitive neuroscience perspective, the emotional attentional bias in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could be conceptualized either as emotional hyper-responsiveness or as reduced priming of task-relevant representations due to dysfunction in 'top-down' regulatory systems. We investigated these possibilities both with respect to threatening and positive stimuli among traumatized individuals with and without PTSD. Twenty-two patients with PTSD, 21 trauma controls and 20 non-traumatized healthy participants were evaluated on two tasks. For one of these tasks, the affective Stroop task (aST), the emotional stimuli act as distracters and interfere with task performance. For the other, the emotional lexical decision task (eLDT), emotional information facilitates task performance. Compared to trauma controls and healthy participants, patients with PTSD showed increased interference for negative but not positive distracters on the aST and increased emotional facilitation for negative words on the eLDT. These findings document that hyper-responsiveness to threat but not to positive stimuli is specific for patients with PTSD.

On the role of verbalization during task set selection: switching or serial order control?

PubMed

Bryck, Richard L; Mayr, Ulrich

2005-06-01

Recent task-switching work in which paper-and-pencil administered single-task lists were compared with task-alternation lists has demonstrated large increases in task-switch costs with concurrent articulatory suppression (AS), implicating a crucial role for verbalization during switching (Baddeley, Chincotta, & Adlam, 2001; Emerson & Miyake, 2003). Experiment 1 replicated this result, using computerized assessment, albeit with much smaller effect sizes than in the original reports. In Experiment 2, AS interference was reduced when a sequential cue (spatial location) that indicated the current position in the sequence of task alternations was given. Finally, in Experiment 3, switch trials and no-switch trials were compared within a block of alternating runs of two tasks. Again, AS interference was obtained mainly when the endogenous sequencing demand was high, and it was comparable for no-switch and switch trials. These results suggest that verbalization may be critical for endogenous maintenance and updating of a sequential plan, rather than exclusively for the actual switching process.

Long-term memory-based control of attention in multi-step tasks requires working memory: evidence from domain-specific interference

PubMed Central

Foerster, Rebecca M.; Carbone, Elena; Schneider, Werner X.

2014-01-01

Evidence for long-term memory (LTM)-based control of attention has been found during the execution of highly practiced multi-step tasks. However, does LTM directly control for attention or are working memory (WM) processes involved? In the present study, this question was investigated with a dual-task paradigm. Participants executed either a highly practiced visuospatial sensorimotor task (speed stacking) or a verbal task (high-speed poem reciting), while maintaining visuospatial or verbal information in WM. Results revealed unidirectional and domain-specific interference. Neither speed stacking nor high-speed poem reciting was influenced by WM retention. Stacking disrupted the retention of visuospatial locations, but did not modify memory performance of verbal material (letters). Reciting reduced the retention of verbal material substantially whereas it affected the memory performance of visuospatial locations to a smaller degree. We suggest that the selection of task-relevant information from LTM for the execution of overlearned multi-step tasks recruits domain-specific WM. PMID:24847304

The Unconscious Allocation of Cognitive Resources to Task-Relevant and Task-Irrelevant Thoughts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuldas, Seffetullah; Hashim, Shahabuddin; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Samsudin, Mohd Ali; Bakar, Zainudin Abu

2014-01-01

Conscious allocation of cognitive resources to task-relevant thoughts is necessary for learning. However, task-irrelevant thoughts often associated with fear of failure can enter the mind and interfere with learning. Effects like this prompt the question of whether or not learners consciously shift their cognitive resources from task-relevant to…

Proactive interference and item similarity in working memory.

PubMed

Bunting, Michael

2006-03-01

Proactive interference (PI) may influence the predictive utility of working memory span tasks. Participants in one experiment (N=70) completed Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and multiple versions of operation span and probed recall, modified for the type of memoranda (digits or words). Changing memoranda within- or across-trials released PI, but not doing so permitted PI buildup. Scores from PI-build trials, but not PI-release trials, correlated with RAPM and accounted for as much variance in RAPM as unmodified tasks. These results are consistent with controlled attention and inhibition accounts of working memory, and they elucidate a fundamental component of working memory span tasks.

Functional connections between activated and deactivated brain regions mediate emotional interference during externally directed cognition.

PubMed

Di Plinio, Simone; Ferri, Francesca; Marzetti, Laura; Romani, Gian Luca; Northoff, Georg; Pizzella, Vittorio

2018-04-24

Recent evidence shows that task-deactivations are functionally relevant for cognitive performance. Indeed, higher cognitive engagement has been associated with higher suppression of activity in task-deactivated brain regions - usually ascribed to the Default Mode Network (DMN). Moreover, a negative correlation between these regions and areas actively engaged by the task is associated with better performance. DMN regions show positive modulation during autobiographical, social, and emotional tasks. However, it is not clear how processing of emotional stimuli affects the interplay between the DMN and executive brain regions. We studied this interplay in an fMRI experiment using emotional negative stimuli as distractors. Activity modulations induced by the emotional interference of negative stimuli were found in frontal, parietal, and visual areas, and were associated with modulations of functional connectivity between these task-activated areas and DMN regions. A worse performance was predicted both by lower activity in the superior parietal cortex and higher connectivity between visual areas and frontal DMN regions. Connectivity between right inferior frontal gyrus and several DMN regions in the left hemisphere was related to the behavioral performance. This relation was weaker in the negative than in the neutral condition, likely suggesting less functional inhibitions of DMN regions during emotional processing. These results show that both executive and DMN regions are crucial for the emotional interference process and suggest that DMN connections are related to the interplay between externally-directed and internally-focused processes. Among DMN regions, superior frontal gyrus may be a key node in regulating the interference triggered by emotional stimuli. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Parallel effects of memory set activation and search on timing and working memory capacity.

PubMed

Schweickert, Richard; Fortin, Claudette; Xi, Zhuangzhuang; Viau-Quesnel, Charles

2014-01-01

Accurately estimating a time interval is required in everyday activities such as driving or cooking. Estimating time is relatively easy, provided a person attends to it. But a brief shift of attention to another task usually interferes with timing. Most processes carried out concurrently with timing interfere with it. Curiously, some do not. Literature on a few processes suggests a general proposition, the Timing and Complex-Span Hypothesis: A process interferes with concurrent timing if and only if process performance is related to complex span. Complex-span is the number of items correctly recalled in order, when each item presented for study is followed by a brief activity. Literature on task switching, visual search, memory search, word generation and mental time travel supports the hypothesis. Previous work found that another process, activation of a memory set in long term memory, is not related to complex-span. If the Timing and Complex-Span Hypothesis is true, activation should not interfere with concurrent timing in dual-task conditions. We tested such activation in single-task memory search task conditions and in dual-task conditions where memory search was executed with concurrent timing. In Experiment 1, activating a memory set increased reaction time, with no significant effect on time production. In Experiment 2, set size and memory set activation were manipulated. Activation and set size had a puzzling interaction for time productions, perhaps due to difficult conditions, leading us to use a related but easier task in Experiment 3. In Experiment 3 increasing set size lengthened time production, but memory activation had no significant effect. Results here and in previous literature on the whole support the Timing and Complex-Span Hypotheses. Results also support a sequential organization of activation and search of memory. This organization predicts activation and set size have additive effects on reaction time and multiplicative effects on percent correct, which was found.

Dynamic visual noise reduces confidence in short-term memory for visual information.

PubMed

Kemps, Eva; Andrade, Jackie

2012-05-01

Previous research has shown effects of the visual interference technique, dynamic visual noise (DVN), on visual imagery, but not on visual short-term memory, unless retention of precise visual detail is required. This study tested the prediction that DVN does also affect retention of gross visual information, specifically by reducing confidence. Participants performed a matrix pattern memory task with three retention interval interference conditions (DVN, static visual noise and no interference control) that varied from trial to trial. At recall, participants indicated whether or not they were sure of their responses. As in previous research, DVN did not impair recall accuracy or latency on the task, but it did reduce recall confidence relative to static visual noise and no interference. We conclude that DVN does distort visual representations in short-term memory, but standard coarse-grained recall measures are insensitive to these distortions.

The Influence of Similarity on Visual Working Memory Representations

PubMed Central

Lin, Po-Han; Luck, Steven J.

2007-01-01

In verbal memory, similarity between items in memory often leads to interference and impaired memory performance. The present study sought to determine whether analogous interference effects would be observed in visual working memory by varying the similarity of the to-be-remembered objects in a color change-detection task. Instead of leading to interference and impaired performance, increased similarity among the items being held in memory led to improved performance. Moreover, when two similar colors were presented along with one dissimilar color, memory performance was better for the similar colors than for the dissimilar color. Similarity produced better performance even when the objects were presented sequentially and even when memory for the first item in the sequence was tested. These findings show that similarity does not lead to interference between representations in visual working memory. Instead, similarity may lead to improved task performance, possibly due to increased stability or precision of the memory representations during maintenance. PMID:19430536

When Interference Helps: Increasing Executive Load to Facilitate Deception Detection in the Concealed Information Test

PubMed Central

Visu-Petra, George; Varga, Mihai; Miclea, Mircea; Visu-Petra, Laura

2013-01-01

The possibility to enhance the detection efficiency of the Concealed Information Test (CIT) by increasing executive load was investigated, using an interference design. After learning and executing a mock crime scenario, subjects underwent three deception detection tests: an RT-based CIT, an RT-based CIT plus a concurrent memory task (CITMem), and an RT-based CIT plus a concurrent set-shifting task (CITShift). The concealed information effect, consisting in increased RT and lower response accuracy for probe items compared to irrelevant items, was evidenced across all three conditions. The group analyses indicated a larger difference between RTs to probe and irrelevant items in the dual-task conditions, but this difference was not translated in a significantly increased detection efficiency at an individual level. Signal detection parameters based on the comparison with a simulated innocent group showed accurate discrimination for all conditions. Overall response accuracy on the CITMem was highest and the difference between response accuracy to probes and irrelevants was smallest in this condition. Accuracy on the concurrent tasks (Mem and Shift) was high, and responses on these tasks were significantly influenced by CIT stimulus type (probes vs. irrelevants). The findings are interpreted in relation to the cognitive load/dual-task interference literature, generating important insights for research on the involvement of executive functions in deceptive behavior. PMID:23543918

Is it relevant? Influence of trial manipulations of prospective memory context on task interference.

PubMed

Lourenço, Joana S; Maylor, Elizabeth A

2014-01-01

Prospective memory (PM) research has often investigated if having an intention interferes with ongoing activities, but rarely by linking the intention to a particular context. We examined effects of trial-by-trial changes in whether the context (defined by colour) was relevant for the nonfocal PM task. The ongoing task involved speeded decisions about the position (left/right) of the upper-case letter in a pair, and the PM task consisted of pressing an additional key if the upper-case and lower-case letters were in a specified colour and the same letter. Trials switched between two colours either randomly or predictably in eight-trial blocks. We also manipulated the presence/absence of occasional same-letter pairs in the irrelevant context. Results showed higher cost of having a nonfocal PM task when ongoing stimuli matched than when they mismatched the target's colour. Moreover, cost for intention-irrelevant stimuli was minimized, though never eliminated, by blocking match/mismatch trials. These findings highlight the role that local changes in intention-related context play in task interference and support a view of monitoring as a flexible mechanism. Additionally, the study introduced a novel way of embedding intention-related events in the irrelevant context shortly before the occurrence of PM targets, with results tentatively suggesting that such events might impair target detection.

Visual search in divided areas: dividers initially interfere with and later facilitate visual search.

PubMed

Nakashima, Ryoichi; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2013-02-01

A common search paradigm requires observers to search for a target among undivided spatial arrays of many items. Yet our visual environment is populated with items that are typically arranged within smaller (subdivided) spatial areas outlined by dividers (e.g., frames). It remains unclear how dividers impact visual search performance. In this study, we manipulated the presence and absence of frames and the number of frames subdividing search displays. Observers searched for a target O among Cs, a typically inefficient search task, and for a target C among Os, a typically efficient search. The results indicated that the presence of divider frames in a search display initially interferes with visual search tasks when targets are quickly detected (i.e., efficient search), leading to early interference; conversely, frames later facilitate visual search in tasks in which targets take longer to detect (i.e., inefficient search), leading to late facilitation. Such interference and facilitation appear only for conditions with a specific number of frames. Relative to previous studies of grouping (due to item proximity or similarity), these findings suggest that frame enclosures of multiple items may induce a grouping effect that influences search performance.

Does the radiologically isolated syndrome exist? A dual-task cost pilot study.

PubMed

Dattola, Vincenzo; Logiudice, Anna Lisa; Bonanno, Lilla; Famà, Fausto; Milardi, Demetrio; Chillemi, Gaetana; D'Aleo, Giangaetano; Marino, Silvia; Calabrò, Rocco Salvatore; Russo, Margherita

2017-11-01

Simultaneous performance of motor and cognitive tasks may compete for common brain network resources in aging or patients with some neurological diseases, suggesting the occurrence of a cognitive-motor interference. While this phenomenon has been well described for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, it never has been tested on asymptomatic subject with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings suggestive of demyelinating disease (i.e., radiologically isolated syndrome: RIS). In this pilot study, 10 RIS subjects and 10 sex/age-matched healthy controls were tested by means of static posturography under eyes opened (single-task trial) and while performing two different cognitive tasks (semantic modified word list generation for first dual-task trial and phonemic semantic modified word list generation for second dual-task trial), to estimate the dual-task cost (DTC) of standing balance. In our sample, under cognitive interference (without any substantial differences between semantic and phonemic modified word list generation), the RIS group showed significance differences in CoP (center of pressure) total sway area, ellipse eccentricity, CoP sway path length, CoP median sway velocity along the AP (anteroposterior) axis and along the ML (mediolateral) axis, reflecting a higher negative DTC respect to healthy subjects (which have simply shown a statistical trend, failing to reach a significance, in some trials). The phenomenon of cognitive-motor interference might be unmasked by a dual-task posturography in RIS subjects, too. We hypothesize that this approach could be useful to early reveal the presence of a demyelinating disease and to reach a MS diagnosis in subjects otherwise classified as RIS.

Neural Mechanisms of Interference Control Underlie the Relationship Between Fluid Intelligence and Working Memory Span

PubMed Central

Burgess, Gregory C.; Gray, Jeremy R.; Conway, Andrew R. A.; Braver, Todd S.

2014-01-01

Fluid intelligence (gF) and working memory (WM) span predict success in demanding cognitive situations. Recent studies show that much of the variance in gF and WM span is shared, suggesting common neural mechanisms. This study provides a direct investigation of the degree to which shared variance in gF and WM span can be explained by neural mechanisms of interference control. We measured performance and fMRI activity in 102 participants during the n-back WM task, focusing on the selective activation effects associated with high-interference lure trials. Brain activity on these trials was correlated with gF, WM span, and task performance in core brain regions linked to WM and executive control, including bilateral dorsolateral PFC (middle frontal gyrus, BA9) and parietal cortex (inferior parietal cortex; BA 40/7). Interference-related performance and interference-related activity accounted for a significant proportion of the shared variance in gF and WM span. Path analyses indicate that interference control activity may affect gF through a common set of processes that also influence WM span. These results suggest that individual differences in interference control mechanisms are important for understanding the relationship between gF and WM span. PMID:21787103

Distracted and down: neural mechanisms of affective interference in subclinical depression

PubMed Central

Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R.; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Warren, Stacie L.; Sutton, Bradley P.; Miller, Gregory A.; Heller, Wendy; Banich, Marie T.

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown that depressed individuals have difficulty directing attention away from negative distractors, a phenomenon known as affective interference. However, findings are mixed regarding the neural mechanisms and network dynamics of affective interference. The present study addressed these issues by comparing neural activation during emotion-word and color-word Stroop tasks in participants with varying levels of (primarily subclinical) depression. Depressive symptoms predicted increased activation to negative distractors in areas of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), regions implicated in cognitive control and internally directed attention, respectively. Increased dACC activity was also observed in the group-average response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that dACC activity during affective interference is related to overtaxed cognitive control. In contrast, regions of PCC were deactivated across the group in response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that PCC activity during affective interference represents task-independent processing. A psychophysiological interaction emerged in which higher depression predicted more positively correlated activity between dACC and PCC during affective interference, i.e. greater connectivity between cognitive control and internal-attention systems. These findings suggest that, when individuals high in depression are confronted by negative material, increased attention to internal thoughts and difficulty shifting resources to the external world interfere with goal-directed behavior. PMID:25062838

A case study of arithmetic facts dyscalculia caused by a hypersensitivity-to-interference in memory.

PubMed

De Visscher, Alice; Noël, Marie-Pascale

2013-01-01

While the heterogeneity of developmental dyscalculia is increasingly recognized, the different profiles have not yet been clearly established. Among the features underpinning types of developmental dyscalculia suggested in the literature, an impairment in arithmetic fact retrieval is particularly prominent. In this paper, we present a case study of an adult woman (DB) with very good cognitive capacities suffering from a specific and developmental arithmetic fact retrieval deficit. We test the main hypotheses about developmental dyscalculia derived from literature. We first explore the influential hypothesis of an approximate number system deficit, through estimation tasks, comparison tasks and a priming comparison task. Secondly, we evaluate whether DB's mathematical deficiencies are caused by a rote verbal memory deficit, using tasks involving completion of expressions, and reciting automatic series such as the alphabet and the months of the year. Alternatively, taking into account the extreme similarity of the arithmetic facts, we propose that a heightened sensitivity to interference could have prevented DB from memorizing the arithmetic facts. The pattern of DB's results on different tasks supports this hypothesis. Our findings identify a new etiology of a specific impairment of arithmetic facts storage, namely a hypersensitivity-to-interference. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prefrontal responses to Stroop tasks in subjects with post-traumatic stress disorder assessed by functional near infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Yennu, Amarnath; Tian, Fenghua; Smith-Osborne, Alexa; J Gatchel, Robert; Woon, Fu Lye; Liu, Hanli

2016-07-25

Studies on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing attentional deficits have implicated abnormal activities in the frontal lobe. In this study, we utilized multichannel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate selective attention-related hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex among 15 combat-exposed war-zone veterans with PTSD and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. While performing the incongruent Stroop task, healthy controls showed significant activations in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) compared to baseline readings. This observation is consistent with previously reported results. In comparison, subjects with PTSD failed to activate left LPFC during the same Stroop task. Our observations may implicate that subjects with PTSD experienced difficulty in overcoming Stroop interference. We also observed significant negative correlation between task reaction times and hemodynamic responses from left LPFC during the incongruent Stroop task in the PTSD group. Regarding the methodology used in this study, we have learned that an appropriate design of Stroop paradigms is important for meeting an optimal cognitive load which can lead to better brain image contrasts in response to Stroop interference between healthy versus PTSD subjects. Overall, the feasibility of fNIRS for studying and mapping neural correlates of selective attention and interference in subjects with PTSD is reported.

Prefrontal responses to Stroop tasks in subjects with post-traumatic stress disorder assessed by functional near infrared spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Yennu, Amarnath; Tian, Fenghua; Smith-Osborne, Alexa; J. Gatchel, Robert; Woon, Fu Lye; Liu, Hanli

2016-01-01

Studies on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing attentional deficits have implicated abnormal activities in the frontal lobe. In this study, we utilized multichannel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate selective attention-related hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex among 15 combat-exposed war-zone veterans with PTSD and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. While performing the incongruent Stroop task, healthy controls showed significant activations in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) compared to baseline readings. This observation is consistent with previously reported results. In comparison, subjects with PTSD failed to activate left LPFC during the same Stroop task. Our observations may implicate that subjects with PTSD experienced difficulty in overcoming Stroop interference. We also observed significant negative correlation between task reaction times and hemodynamic responses from left LPFC during the incongruent Stroop task in the PTSD group. Regarding the methodology used in this study, we have learned that an appropriate design of Stroop paradigms is important for meeting an optimal cognitive load which can lead to better brain image contrasts in response to Stroop interference between healthy versus PTSD subjects. Overall, the feasibility of fNIRS for studying and mapping neural correlates of selective attention and interference in subjects with PTSD is reported. PMID:27452397

The PRP Effect Following Callosotomy: Residual Interference Despite Uncoupling of Lateralized Response Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivry, Richard B.; Franz, Elizabeth A.; Kingstone, Alan; Johnston, James C.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

A callosotomy patient was tested in two dual-task experiments requiring successive speeded responses to lateralized stimuli. In accord with the recent findings of Pashler, O'Brien, Luck, Hillyard, Mangun, and Gazzaniga (in press), the patient showed a robust psychological refractory period effect (PRP) responses on Task 2 were inversely related to the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA). However, three aspects of our data indicated that the processing limitations for the patient were different than those observed with control subjects. First, the split-brain patient did not show an increase in reaction time when the two tasks required responses from a common output system (i.e., both manual responses) in comparison to when different output systems were used (i.e., manual-vocal). Second, inconsistent stimulus-response mappings for the two tasks greatly inflated response latencies for the control subjects, but had minimal effect on the performance of the split-brain patient. Third, the consistency manipulation was underadditive with SOA for only the patient, suggesting a later bottleneck in processing following callosotomy than was observed for the control subjects. It is proposed that sectioning the corpus callosum eliminates interference resulting from competing stimulus response codes. Nonetheless, dual-task interference persists for the split-brain subject because a subcortical gate constrains when selected responses can be implemented.

Prefrontal responses to Stroop tasks in subjects with post-traumatic stress disorder assessed by functional near infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yennu, Amarnath; Tian, Fenghua; Smith-Osborne, Alexa; J. Gatchel, Robert; Woon, Fu Lye; Liu, Hanli

2016-07-01

Studies on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing attentional deficits have implicated abnormal activities in the frontal lobe. In this study, we utilized multichannel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate selective attention-related hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex among 15 combat-exposed war-zone veterans with PTSD and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. While performing the incongruent Stroop task, healthy controls showed significant activations in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) compared to baseline readings. This observation is consistent with previously reported results. In comparison, subjects with PTSD failed to activate left LPFC during the same Stroop task. Our observations may implicate that subjects with PTSD experienced difficulty in overcoming Stroop interference. We also observed significant negative correlation between task reaction times and hemodynamic responses from left LPFC during the incongruent Stroop task in the PTSD group. Regarding the methodology used in this study, we have learned that an appropriate design of Stroop paradigms is important for meeting an optimal cognitive load which can lead to better brain image contrasts in response to Stroop interference between healthy versus PTSD subjects. Overall, the feasibility of fNIRS for studying and mapping neural correlates of selective attention and interference in subjects with PTSD is reported.

Movement interference in autism-spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Gowen, E; Stanley, J; Miall, R C

2008-03-07

Movement interference occurs when concurrently observing and executing incompatible actions and is believed to be due to co-activation of conflicting populations of mirror neurons. It has also been suggested that mirror neurons contribute towards the imitation of observed actions. However, the exact neural substrate of imitation may depend on task demands: a processing route for goal-directed meaningful actions may be distinct from one for non-goal-directed actions. A more controversial role proposed for these neurons is in theory of mind processing, along with the subsequent suggestion that impairment in the mirror neuron circuit can contribute to autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) where individuals have theory of mind deficits. We have therefore examined movement interference in nine ASD participants and nine matched controls while performing actions congruent and incongruent with observed meaningless arm movements. We hypothesised that if the mirror neuron system was impaired, reduced interference should be observed in the ASD group. However, control and ASD participants demonstrated an equivalent interference effect in an interpersonal condition, with greater movement variability in the incongruent compared to the congruent condition. A component of movement interference which is independent of congruency did differ between groups: ASD participants made generally more variable movements for the interpersonal task than for biological dot-motion task, while the reverse was true for the control participants. We interpret these results as evidence that the ASD participant group either rely to a greater extent on the goal-directed imitation pathway, supporting claims that they have a specific deficit of the non-goal-directed imitation pathway, or exhibit reduced visuomotor integration.

Not all performance validity tests are created equal: The role of recollection and familiarity in the Test of Memory Malingering and Word Memory Test.

PubMed

Eglit, Graham M L; Lynch, Julie K; McCaffrey, Robert J

2017-03-01

The Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) and the Word Memory Test (WMT) are both performance validity tests (PVTs) that use a two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) recognition memory format. Several studies have reported that these tests are susceptible to cognitive impairment and that the WMT is more susceptible than the TOMM. The current study explored components of recognition memory (i.e., conscious recollection and familiarity) underlying the TOMM and WMT to identify factors that make them susceptible and resilient to cognitive impairment. Fifty-four nonclinical undergraduate research participants were administered the TOMM and WMT while providing introspective judgments about their recognition memory using the remember/know/guess procedure. In addition, half of participants were administered dual-task interference, a manipulation intended to reduce recollection, during these tests, while the other half completed these tests without interference. Standard cutoffs on the TOMM and WMT were explored, as well as alternative cutoffs based on TOMM Trial 1 scores. The WMT was more impacted by dual-task interference than standard TOMM cutoff trials, while alternative TOMM cutoff trials were equally impacted by dual-task interference relative to the WMT. Dual-task interference reduced recollection on these tests, but spared familiarity. Standard TOMM trials and the WMT were relatively comparable on levels of recollection, but familiarity contributed more to the TOMM than to the WMT. Alternative TOMM trials possessed lower familiarity and recollection than standard TOMM trials and lower recollection than the WMT. Reduced recollection places examinees at risk of failing the TOMM and WMT, while familiarity contributes to the relative resilience of the standard TOMM. Future development of 2AFC recognition memory PVTs should attempt to maximize the contribution of familiarity to their completion.

Native-Language Phonological Interference in Early Hakka-Mandarin Bilinguals' Visual Recognition of Chinese Two-Character Compounds: Evidence from the Semantic-Relatedness Decision Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Shiyu; Ma, Zheng

2017-01-01

Previous research has indicated that, in viewing a visual word, the activated phonological representation in turn activates its homophone, causing semantic interference. Using this mechanism of phonological mediation, this study investigated native-language phonological interference in visual recognition of Chinese two-character compounds by early…

Contribution of frontal and temporal lobe function to memory interference from divided attention at retrieval.

PubMed

Fernandes, Myra A; Davidson, Patrick S R; Glisky, Elizabeth L; Moscovitch, Morris

2004-07-01

On the basis of their scores on composite measures of frontal and temporal lobe function, derived from neuropsychological testing, seniors were divided preexperimentally into 4 groups. Participants studied a list of unrelated words under full attention and recalled them while concurrently performing an animacy decision task to words, an odd-digit identification task to numbers, or no distracting task. Large interference effects on memory were produced by the animacy but not by the odd-digit distracting task, and this pattern was not influenced by level of frontal or temporal lobe function. Results show associative retrieval is largely disrupted by competition for common representations, and it is not affected by a reduction in general processing resources, attentional capacity, or competition for memory structures in the temporal lobe.

Working memory in wayfinding-a dual task experiment in a virtual city.

PubMed

Meilinger, Tobias; Knauff, Markus; Bülthoff, Heinrich H

2008-06-01

This study examines the working memory systems involved in human wayfinding. In the learning phase, 24 participants learned two routes in a novel photorealistic virtual environment displayed on a 220° screen while they were disrupted by a visual, a spatial, a verbal, or-in a control group-no secondary task. In the following wayfinding phase, the participants had to find and to "virtually walk" the two routes again. During this wayfinding phase, a number of dependent measures were recorded. This research shows that encoding wayfinding knowledge interfered with the verbal and with the spatial secondary task. These interferences were even stronger than the interference of wayfinding knowledge with the visual secondary task. These findings are consistent with a dual-coding approach of wayfinding knowledge. 2008 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Evaluative pressure overcomes perceptual load effects.

PubMed

Normand, Alice; Autin, Frédérique; Croizet, Jean-Claude

2015-06-01

Perceptual load has been found to be a powerful bottom-up determinant of distractibility, with high perceptual load preventing distraction by any irrelevant information. However, when under evaluative pressure, individuals exert top-down attentional control by giving greater weight to task-relevant features, making them more distractible from task-relevant distractors. One study tested whether the top-down modulation of attention under evaluative pressure overcomes the beneficial bottom-up effect of high perceptual load on distraction. Using a response-competition task, we replicated previous findings that high levels of perceptual load suppress task-relevant distractor response interference, but only for participants in a control condition. Participants under evaluative pressure (i.e., who believed their intelligence was assessed) showed interference from task-relevant distractor at all levels of perceptual load. This research challenges the assumptions of the perceptual load theory and sheds light on a neglected determinant of distractibility: the self-relevance of the performance situation in which attentional control is solicited.

Selective interference with image retention and generation: evidence for the workspace model.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Marian; Logie, Robert H; Della Sala, Sergio

2009-08-01

We address three types of model of the relationship between working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM): (a) the gateway model, in which WM acts as a gateway between perceptual input and LTM; (b) the unitary model, in which WM is seen as the currently activated areas of LTM; and (c) the workspace model, in which perceptual input activates LTM, and WM acts as a separate workspace for processing and temporary retention of these activated traces. Predictions of these models were tested, focusing on visuospatial working memory and using dual-task methodology to combine two main tasks (visual short-term retention and image generation) with two interference tasks (irrelevant pictures and spatial tapping). The pictures selectively disrupted performance on the generation task, whereas the tapping selectively interfered with the retention task. Results are consistent with the predictions of the workspace model.

Event-Based Prospective Memory Is Resistant but Not Immune to Proactive Interference.

PubMed

Oates, Joyce M; Peynircioglu, Zehra F

2016-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that proactive interference (PI) does not hurt event-based prospective memory (ProM) the way it does retrospective memory (RetroM) (Oates, Peynircioglu, & Bates, 2015). We investigated this apparent resistance further. Introduction of a distractor task to ensure we were testing ProM rather than vigilance in Experiment 1 and tripling the number of lists to provide more opportunity for PI buildup in Experiment 2 still did not produce performance decrements. However, when the ProM task was combined with a RetroM task in Experiment 3, a comparable buildup and release was observed also in the ProM task. It appears that event based ProM is indeed somewhat resistant to PI, but this resistance can break down when the ProM task comprises the same stimuli as in an embedded RetroM task. We discuss the results using the ideas of cue overload and distinctiveness as well as shared attentional and working memory resources.

Proactive and reactive control depends on emotional valence: a Stroop study with emotional expressions and words.

PubMed

Kar, Bhoomika Rastogi; Srinivasan, Narayanan; Nehabala, Yagyima; Nigam, Richa

2018-03-01

We examined proactive and reactive control effects in the context of task-relevant happy, sad, and angry facial expressions on a face-word Stroop task. Participants identified the emotion expressed by a face that contained a congruent or incongruent emotional word (happy/sad/angry). Proactive control effects were measured in terms of the reduction in Stroop interference (difference between incongruent and congruent trials) as a function of previous trial emotion and previous trial congruence. Reactive control effects were measured in terms of the reduction in Stroop interference as a function of current trial emotion and previous trial congruence. Previous trial negative emotions exert greater influence on proactive control than the positive emotion. Sad faces in the previous trial resulted in greater reduction in the Stroop interference for happy faces in the current trial. However, current trial angry faces showed stronger adaptation effects compared to happy faces. Thus, both proactive and reactive control mechanisms are dependent on emotional valence of task-relevant stimuli.

The dorsal medial frontal cortex is sensitive to time on task, not response conflict or error likelihood.

PubMed

Grinband, Jack; Savitskaya, Judith; Wager, Tor D; Teichert, Tobias; Ferrera, Vincent P; Hirsch, Joy

2011-07-15

The dorsal medial frontal cortex (dMFC) is highly active during choice behavior. Though many models have been proposed to explain dMFC function, the conflict monitoring model is the most influential. It posits that dMFC is primarily involved in detecting interference between competing responses thus signaling the need for control. It accurately predicts increased neural activity and response time (RT) for incompatible (high-interference) vs. compatible (low-interference) decisions. However, it has been shown that neural activity can increase with time on task, even when no decisions are made. Thus, the greater dMFC activity on incompatible trials may stem from longer RTs rather than response conflict. This study shows that (1) the conflict monitoring model fails to predict the relationship between error likelihood and RT, and (2) the dMFC activity is not sensitive to congruency, error likelihood, or response conflict, but is monotonically related to time on task. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age-related changes in frequency of mind-wandering and task-related interferences during memory encoding and their impact on retrieval.

PubMed

Maillet, David; Rajah, M Natasha

2013-01-01

During the performance of cognitive tasks such as memory encoding, attention can become decoupled from the external environment and instead focused on internal thoughts related to the appraisal of the current task (task-related interferences; TRI), or personal thoughts unrelated to the task at hand (mind-wandering; MW). However, the association between the frequency of these thoughts experienced at encoding and retrieval accuracy in young and older adults remains poorly understood. In this study young and older adults encoded lists of words using one of two encoding tasks: judging whether words are man-made/natural (objective task), or whether they are pleasant/neutral (subjective task). We measured the frequency of TRI and MW at encoding, and related them to retrieval accuracy in both age groups. We found that encoding task influenced the type of internal thoughts experienced by young, but not older, adults: young exhibited greater MW in the subjective vs the objective task, and greater TRI in the objective vs subjective encoding task. Second, across both tasks we found marked age-related decreases in both MW and TRI at encoding, and frequency of these thoughts negatively impacted memory retrieval in young adults only. We discuss these findings in relation to current theories of ageing, attention and memory.

Suppression of Biodynamic Interference by Adaptive Filtering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Velger, M.; Merhav, S. J.; Grunwald, A. J.

1984-01-01

Preliminary experimental results obtained in moving base simulator tests are presented. Both for pursuit and compensatory tracking tasks, a strong deterioration in tracking performance due to biodynamic interference is found. The use of adaptive filtering is shown to substantially alleviate these effects, resulting in a markedly improved tracking performance and reduction in task difficulty. The effect of simulator motion and of adaptive filtering on human operator describing functions is investigated. Adaptive filtering is found to substantially increase pilot gain and cross-over frequency, implying a more tight tracking behavior. The adaptive filter is found to be effective in particular for high-gain proportional dynamics, low display forcing function power and for pursuit tracking task configurations.

The Effects of Divided Attention on Speech Motor, Verbal Fluency, and Manual Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dromey, Christopher; Shim, Erin

2008-01-01

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate aspects of the "functional distance hypothesis," which predicts that tasks regulated by brain networks in closer anatomic proximity will interfere more with each other than tasks controlled by spatially distant regions. Speech, verbal fluency, and manual motor tasks were examined to ascertain whether…

Domain-General Contributions to Social Reasoning: Theory of Mind and Deontic Reasoning Re-Explored

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKinnon, Margaret C.; Moscovitch, Morris

2007-01-01

Using older adults and dual-task interference, we examined performance on two social reasoning tasks: theory of mind (ToM) tasks and versions of the deontic selection task involving social contracts and hazardous conditions. In line with performance accounts of social reasoning (Leslie, Friedman, & German, 2004), evidence from both aging and the…

Secondary-Task Effects on Learning with Multimedia: An Investigation through Eye-Movement Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Acarturk, Cengiz; Ozcelik, Erol

2017-01-01

This study investigates secondary-task interference on eye movements through learning with multimedia. We focus on the relationship between the influence of the secondary task on the eye movements of learners, and the learning outcomes as measured by retention, matching, and transfer. Half of the participants performed a spatial tapping task while…

The Conflict between On-Task and Off-Task Actions in the Classroom and Its Consequences for Motivation and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilian, Britta; Hofer, Manfred; Fries, Stefan; Kuhnle, Claudia

2010-01-01

The relations between students' value orientations, decisions in conflicts between on-task and off-task actions in the classroom, and experiences of motivational interference following these conflicts were investigated. It was expected that well-being value orientation was positively linked and achievement value orientation was negatively linked…

Effect of type of cognitive task and walking speed on cognitive-motor interference during dual-task walking.

PubMed

Patel, P; Lamar, M; Bhatt, T

2014-02-28

We aimed to determine the effect of distinctly different cognitive tasks and walking speed on cognitive-motor interference of dual-task walking. Fifteen healthy adults performed four cognitive tasks: visuomotor reaction time (VMRT) task, word list generation (WLG) task, serial subtraction (SS) task, and the Stroop (STR) task while sitting and during walking at preferred-speed (dual-task normal walking) and slow-speed (dual-task slow-speed walking). Gait speed was recorded to determine effect on walking. Motor and cognitive costs were measured. Dual-task walking had a significant effect on motor and cognitive parameters. At preferred-speed, the motor cost was lowest for the VMRT task and highest for the STR task. In contrast, the cognitive cost was highest for the VMRT task and lowest for the STR task. Dual-task slow walking resulted in increased motor cost and decreased cognitive cost only for the STR task. Results show that the motor and cognitive cost of dual-task walking depends heavily on the type and perceived complexity of the cognitive task being performed. Cognitive cost for the STR task was low irrespective of walking speed, suggesting that at preferred-speed individuals prioritize complex cognitive tasks requiring higher attentional and processing resources over walking. While performing VMRT task, individuals preferred to prioritize more complex walking task over VMRT task resulting in lesser motor cost and increased cognitive cost for VMRT task. Furthermore, slow walking can assist in diverting greater attention towards complex cognitive tasks, improving its performance while walking. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Effects of Formal Corrective Feedback on Off-Task/On-Task Behavior of Mild Intellectually Disabled Students: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Kevin

2016-01-01

The off-task behavior demonstrated by the study participants appears to interfere with classroom instruction, contribute to poor academic performance and in many instances lead to disciplinary actions such as suspension. The purpose of the study entailed determining if formal corrective feedback has an effect on the off-task/on-task behavior of…

Dual-task interference effects on cross-modal numerical order and sound intensity judgments: the more the louder?

PubMed

Alards-Tomalin, Doug; Walker, Alexander C; Nepon, Hillary; Leboe-McGowan, Launa C

2017-09-01

In the current study, cross-task interactions between number order and sound intensity judgments were assessed using a dual-task paradigm. Participants first categorized numerical sequences composed of Arabic digits as either ordered (ascending, descending) or non-ordered. Following each number sequence, participants then had to judge the intensity level of a target sound. Experiment 1 emphasized processing the two tasks independently (serial processing), while Experiments 2 and 3 emphasized processing the two tasks simultaneously (parallel processing). Cross-task interference occurred only when the task required parallel processing and was specific to ascending numerical sequences, which led to a higher proportion of louder sound intensity judgments. In Experiment 4 we examined whether this unidirectional interaction was the result of participants misattributing enhanced processing fluency experienced on ascending sequences as indicating a louder target sound. The unidirectional finding could not be entirely attributed to misattributed processing fluency, and may also be connected to experientially derived conceptual associations between ascending number sequences and greater magnitude, consistent with conceptual mapping theory.

Oculomotor responses and visuospatial perceptual judgments compete for common limited resources

PubMed Central

Tibber, Marc S.; Grant, Simon; Morgan, Michael J.

2010-01-01

While there is evidence for multiple spatial and attentional maps in the brain it is not clear to what extent visuoperceptual and oculomotor tasks rely on common neural representations and attentional mechanisms. Using a dual-task interference paradigm we tested the hypothesis that eye movements and perceptual judgments made to simultaneously presented visuospatial information compete for shared limited resources. Observers undertook judgments of stimulus collinearity (perceptual extrapolation) using a pointer and Gabor patch and/or performed saccades to a peripheral dot target while their eye movements were recorded. In addition, observers performed a non-spatial control task (contrast discrimination), matched for task difficulty and stimulus structure, which on the basis of previous studies was expected to represent a lesser load on putative shared resources. Greater mutual interference was indeed found between the saccade and extrapolation task pair than between the saccade and contrast discrimination task pair. These data are consistent with visuoperceptual and oculomotor responses competing for common limited resources as well as spatial tasks incurring a relatively high attentional cost. PMID:20053112

A cognitive dual task affects gait variability in patients suffering from chronic low back pain.

PubMed

Hamacher, Dennis; Hamacher, Daniel; Schega, Lutz

2014-11-01

Chronic pain and gait variability in a dual-task situation are both associated with higher risk of falling. Executive functions regulate (dual-task) gait variability. A possible cause explaining why chronic pain increases risk of falling in an everyday dual-task situation might be that pain interferes with executive functions and results in a diminished dual-task capability with performance decrements on the secondary task. The main goal of this experiment was to evaluate the specific effects of a cognitive dual task on gait variability in chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. Twelve healthy participants and twelve patients suffering from CLBP were included. The subjects were asked to perform a cognitive single task, a walking single task and a motor-cognitive dual task. Stride variability of trunk movements was calculated. A two-way ANOVA was performed to compare single-task walking with dual-task walking and the single cognitive task performance with the motor-cognitive dual-task performance. We did not find any differences in both of the single-task performances between groups. However, regarding single-task walking and dual-task walking, we observed an interaction effect indicating that low back pain patients show significantly higher gait variability in the dual-task condition as compared to controls. Our data suggest that chronic pain reduces motor-cognitive dual-task performance capability. We postulate that the detrimental effects are caused by central mechanisms where pain interferes with executive functions which, in turn, might contribute to increased risk of falling.

Cognitive Motor Interference in Multiple Sclerosis: Insights From a Systematic Quantitative Review.

PubMed

Learmonth, Yvonne C; Ensari, Ipek; Motl, Robert W

2017-06-01

To synthesize the evidence for differences in cognitive motor interference (CMI) between persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) and those without MS by using systematic review and meta-analysis. EMBASE, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. Our focused literature search was informed by past systematic reviews of CMI during walking in MS. The key terms searched included Multiple sclerosis and synonyms of motor function (eg, Gait disorders, Gait, Walking, Balance, or Fall) and motor and cognitive functions (eg, Cognitive motor interference or Thinking). From the 116 abstract-identified articles, 13 experimental studies were selected for the final analysis and were rated using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool. A meta-analysis was performed for all considered outcomes. The results yielded a small overall effect size (ES) of .08 (SE=.17; 95% confidence interval, -.25 to .40; z=.49; P>.05), which indicated a nonsignificant minimal difference in CMI between persons with MS and those without MS. The moderator analysis for motor task (mobility task: ES, .22; postural task: ES, -.11) was not significantly different between persons with MS and those without MS. The moderator analysis for cognitive task (verbal fluency task: ES, .66; mental tracking task: ES, .04; discrimination and decision-making task: ES, -.30) resulted in a significant difference in CMI between persons with MS and those without MS (P<.05). We provide evidence that overall there is a minimal difference in CMI between persons with MS and those without MS. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modality independence of order coding in working memory: Evidence from cross-modal order interference at recall.

PubMed

Vandierendonck, André

2016-01-01

Working memory researchers do not agree on whether order in serial recall is encoded by dedicated modality-specific systems or by a more general modality-independent system. Although previous research supports the existence of autonomous modality-specific systems, it has been shown that serial recognition memory is prone to cross-modal order interference by concurrent tasks. The present study used a serial recall task, which was performed in a single-task condition and in a dual-task condition with an embedded memory task in the retention interval. The modality of the serial task was either verbal or visuospatial, and the embedded tasks were in the other modality and required either serial or item recall. Care was taken to avoid modality overlaps during presentation and recall. In Experiment 1, visuospatial but not verbal serial recall was more impaired when the embedded task was an order than when it was an item task. Using a more difficult verbal serial recall task, verbal serial recall was also more impaired by another order recall task in Experiment 2. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of modality-independent order coding. The implications for views on short-term recall and the multicomponent view of working memory are discussed.

Nonword reading and Stroop interference: what differentiates attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and reading disability?

PubMed

Stubenrauch, Christa; Freund, Juliane; Alecu de Flers, Simone; DeFlers, Simone; Scharke, Wolfgang; Braun, Mario; Jacobs, Arthur M; Konrad, Kerstin

2014-01-01

Attention deficits and impaired reading performance co-occur more often than expected by chance; however, the underlying mechanism of this association still remains rather unexplored. In two consecutive studies, children aged 8 to 12 years with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and children with reading disability (RD) were examined using a 2 (ADHD versus no ADHD) × 2 (RD versus no RD) factorial design. To further delineate deficient interference control from reading processes, we used a newly developed self-paced word/nonword reading task (Experiment 1, n = 68) and a modified computerized Stroop paradigm, including an orthographic phonological neighbor (OPN) condition (Experiment 2, n = 84). RD (compared to non-RD groups) was associated with impairments in both word and nonword reading, while children with ADHD also showed impaired nonword reading. In the Stroop task, RD, but not ADHD, had a significant impact on task performance. Interestingly, a significant interaction between ADHD, RD, and task condition emerged, which was due to particularly slower reaction times to nonwords in children with RD only, while task performance in children with comorbid ADHD and RD resembled that of ADHD only. Thus, our results demonstrate that impairments in nonword reading were not specific to RD but were also present in children with ADHD. In addition, RD and not ADHD was characterized by poor interference control in the Stroop task. These findings question whether unique cognitive deficits are specific to either ADHD or RD.

Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults: Age Predicts Backward Recall Performance within Both Age Groups

PubMed Central

Brown, Louise A.

2016-01-01

Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18–40 years) and older (64–85 years) adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale – Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998). Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial), and recall type (forward and backward), were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping) reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise) conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward). Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age predicts backward spatial span performance across the adult lifespan, within both younger and older adulthood. PMID:27757096

Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults: Age Predicts Backward Recall Performance within Both Age Groups.

PubMed

Brown, Louise A

2016-01-01

Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18-40 years) and older (64-85 years) adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998). Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial), and recall type (forward and backward), were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping) reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise) conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward). Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age predicts backward spatial span performance across the adult lifespan, within both younger and older adulthood.

Neonatal Perirhinal Lesions in Rhesus Macaques Alter Performance on Working Memory Tasks with High Proactive Interference.

PubMed

Weiss, Alison R; Nadji, Ryhan; Bachevalier, Jocelyne

2015-01-01

The lateral prefrontal cortex is known for its contribution to working memory (WM) processes in both humans and animals. Yet, recent studies indicate that the prefrontal cortex is part of a broader network of interconnected brain areas involved in WM. Within the medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures, the perirhinal cortex, which has extensive direct interactions with the lateral and orbital prefrontal cortex, is required to form active/flexible representations of familiar objects. However, its participation in WM processes has not be fully explored. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of neonatal perirhinal lesions on maintenance and monitoring WM processes. As adults, animals with neonatal perirhinal lesions and their matched controls were tested in three object-based (non-spatial) WM tasks that tapped different WM processing domains, e.g., maintenance only (Session-unique Delayed-nonmatching-to Sample, SU-DNMS), and maintenance and monitoring (Object-Self-Order, OBJ-SO; Serial Order Memory Task, SOMT). Neonatal perirhinal lesions transiently impaired the acquisition of SU-DNMS at a short (5 s) delay, but not when re-tested with a longer delay (30 s). The same neonatal lesions severely impacted acquisition of OBJ-SO task, and the impairment was characterized by a sharp increase in perseverative errors. By contrast, neonatal perirhinal lesion spared the ability to monitor the temporal order of items in WM as measured by the SOMT. Contrary to the SU-DNMS and OBJ-SO, which re-use the same stimuli across trials and thus produce proactive interference, the SOMT uses novel objects on each trial and is devoid of interference. Therefore, the impairment of monkeys with neonatal perirhinal lesions on SU-DNMS and OBJ-SO tasks is likely to be caused by an inability to solve working memory tasks with high proactive interference. The sparing of performance on the SOMT demonstrates that neonatal perirhinal lesions do not alter working memory processes per se but rather impact processes modulating impulse control and/or behavioral flexibility.

Distracted and down: neural mechanisms of affective interference in subclinical depression.

PubMed

Kaiser, Roselinde H; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Warren, Stacie L; Sutton, Bradley P; Miller, Gregory A; Heller, Wendy; Banich, Marie T

2015-05-01

Previous studies have shown that depressed individuals have difficulty directing attention away from negative distractors, a phenomenon known as affective interference. However, findings are mixed regarding the neural mechanisms and network dynamics of affective interference. The present study addressed these issues by comparing neural activation during emotion-word and color-word Stroop tasks in participants with varying levels of (primarily subclinical) depression. Depressive symptoms predicted increased activation to negative distractors in areas of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), regions implicated in cognitive control and internally directed attention, respectively. Increased dACC activity was also observed in the group-average response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that dACC activity during affective interference is related to overtaxed cognitive control. In contrast, regions of PCC were deactivated across the group in response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that PCC activity during affective interference represents task-independent processing. A psychophysiological interaction emerged in which higher depression predicted more positively correlated activity between dACC and PCC during affective interference, i.e. greater connectivity between cognitive control and internal-attention systems. These findings suggest that, when individuals high in depression are confronted by negative material, increased attention to internal thoughts and difficulty shifting resources to the external world interfere with goal-directed behavior. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Interference effects of categorization on decision making.

PubMed

Wang, Zheng; Busemeyer, Jerome R

2016-05-01

Many decision making tasks in life involve a categorization process, but the effects of categorization on subsequent decision making has rarely been studied. This issue was explored in three experiments (N=721), in which participants were shown a face stimulus on each trial and performed variations of categorization-decision tasks. On C-D trials, they categorized the stimulus and then made an action decision; on X-D trials, they were told the category and then made an action decision; on D-alone trials, they only made an action decision. An interference effect emerged in some of the conditions, such that the probability of an action on the D-alone trials (i.e., when there was no explicit categorization before the decision) differed from the total probability of the same action on the C-D or X-D trials (i.e., when there was explicit categorization before the decision). Interference effects are important because they indicate a violation of the classical law of total probability, which is assumed by many cognitive models. Across all three experiments, a complex pattern of interference effects systematically occurred for different types of stimuli and for different types of categorization-decision tasks. These interference effects present a challenge for traditional cognitive models, such as Markov and signal detection models, but a quantum cognition model, called the belief-action entanglement (BAE) model, predicted that these results could occur. The BAE model employs the quantum principles of superposition and entanglement to explain the psychological mechanisms underlying the puzzling interference effects. The model can be applied to many important and practical categorization-decision situations in life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prospective Memory and Task Interference in a Continuous Monitoring Dynamic Display Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loft, Shayne; Remington, Roger W.

2010-01-01

Theories and methods from the prospective memory literature were used to anticipate how individuals would maintain and retrieve intentions in a continuous monitoring dynamic display task. Participants accepted aircraft into sectors and detected aircraft conflicts during an air traffic control simulation. They were sometimes required to substitute…

Mode of Interference, Set and Selective Attention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagen, John William; Zukier, Henry

This study investigated the effects of distractors on children's task-relevant (central) and task-irrelevant (incidental) recall on a short term visual memory task involving pictures of familiar animals and household articles. The effect of mode of distractor (auditory or visual) and the effect of developmental level were also studied. Subjects…

I saw where you have been--The topography of human demonstration affects dogs' search patterns and perseverative errors.

PubMed

Péter, András; Topál, József; Miklósi, Ádám; Pongrácz, Péter

2016-04-01

Performance in object search tasks is not only influenced by the subjects' object permanence ability. For example, ostensive cues of the human manipulating the target markedly affect dogs' choices. However, the interference between the target's location and the spatial cues of the human hiding the object is still unknown. In a five-location visible displacement task, the experimental groups differed in the hiding route of the experimenter. In the 'direct' condition he moved straight towards the actual location, hid the object and returned to the dog. In the 'indirect' conditions, he additionally walked behind each screen before returning. The two 'indirect' conditions differed from each other in that the human either visited the previously baited locations before (proactive interference) or after (retroactive interference) hiding the object. In the 'indirect' groups, dogs' performance was significantly lower than in the 'direct' group, demonstrating that for dogs, in an ostensive context, spatial cues of the hider are as important as the observed location of the target. Based on their incorrect choices, dogs were most attracted to the previously baited locations that the human visited after hiding the object in the actual trial. This underlines the importance of retroactive interference in multiple choice tasks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dependency-dependent interference: NPI interference, agreement attraction, and global pragmatic inferences.

PubMed

Xiang, Ming; Grove, Julian; Giannakidou, Anastasia

2013-01-01

Previous psycholinguistics studies have shown that when forming a long distance dependency in online processing, the parser sometimes accepts a sentence even though the required grammatical constraints are only partially met. A mechanistic account of how such errors arise sheds light on both the underlying linguistic representations involved and the processing mechanisms that put such representations together. In the current study, we contrast the negative polarity items (NPI) interference effect, as shown by the acceptance of an ungrammatical sentence like "The bills that democratic senators have voted for will ever become law," with the well-known phenomenon of agreement attraction ("The key to the cabinets are … "). On the surface, these two types of errors look alike and thereby can be explained as being driven by the same source: similarity based memory interference. However, we argue that the linguistic representations involved in NPI licensing are substantially different from those of subject-verb agreement, and therefore the interference effects in each domain potentially arise from distinct sources. In particular, we show that NPI interference at least partially arises from pragmatic inferences. In a self-paced reading study with an acceptability judgment task, we showed NPI interference was modulated by participants' general pragmatic communicative skills, as quantified by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), especially in offline tasks. Participants with more autistic traits were actually less prone to the NPI interference effect than those with fewer autistic traits. This result contrasted with agreement attraction conditions, which were not influenced by individual pragmatic skill differences. We also show that different NPI licensors seem to have distinct interference profiles. We discuss two kinds of interference effects for NPI licensing: memory-retrieval based and pragmatically triggered.

Dependency-dependent interference: NPI interference, agreement attraction, and global pragmatic inferences

PubMed Central

Xiang, Ming; Grove, Julian; Giannakidou, Anastasia

2013-01-01

Previous psycholinguistics studies have shown that when forming a long distance dependency in online processing, the parser sometimes accepts a sentence even though the required grammatical constraints are only partially met. A mechanistic account of how such errors arise sheds light on both the underlying linguistic representations involved and the processing mechanisms that put such representations together. In the current study, we contrast the negative polarity items (NPI) interference effect, as shown by the acceptance of an ungrammatical sentence like “The bills that democratic senators have voted for will ever become law,” with the well-known phenomenon of agreement attraction (“The key to the cabinets are … ”). On the surface, these two types of errors look alike and thereby can be explained as being driven by the same source: similarity based memory interference. However, we argue that the linguistic representations involved in NPI licensing are substantially different from those of subject-verb agreement, and therefore the interference effects in each domain potentially arise from distinct sources. In particular, we show that NPI interference at least partially arises from pragmatic inferences. In a self-paced reading study with an acceptability judgment task, we showed NPI interference was modulated by participants' general pragmatic communicative skills, as quantified by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), especially in offline tasks. Participants with more autistic traits were actually less prone to the NPI interference effect than those with fewer autistic traits. This result contrasted with agreement attraction conditions, which were not influenced by individual pragmatic skill differences. We also show that different NPI licensors seem to have distinct interference profiles. We discuss two kinds of interference effects for NPI licensing: memory-retrieval based and pragmatically triggered. PMID:24109468

Age-Related Interference between the Selection of Input-Output Modality Mappings and Postural Control—a Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Stelzel, Christine; Schauenburg, Gesche; Rapp, Michael A.; Heinzel, Stephan; Granacher, Urs

2017-01-01

Age-related decline in executive functions and postural control due to degenerative processes in the central nervous system have been related to increased fall-risk in old age. Many studies have shown cognitive-postural dual-task interference in old adults, but research on the role of specific executive functions in this context has just begun. In this study, we addressed the question whether postural control is impaired depending on the coordination of concurrent response-selection processes related to the compatibility of input and output modality mappings as compared to impairments related to working-memory load in the comparison of cognitive dual and single tasks. Specifically, we measured total center of pressure (CoP) displacements in healthy female participants aged 19–30 and 66–84 years while they performed different versions of a spatial one-back working memory task during semi-tandem stance on an unstable surface (i.e., balance pad) while standing on a force plate. The specific working-memory tasks comprised: (i) modality compatible single tasks (i.e., visual-manual or auditory-vocal tasks), (ii) modality compatible dual tasks (i.e., visual-manual and auditory-vocal tasks), (iii) modality incompatible single tasks (i.e., visual-vocal or auditory-manual tasks), and (iv) modality incompatible dual tasks (i.e., visual-vocal and auditory-manual tasks). In addition, participants performed the same tasks while sitting. As expected from previous research, old adults showed generally impaired performance under high working-memory load (i.e., dual vs. single one-back task). In addition, modality compatibility affected one-back performance in dual-task but not in single-task conditions with strikingly pronounced impairments in old adults. Notably, the modality incompatible dual task also resulted in a selective increase in total CoP displacements compared to the modality compatible dual task in the old but not in the young participants. These results suggest that in addition to effects of working-memory load, processes related to simultaneously overcoming special linkages between input- and output modalities interfere with postural control in old but not in young female adults. Our preliminary data provide further evidence for the involvement of cognitive control processes in postural tasks. PMID:28484411

Proactive interference in a semantic short-term memory deficit: role of semantic and phonological relatedness.

PubMed

Hamilton, A Cris; Martin, Randi C

2007-01-01

Previous research has indicated that patients with semantic short-term memory (STM) deficits demonstrate unusual intrusions of previously presented material during serial recall tasks (Martin and Lesch, 1996). These intrusions suggest excessive proactive interference (PI) from previous lists. Here, we explore one such patient's susceptibility to PI. Experiment 1 demonstrated patient M.L.'s extreme susceptibility to PI using a probe recognition task that manipulates the recency of negative probes (the recent negatives task). When stimuli consisted of letters, M.L. showed greatly exaggerated effects of PI, well outside of the range of healthy control participants. Experiment 2 used a variation of the recent negatives task to examine the relative contribution of semantic and phonological relatedness in PI. This task manipulated semantic and phonological relatedness of probes and recently presented list items. Relative to healthy control participants, patient M.L. showed exaggerated interference effects for both phonological and semantically related probes, both for probes related to the current list and for probes related to the previous list. These data have important implications for theories of semantic STM deficits. Specifically, these data suggest that it is not the rapid decay of semantic representations that is responsible for difficulties in short-term recall, but rather the abnormal persistence of previously presented material. We propose that this susceptibility to PI is the result of a deficit in control processes acting on STM.

Aging effects in response inhibition: general slowing without decline in inhibitory functioning.

PubMed

Yano, Madoka

2011-12-01

Previous research has examined aging effects on response inhibition using cognitive interference paradigms such as the Stroop task and the Simon task. Performance in these tasks requires participants to inhibit predominant responses. Reduced response inhibition is reflected by poorer performance in incongruent trials where prepotent responses can interfere with other correct responses, than in congruent trials without such interference (i.e., Stroop or Simon congruency effects). It is unclear whether such effects increase with normal aging. Balota et al. (2010) reported that the Stroop effect can be a useful predictor of conversion to Alzheimer's disease in a healthy control sample. Congruency effects are also subject to trial sequencing: They are smaller following an incongruent trial than following a congruent one. The present study determined whether response inhibition was affected by normal aging using the Simon task, with focus on the influence of normal aging on sequence effects. Forty-three young participants and 14 healthy elderly adults performed the Simon task individually. Results indicated that both age groups showed the same magnitude of Simon effects and sequence effects, although overall response latencies were longer in elderly participants than in young participants. Furthermore, the elderly adults tended to make fewer errors than the younger adults. These findings suggest that normal aging may produce reduced processing speed but it does not affect response inhibition itself.

Stopping the past from intruding the present: Social anxiety disorder and proactive interference.

PubMed

Moore, Harry T A; Gómez-Ariza, Carlos J; Garcia-Lopez, Luis-Joaquín

2016-04-30

It has recently been suggested that social anxiety disorder (SAD) entails a deficit in downregulating unwanted (even non-threatening) memories. In the present study we test this hypothesis by comparing a sample of young adults diagnosed with SAD and healthy controls in their ability to resist proactive interference in a working memory task. Where participants performed similarly in the control condition of the memory task, participants with SAD were more susceptible to interference in the experimental condition than the healthy controls. This finding is in line with previous studies that show anxiety to be associated with impoverished executive control and, specifically, suggests that SAD entails a reduced ability to get rid of interfering memories. Clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Similarity-based interference in a working memory numerical updating task: age-related differences between younger and older adults.

PubMed

Pelegrina, Santiago; Borella, Erika; Carretti, Barbara; Lechuga, M Teresa

2012-01-01

Similarity among representations held simultaneously in working memory (WM) is a factor which increases interference and hinders performance. The aim of the current study was to investigate age-related differences between younger and older adults in a working memory numerical updating task, in which the similarity between information held in WM was manipulated. Results showed a higher susceptibility of older adults to similarity-based interference when accuracy, and not response times, was considered. It was concluded that older adults' WM difficulties appear to be due to the availability of stored information, which, in turn, might be related to the ability to generate distinctive representations and to the process of binding such representations to their context when similar information has to be processed in WM.

Examining the Effect of Interference on Short-Term Memory Recall of Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Using Free, Cued, and Serial Recall Paradigms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alduais, Ahmed Mohammed Saleh; Almukhaizeem, Yasir Saad

2015-01-01

Purpose: To see if there is a correlation between interference and short-term memory recall and to examine interference as a factor affecting memory recalling of Arabic and abstract words through free, cued, and serial recall tasks. Method: Four groups of undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia participated in this study. The first…

Exposing an “Intangible” Cognitive Skill among Collegiate Football Players: Enhanced Interference Control

PubMed Central

Wylie, Scott A.; Bashore, Theodore R.; Van Wouwe, Nelleke C.; Mason, Emily J.; John, Kevin D.; Neimat, Joseph S.; Ally, Brandon A.

2018-01-01

American football is played in a chaotic visual environment filled with relevant and distracting information. We investigated the hypothesis that collegiate football players show exceptional skill at shielding their response execution from the interfering effects of distraction (interference control). The performances of 280 football players from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football programs were compared to age-matched controls in a variant of the Eriksen flanker task (Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974). This task quantifies the magnitude of interference produced by visual distraction on split-second response execution. Overall, football athletes and age controls showed similar mean reaction times (RTs) and accuracy rates. However, football athletes were more proficient at shielding their response execution speed from the interfering effects of distraction (i.e., smaller flanker effect costs on RT). Offensive and defensive players showed smaller interference costs compared to controls, but defensive players showed the smallest costs. All defensive positions and one offensive position showed statistically smaller interference effects when compared directly to age controls. These data reveal a clear cognitive advantage among football athletes at executing motor responses in the face of distraction, the existence and magnitude of which vary by position. Individual differences in cognitive control may have important implications for both player selection and development to improve interference control capabilities during play. PMID:29479325

Distinctive amygdala subregions involved in emotion-modulated Stroop interference

PubMed Central

Han, Hyun Jung; Lee, Kanghee; Kim, Hyun Taek; Kim, Hackjin

2014-01-01

Despite the well-known role of the amygdala in mediating emotional interference during tasks requiring cognitive resources, no definite conclusion has yet been reached regarding the differential roles of functionally and anatomically distinctive subcomponents of the amygdala in such processes. In this study, we examined female participants and attempted to separate the neural processes for the detection of emotional information from those for the regulation of cognitive interference from emotional distractors by adding a temporal gap between emotional stimuli and a subsequent cognitive Stroop task. Reaction time data showed a significantly increased Stroop interference effect following emotionally negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli, and functional magnetic resonance imaging data revealed that the anterior ventral amygdala (avAMYG) showed greater responses to negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli. In addition, individuals who scored high in neuroticism showed greater posterior dorsal amygdala (pdAMYG) responses to incongruent compared with congruent Stroop trials following negative stimuli, but not following neutral stimuli. Taken together, the findings of this study demonstrated functionally distinctive contributions of the avAMYG and pdAMYG to the emotion-modulated Stroop interference effect and suggested that the avAMYG encodes associative values of emotional stimuli whereas the pdAMYG resolves cognitive interference from emotional distractors. PMID:23543193

Mental object rotation and the planning of hand movements.

PubMed

Wohlschläger, A

2001-05-01

Recently, we showed that the simultaneous execution of rotational hand movements interferes with mental object rotation, provided that the axes of rotation coincide in space. We hypothesized that mental object rotation and the programming of rotational hand movements share a common process presumably involved in action planning. Two experiments are reported here that show that the mere planning of a rotational hand movement is sufficient to cause interference with mental object rotation. Subjects had to plan different spatially directed hand movements that they were asked to execute only after they had solved a mental object rotation task. Experiment 1 showed that mental object rotation was slower if hand movements were planned in a direction opposite to the presumed mental rotation direction, but only if the axes of hand rotation and mental object rotation were parallel in space. Experiment 2 showed that this interference occurred independent of the preparatory hand movements observed in Experiment 1. Thus, it is the planning of hand movements and not their preparation or execution that interferes with mental object rotation. This finding underlines the idea that mental object rotation is an imagined (covert) action, rather than a pure visual-spatial imagery task, and that the interference between mental object rotation and rotational hand movements is an interference between goals of actions.

A Strategy-Based Interpretation of Stroop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovett, Marsha C.

2005-01-01

Most accounts of the Stroop effect (Stroop, 1935) emphasize its negative aspect, namely, that in particular situations, processing of an irrelevant stimulus dimension interferes with participants' performance of the instructed task. In contrast, this paper emphasizes the fact that, even with that interference, participants actually can (and…

Stroop interference and negative priming (NP) suppression in normal aging.

PubMed

Mayas, J; Fuentes, L J; Ballesteros, S

2012-01-01

Age-related differences in the reduction of Stroop interference were explored by comparing the performance of 18 younger (of mean age: 30.0±3.9 years) and 18 older healthy adults (of mean age: 75±7.2 years) in a color-word Stroop task. The aim of this study was to determine whether a decrease in the efficiency of inhibitory mechanisms associated with aging could account for age-related differences in the ability to suppress a pre-potent response. Participants performed a Stroop task to assess Stroop interference and NP suppression concurrently. Results showed a greater Stroop interference in older than in young adults. On the other hand, the NP effect was only reliable in the younger group, the older group not showing NP suppression. These findings suggest that the slowing hypothesis alone cannot explain this pattern of results and that the age-related differences must also involve an inhibitory breakdown during aging. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

How personal earthquake experience impacts on the Stroop interference effect: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Qiu, Jiang; Su, Yanhua; Li, Hong; Wei, Dongtao; Tu, Shen; Zhang, Qinglin

2010-11-01

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured when 24 Chinese subjects performed the classical Stroop task. All of subjects had experienced the great Sichuan earthquake (5/12), with 12 people in each of the Far (Chengdu city) and the Close (Deyang city) earthquake experience groups. The behavioral data showed that the Stroop task yielded a robust Stroop interference effect as indexed by longer RT for incongruent than congruent color words in both the Chengdu and Deyang groups. Scalp ERP data showed that incongruent stimuli elicited a more negative ERP deflection (N400-600; Stroop interference effect) than did congruent stimuli between 400-600 ms in the Chengdu group, while the Stroop interference ERP effect was not found in the Deyang group. Dipole source analysis localized the generator of the N400-600 in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and was possibly related to conflict monitoring and cognitive control. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Medial Prefrontal Cortex Reduces Memory Interference by Modifying Hippocampal Encoding

PubMed Central

Guise, Kevin G.; Shapiro, Matthew L.

2017-01-01

Summary The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucial for accurate memory performance when prior knowledge interferes with new learning, but the mechanisms that minimize proactive interference are unknown. To investigate these, we assessed the influence of medial PFC (mPFC) activity on spatial learning and hippocampal coding in a plus maze task that requires both structures. mPFC inactivation did not impair spatial learning or retrieval per se, but impaired the ability to follow changing spatial rules. mPFC and CA1 ensembles recorded simultaneously predicted goal choices and tracked changing rules; inactivating mPFC attenuated CA1 prospective coding. mPFC activity modified CA1 codes during learning, which in turn predicted how quickly rats adapted to subsequent rule changes. The results suggest that task rules signaled by the mPFC become incorporated into hippocampal representations and support prospective coding. By this mechanism, mPFC activity prevents interference by “teaching” the hippocampus to retrieve distinct representations of similar circumstances. PMID:28343868

Dealing with Prospective Memory Demands While Performing an Ongoing Task: Shared Processing, Increased On-Task Focus, or Both?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rummel, Jan; Smeekens, Bridget A.; Kane, Michael J.

2017-01-01

Prospective memory (PM) is the cognitive ability to remember to fulfill intended action plans at the appropriate future moment. Current theories assume that PM fulfillment draws on attentional processes. Accordingly, pending PM intentions interfere with other ongoing tasks to the extent to which both tasks rely on the same processes. How do people…

Revisiting the Development of Time Sharing Using a Dual Motor Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Getchell, Nancy; Pabreja, Priya

2006-01-01

In this article, the authors discuss and examine how to develop time sharing using a dual motor task and its effects. They state that when one is required to perform two tasks at the same time (time sharing), an individual may experience difficulty in expressing one or both of the tasks. This phenomenon, known as interference, has been studied…

One Night of Sleep Deprivation Affects Reaction Time, but Not Interference or Facilitation in a Stroop Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cain, Sean W.; Silva, Edward J.; Chang, Anne-Marie; Ronda, Joseph M.; Duffy, Jeanne F.

2011-01-01

The Stroop color-naming task is one of the most widely studied tasks involving the inhibition of a prepotent response, regarded as an executive function. Several studies have examined performance on versions of the Stroop task under conditions of acute sleep deprivation. Though these studies revealed effects on Stroop performance, the results…

Proactive interference and practice effects in visuospatial working memory span task performance.

PubMed

Blalock, Lisa Durrance; McCabe, David P

2011-01-01

In the current study the influence of proactive interference (PI) and practice on recall from a visuospatial working memory (WM) task was examined. Participants completed a visuospatial WM span task under either high-PI conditions (a traditional span task) or low-PI conditions (a span task with breaks between trials). Trials of each length (i.e., two to five to-be-remembered items) were equally distributed across three blocks in order to examine practice effects. Recall increased across blocks to a greater extent in the low-PI condition than in the high-PI condition, indicating that reducing PI increased recall from WM. Additionally, in the final block the correlation between fluid intelligence and WM recall was stronger for the high-PI condition than the low-PI condition, indicating that practice reduced the strength of the correlation between span task recall and fluid intelligence, but only in the low-PI condition. These results support current theories that propose that one source of variability in recall from WM span task is the build-up of PI, and that PI build-up is an important contributing factor to the relation between visuospatial WM span task recall and higher-level cognition.

Questioning the rule of thumb: can verbal tasks be administered during the CVLT-II delay interval?

PubMed

Williams, Bethany R; Donovick, Peter J

2008-09-01

In the manual for the California Verbal Learning Test - II (CVLT-II), the authors suggest that nonverbal, rather than verbal, tasks be administered during the delay interval between administrations of the Short- and Long-Delay Recall trials of this test. They contend that this method minimizes the retroactive interference produced by intervening tasks. The purpose of the current study was to compare the extent to which verbal and nonverbal intervening tasks produce retroactive interference on CVLT-II List A recall following the long-delay. Participants in the present study were 120 undergraduate students. All participants completed the CVLT-II, and were randomly assigned to a group in which they were administered either a verbal (WAIS-III Vocabulary or Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - IIIB) or nonverbal (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices or WAIS-III Block Design) intervening task during the long-delay interval of the CVLT-II. Statistical analyses revealed that regardless of the type of intervening task given, participants in all groups recalled the same number of words and produced a similar number of intrusions during the CVLT-II recall trials. This indicates that not all verbal tasks produce retroactive effects beyond those produced by nonverbal tasks.

The human body odor compound androstadienone increases neural conflict coupled to higher behavioral costs during an emotional Stroop task.

PubMed

Hornung, Jonas; Kogler, Lydia; Erb, Michael; Freiherr, Jessica; Derntl, Birgit

2018-05-01

The androgen derivative androstadienone (AND) is a substance found in human sweat and thus may act as human chemosignal. With the current experiment, we aimed to explore in which way AND affects interference processing during an emotional Stroop task which used human faces as target and emotional words as distractor stimuli. This was complemented by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to unravel the neural mechanism of AND-action. Based on previous accounts we expected AND to increase neural activation in areas commonly implicated in evaluation of emotional face processing and to change neural activation in brain regions linked to interference processing. For this aim, a total of 80 healthy individuals (oral contraceptive users, luteal women, men) were tested twice on two consecutive days with an emotional Stroop task using fMRI. Our results suggest that AND increases interference processing in brain areas that are heavily recruited during emotional conflict. At the same time, correlation analyses revealed that this neural interference processing was paralleled by higher behavioral costs (response times) with higher interference related brain activation under AND. Furthermore, AND elicited higher activation in regions implicated in emotional face processing including right fusiform gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus and dorsomedial cortex. In this connection, neural activation was not coupled to behavioral outcome. Furthermore, despite previous accounts of increased hypothalamic activation under AND, we were not able to replicate this finding and discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy. To conclude, AND increased interference processing in regions heavily recruited during emotional conflict which was coupled to higher costs in resolving emotional conflicts with stronger interference-related brain activation under AND. At the moment it remains unclear whether these effects are due to changes in conflict detection or resolution. However, evidence most consistently suggests that AND does not draw attention to the most potent socio-emotional information (human faces) but rather highlights representations of emotional words. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stroop interference in a delayed match-to-sample task: evidence for semantic competition

PubMed Central

Sturz, Bradley R.; Green, Marshall L.; Locker, Lawrence; Boyer, Ty W.

2013-01-01

Discussions of the source of the Stroop interference effect continue to pervade the literature. Semantic competition posits that interference results from competing semantic activation of word and color dimensions of the stimulus prior to response selection. Response competition posits that interference results from competing responses for articulating the word dimension vs. the color dimension at the time of response selection. We embedded Stroop stimuli into a delayed match-to-sample (DMTS) task in an attempt to test semantic and response competition accounts of the interference effect. Participants viewed a sample color word in black or colored fonts that were congruent or incongruent with respect to the color word itself. After a 5 s delay, participants were presented with two targets (i.e., a match and a foil) and were instructed to select the correct match. We probed each dimension independently during target presentations via color targets (i.e., two colors) or word targets (i.e., two words) and manipulated whether the semantic content of the foil was related to the semantic content of the irrelevant sample dimension (e.g., word sample “red” in blue font with the word “red” as the match and the word “blue” as the foil). We provide evidence for Stroop interference such that response times (RTs) increased for incongruent trials even in the presence of a response option with semantic content unrelated to the semantic content of the irrelevant sample dimension. Accuracy also deteriorated during the related foil trials. A follow-up experiment with a 10 s delay between sample and targets replicated the results. Results appear to provide converging evidence for Stroop interference in a DMTS task in a manner that is consistent with an explanation based upon semantic competition and inconsistent with an explanation based upon response competition. PMID:24298264

Stroop-interference effect in post-traumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Cui, Hong; Chen, Guoliang; Liu, Xiaohui; Shan, Moshui; Jia, Yanyan

2014-12-01

To investigate the conflict processing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, we conducted the classical Stroop task by recording event-related potentials. Although the reaction time was overall slower for PTSD patients than healthy age-matched control group, the Stroop-interference effect of reaction time did not differ between the two groups. Compared with normal controls, the interference effects of N 2 and N 450 components were larger and the interference effect of slow potential component disappeared in PTSD. These data indicated the dysfunction of conflict processing in individuals with PTSD.

Visuo-spatial interference affects the identification of emotional facial expressions in unmedicated Parkinson's patients.

PubMed

García-Rodríguez, Beatriz; Guillén, Carmen Casares; Barba, Rosa Jurado; io Valladolid, Gabriel Rub; Arjona, José Antonio Molina; Ellgring, Heiner

2012-02-15

There is evidence that visuo-spatial capacity can become overloaded when processing a secondary visual task (Dual Task, DT), as occurs in daily life. Hence, we investigated the influence of the visuo-spatial interference in the identification of emotional facial expressions (EFEs) in early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD). We compared the identification of 24 emotional faces that illustrate six basic emotions in, unmedicated recently diagnosed PD patients (16) and healthy adults (20), under two different conditions: a) simple EFE identification, and b) identification with a concurrent visuo-spatial task (Corsi Blocks). EFE identification by PD patients was significantly worse than that of healthy adults when combined with another visual stimulus. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Predicting memory performance under conditions of proactive interference: immediate and delayed judgments of learning.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N

2011-07-01

Four experiments examined the monitoring accuracy of immediate and delayed judgments of learning (JOLs) under conditions of proactive interference (PI). PI was produced using paired-associate learning tasks that conformed to variations of classic A-B, A-D paradigms. Results revealed that the relative monitoring accuracy of interference items was better for delayed than for immediate JOLs. However, delayed JOLs were overconfident for interference items, but not for items devoid of interference. Intrusions retrieved prior to delayed JOLs produced inflated predictions of performance. These results show that delayed JOLs enhance monitoring accuracy in PI situations, except when intrusions are mistaken for target responses.

Does task-irrelevant colour information create extraneous cognitive load? Evidence from a learning task.

PubMed

Miller, Paul; Hazan-Liran, Batel; Cohen, Danielle

2018-06-01

Previous studies have shown that task-irrelevant information impedes learning by creating extraneous cognitive load. But still open is whether such intrusion reflects a purely semantic phenomenon or whether it also stands for sheer perceptual interference. Using Cognitive Load Theory as a framework, this study aimed to answer this question by examining whether and how task-irrelevant colour information modifies extraneous cognitive load in relation to a new code-learning paradigm. For this purpose, university students were asked to learn, based on an example, associations between colour-related and colour-unrelated words and digits presented in black or in a mismatched ink colour. Evident costs in learning efficacy were found in learning the associations between words and digits for colour-related, but not for colour-unrelated, word stimuli. This suggests that interference by task-irrelevant information in learning stands for a mere semantic conflict. Implications of the findings for extraneous cognitive load on learning efficacy are discussed.

Non-visual spatial tasks reveal increased interactions with stance postural control.

PubMed

Woollacott, Marjorie; Vander Velde, Timothy

2008-05-07

The current investigation aimed to contrast the level and quality of dual-task interactions resulting from the combined performance of a challenging primary postural task and three specific, yet categorically dissociated, secondary central executive tasks. Experiments determined the extent to which modality (visual vs. auditory) and code (non-spatial vs. spatial) specific cognitive resources contributed to postural interference in young adults (n=9) in a dual-task setting. We hypothesized that the different forms of executive n-back task processing employed (visual-object, auditory-object and auditory-spatial) would display contrasting levels of interactions with tandem Romberg stance postural control, and that interactions within the spatial domain would be revealed as most vulnerable to dual-task interactions. Across all cognitive tasks employed, including auditory-object (aOBJ), auditory-spatial (aSPA), and visual-object (vOBJ) tasks, increasing n-back task complexity produced correlated increases in verbal reaction time measures. Increasing cognitive task complexity also resulted in consistent decreases in judgment accuracy. Postural performance was significantly influenced by the type of cognitive loading delivered. At comparable levels of cognitive task difficulty (n-back demands and accuracy judgments) the performance of challenging auditory-spatial tasks produced significantly greater levels of postural sway than either the auditory-object or visual-object based tasks. These results suggest that it is the employment of limited non-visual spatially based coding resources that may underlie previously observed visual dual-task interference effects with stance postural control in healthy young adults.

Correlates of Work Exhaustion for Medical Technologists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blau, Gary; Tatum, Donna Surges; Ward-Cook, Kory

2003-01-01

Medical technologists (n=196) were followed over 4 years. Higher levels of work exhaustion were related to perceived work interference with family, task load, and lower organizational support. Distributive justice partly mediated the effects of work interference and support on exhaustion. Distributive justice mediated the impact of procedural…

Language Control Abilities of Late Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Festman, Julia

2012-01-01

Although all bilinguals encounter cross-language interference (CLI), some bilinguals are more susceptible to interference than others. Here, we report on language performance of late bilinguals (Russian/German) on two bilingual tasks (interview, verbal fluency), their language use and switching habits. The only between-group difference was CLI:…

Age-Related Developmental and Individual Differences in the Influence of Social and Non-social Distractors on Cognitive Performance.

PubMed

Tan, Patricia Z; Silk, Jennifer S; Dahl, Ronald E; Kronhaus, Dina; Ladouceur, Cecile D

2018-01-01

This study sought to examine age-related differences in the influences of social (neutral, emotional faces) and non-social/non-emotional (shapes) distractor stimuli in children, adolescents, and adults. To assess the degree to which distractor, or task-irrelevant, stimuli of varying social and emotional salience interfere with cognitive performance, children ( N = 12; 8-12y), adolescents ( N = 17; 13-17y), and adults ( N = 17; 18-52y) completed the Emotional Identification and Dynamic Faces (EIDF) task. This task included three types of dynamically-changing distractors: (1) neutral-social (neutral face changing into another face); (2) emotional-social (face changing from 0% emotional to 100% emotional); and (3) non-social/non-emotional (shapes changing from small to large) to index the influence of task-irrelevant social and emotional information on cognition. Results yielded no age-related differences in accuracy but showed an age-related linear reduction in correct reaction times across distractor conditions. An age-related effect in interference was observed, such that children and adults showed slower response times on correct trials with socially-salient distractors; whereas adolescents exhibited faster responses on trials with distractors that included faces rather than shapes. A secondary study goal was to explore individual differences in cognitive interference. Results suggested that regardless of age, low trait anxiety and high effortful control were associated with interference to angry faces. Implications for developmental differences in affective processing, notably the importance of considering the contexts in which purportedly irrelevant social and emotional information might impair, vs. improve cognitive control, are discussed.

Modulations of the executive control network by stimulus onset asynchrony in a Stroop task

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Manipulating task difficulty is a useful way of elucidating the functional recruitment of the brain’s executive control network. In a Stroop task, pre-exposing the irrelevant word using varying stimulus onset asynchronies (‘negative’ SOAs) modulates the amount of behavioural interference and facilitation, suggesting disparate mechanisms of cognitive processing in each SOA. The current study employed a Stroop task with three SOAs (−400, -200, 0 ms), using functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate for the first time the neural effects of SOA manipulation. Of specific interest were 1) how SOA affects the neural representation of interference and facilitation; 2) response priming effects in negative SOAs; and 3) attentional effects of blocked SOA presentation. Results The results revealed three regions of the executive control network that were sensitive to SOA during Stroop interference; the 0 ms SOA elicited the greatest activation of these areas but experienced relatively smaller behavioural interference, suggesting that the enhanced recruitment led to more efficient conflict processing. Response priming effects were localized to the right inferior frontal gyrus, which is consistent with the idea that this region performed response inhibition in incongruent conditions to overcome the incorrectly-primed response, as well as more general action updating and response preparation. Finally, the right superior parietal lobe was sensitive to blocked SOA presentation and was most active for the 0 ms SOA, suggesting that this region is involved in attentional control. Conclusions SOA exerted both trial-specific and block-wide effects on executive processing, providing a unique paradigm for functional investigations of the cognitive control network. PMID:23902451

Intrusive images and voluntary memory for affective pictures: contextualization and dual-task interference.

PubMed

Krans, Julie; Langner, Oliver; Reinecke, Andrea; Pearson, David G

2013-12-01

The present study addressed the role of context information and dual-task interference during the encoding of negative pictures on intrusion development and voluntary recall. Healthy participants were shown negative pictures with or without context information. Pictures were either viewed alone or concurrently with a visuospatial or verbal task. Participants reported their intrusive images of the pictures in a diary. At follow-up, perceptual and contextual memory was tested. Participants in the context group reported more intrusive images and perceptual voluntary memory than participants in the no context group. No effects of the concurrent tasks were found on intrusive image frequency, but perceptual and contextual memory was affected according to the cognitive load of the task. The analogue method cannot be generalized to real-life trauma and the secondary tasks may differ in cognitive load. The findings challenge a dual memory model of PTSD but support an account in which retrieval strategy, rather than encoding processes, accounts for the experience of involuntary versus voluntary recall. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The human body odor compound androstadienone leads to anger-dependent effects in an emotional Stroop but not dot-probe task using human faces.

PubMed

Hornung, Jonas; Kogler, Lydia; Wolpert, Stephan; Freiherr, Jessica; Derntl, Birgit

2017-01-01

The androgen derivative androstadienone is a substance found in human sweat and thus is a putative human chemosignal. Androstadienone has been studied with respect to effects on mood states, attractiveness ratings, physiological and neural activation. With the current experiment, we aimed to explore in which way androstadienone affects attention to social cues (human faces). Moreover, we wanted to test whether effects depend on specific emotions, the participants' sex and individual sensitivity to smell androstadienone. To do so, we investigated 56 healthy individuals (thereof 29 females taking oral contraceptives) with two attention tasks on two consecutive days (once under androstadienone, once under placebo exposure in pseudorandomized order). With an emotional dot-probe task we measured visuo-spatial cueing while an emotional Stroop task allowed us to investigate interference control. Our results suggest that androstadienone acts in a sex, task and emotion-specific manner as a reduction in interference processes in the emotional Stroop task was only apparent for angry faces in men under androstadienone exposure. More specifically, men showed a smaller difference in reaction times for congruent compared to incongruent trials. At the same time also women were slightly affected by smelling androstadienone as they classified angry faces more often correctly under androstadienone. For the emotional dot-probe task no modulation by androstadienone was observed. Furthermore, in both attention paradigms individual sensitivity to androstadienone was neither correlated with reaction times nor error rates in men and women. To conclude, exposure to androstadienone seems to potentiate the relevance of angry faces in both men and women in connection with interference control, while processes of visuo-spatial cueing remain unaffected.

The human body odor compound androstadienone leads to anger-dependent effects in an emotional Stroop but not dot-probe task using human faces

PubMed Central

Kogler, Lydia; Wolpert, Stephan; Freiherr, Jessica; Derntl, Birgit

2017-01-01

The androgen derivative androstadienone is a substance found in human sweat and thus is a putative human chemosignal. Androstadienone has been studied with respect to effects on mood states, attractiveness ratings, physiological and neural activation. With the current experiment, we aimed to explore in which way androstadienone affects attention to social cues (human faces). Moreover, we wanted to test whether effects depend on specific emotions, the participants' sex and individual sensitivity to smell androstadienone. To do so, we investigated 56 healthy individuals (thereof 29 females taking oral contraceptives) with two attention tasks on two consecutive days (once under androstadienone, once under placebo exposure in pseudorandomized order). With an emotional dot-probe task we measured visuo-spatial cueing while an emotional Stroop task allowed us to investigate interference control. Our results suggest that androstadienone acts in a sex, task and emotion-specific manner as a reduction in interference processes in the emotional Stroop task was only apparent for angry faces in men under androstadienone exposure. More specifically, men showed a smaller difference in reaction times for congruent compared to incongruent trials. At the same time also women were slightly affected by smelling androstadienone as they classified angry faces more often correctly under androstadienone. For the emotional dot-probe task no modulation by androstadienone was observed. Furthermore, in both attention paradigms individual sensitivity to androstadienone was neither correlated with reaction times nor error rates in men and women. To conclude, exposure to androstadienone seems to potentiate the relevance of angry faces in both men and women in connection with interference control, while processes of visuo-spatial cueing remain unaffected. PMID:28369152

Age differences in working memory updating: the role of interference, focus switching and substituting information.

PubMed

Lendínez, Cristina; Pelegrina, Santiago; Lechuga, M Teresa

2015-05-01

Working memory updating (WMU) tasks require different elements in working memory (WM) to be maintained simultaneously, accessing one of these elements, and substituting its content. This study examined possible developmental changes from childhood to adulthood both in focus switching and substituting information in WM. In addition, possible age-related changes in interference due to representational overlap between the different elements simultaneously held in these tasks were examined. Children (8- and 11-year-olds), adolescents (14-year-olds) and younger adults (mean age=22 years) were administered a numerical updating memory task, in which updating and focus switching were manipulated. As expected, response times decreased and recall performance increased with age. More importantly, the time needed for focus switching was longer in children than in adolescents and younger adults. On the other hand, substitution of information and interference due to representational overlap were not affected by age. These results suggest that age-related changes in focus switching might mediate developmental changes in WMU performance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the formation of episodic associations

PubMed Central

Long, Nicole M.; Kahana, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of successful episodic association formation whereby high frequency EEG activity (HFA, 44 – 100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that support the formation of novel episodic associations. PMID:27617775

Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the formation of episodic associations.

PubMed

Long, Nicole M; Kahana, Michael J

2017-02-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of successful episodic association formation whereby high-frequency EEG activity (HFA, 44-100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that support the formation of novel episodic associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Serial recall of visuospatial and verbal information with and without material-specific interference: implications for contemporary models of working memory.

PubMed

Davis, Lynne C; Rane, Shruti; Hiscock, Merrill

2013-01-01

A longstanding question in working memory (WM) research concerns the fractionation of verbal and nonverbal processing. Although some contemporary models include both domain-specific and general-purpose mechanisms, the necessity to postulate differential processing of verbal and nonverbal material remains unclear. In the present two-experiment series we revisit the order reconstruction paradigm that Jones, Farrand, Stuart, and Morris (1995) used to support a unitary model of WM. Goals were to assess (1) whether serial position curves for dot positions differ from curves for letter names; and (2) whether selective interference can be demonstrated. Although we replicated Jones et al.'s finding of similar serial position curves for the two tasks, this similarity could reflect the demands of the order reconstruction paradigm rather than undifferentiated processing of verbal and nonverbal stimuli. Both generalised and material-specific interference was found, which can be attributed to competition between primary and secondary tasks for attentional resources. As performance levels for the combined primary and secondary tasks exceed active WM capacity limits, primary task items apparently are removed from active memory during processing of the secondary list and held temporarily in maintenance storage. We conclude that active WM is multimodal but maintenance stores may be domain specific.

Should we stop thinking about inhibition? Searching for individual and age differences in inhibition ability.

PubMed

Rey-Mermet, Alodie; Gade, Miriam; Oberauer, Klaus

2018-04-01

Inhibition is often conceptualized as a unitary construct reflecting the ability to ignore and suppress irrelevant information. At the same time, it has been subdivided into inhibition of prepotent responses (i.e., the ability to stop dominant responses) and resistance to distracter interference (i.e., the ability to ignore distracting information). The present study investigated the unity and diversity of inhibition as a psychometric construct, and tested the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. We measured inhibition in young and old adults with 11 established laboratory tasks: antisaccade, stop-signal, color Stroop, number Stroop, arrow flanker, letter flanker, Simon, global-local, positive and negative compatibility tasks, and n-2 repetition costs in task switching. In both age groups, the inhibition measures from individual tasks had good reliabilities, but correlated only weakly among each other. Structural equation modeling identified a 2-factor model with factors for inhibition of prepotent responses and resistance to distracter interference. Older adults scored worse in the inhibition of prepotent response, but better in the resistance to distracter interference. However, the model had low explanatory power. Together, these findings call into question inhibition as a psychometric construct and the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Shift from a Response Strategy to Object-in-Place Strategy during Learning Is Accompanied by a Matching Shift in Neural Firing Correlates in the Hippocampus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Inah; Kim, Jangjin

2010-01-01

Hippocampal-dependent tasks often involve specific associations among stimuli (including egocentric information), and such tasks are therefore prone to interference from irrelevant task strategies before a correct strategy is found. Using an object-place paired-associate task, we investigated changes in neural firing patterns in the hippocampus in…

Interference from familiar natural distractors is not eliminated by high perceptual load.

PubMed

He, Chunhong; Chen, Antao

2010-05-01

A crucial prediction of perceptual load theory is that high perceptual load can eliminate interference from distractors. However, Lavie et al. (Psychol Sci 14:510-515, 2003) found that high perceptual load did not eliminate interference when the distractor was a face. The current experiments examined the interaction between familiarity and perceptual load in modulating interference in a name search task. The data reveal that high perceptual load eliminated the interference effect for unfamiliar distractors that were faces or objects, but did not eliminate the interference for familiar distractors that were faces or objects. Based on these results, we proposed that the processing of familiar and natural stimuli may be immune to the effect of perceptual load.

Emotion and sex of facial stimuli modulate conditional automaticity in behavioral and neuronal interference in healthy men.

PubMed

Kohn, Nils; Fernández, Guillén

2017-12-06

Our surrounding provides a host of sensory input, which we cannot fully process without streamlining and automatic processing. Levels of automaticity differ for different cognitive and affective processes. Situational and contextual interactions between cognitive and affective processes in turn influence the level of automaticity. Automaticity can be measured by interference in Stroop tasks. We applied an emotional version of the Stroop task to investigate how stress as a contextual factor influences the affective valence-dependent level of automaticity. 120 young, healthy men were investigated for behavioral and brain interference following a stress induction or control procedure in a counter-balanced cross-over-design. Although Stroop interference was always observed, sex and emotion of the face strongly modulated interference, which was larger for fearful and male faces. These effects suggest higher automaticity when processing happy and also female faces. Supporting behavioral patterns, brain data show lower interference related brain activity in executive control related regions in response to happy and female faces. In the absence of behavioral stress effects, congruent compared to incongruent trials (reverse interference) showed little to no deactivation under stress in response to happy female and fearful male trials. These congruency effects are potentially based on altered context- stress-related facial processing that interact with sex-emotion stereotypes. Results indicate that sex and facial emotion modulate Stroop interference in brain and behavior. These effects can be explained by altered response difficulty as a consequence of the contextual and stereotype related modulation of automaticity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Verbal and facial-emotional Stroop tasks reveal specific attentional interferences in sad mood

PubMed Central

Isaac, Linda; Vrijsen, Janna N; Eling, Paul; van Oostrom, Iris; Speckens, Anne; Becker, Eni S

2012-01-01

Mood congruence refers to the tendency of individuals to attend to information more readily when it has the same emotional content as their current mood state. The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether attentional interference occurred for participants in sad mood states for emotionally relevant stimuli (mood-congruence), and to determine whether this interference occurred for both valenced words and valenced faces. A mood induction procedure was administered to 116 undergraduate females divided into two equal groups for the sad and happy mood condition. This study employed three versions of the Stroop task: color, verbal-emotional, and a facial-emotional Stroop. The two mood groups did not differ on the color Stroop. Significant group differences were found on the verbal-emotional Stroop for sad words with longer latencies for sad-induced participants. Main findings for the facial-emotional Stroop were that sad mood is associated with attentional interference for angry-threatening faces as well as longer latencies for neutral faces. Group differences were not found for positive stimuli. These findings confirm that sad mood is associated with attentional interference for mood-congruent stimuli in the verbal domain (sad words), but this mood-congruent effect does not necessarily apply to the visual domain (sad faces). Attentional interference for neutral faces suggests sad mood participants did not necessarily see valence-free faces. Attentional interference for threatening stimuli is often associated with anxiety; however, the current results show that threat is not an attentional interference observed exclusively in states of anxiety but also in sad mood. PMID:22574276

Verbal and facial-emotional Stroop tasks reveal specific attentional interferences in sad mood.

PubMed

Isaac, Linda; Vrijsen, Janna N; Eling, Paul; van Oostrom, Iris; Speckens, Anne; Becker, Eni S

2012-01-01

Mood congruence refers to the tendency of individuals to attend to information more readily when it has the same emotional content as their current mood state. The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether attentional interference occurred for participants in sad mood states for emotionally relevant stimuli (mood-congruence), and to determine whether this interference occurred for both valenced words and valenced faces. A mood induction procedure was administered to 116 undergraduate females divided into two equal groups for the sad and happy mood condition. This study employed three versions of the Stroop task: color, verbal-emotional, and a facial-emotional Stroop. The two mood groups did not differ on the color Stroop. Significant group differences were found on the verbal-emotional Stroop for sad words with longer latencies for sad-induced participants. Main findings for the facial-emotional Stroop were that sad mood is associated with attentional interference for angry-threatening faces as well as longer latencies for neutral faces. Group differences were not found for positive stimuli. These findings confirm that sad mood is associated with attentional interference for mood-congruent stimuli in the verbal domain (sad words), but this mood-congruent effect does not necessarily apply to the visual domain (sad faces). Attentional interference for neutral faces suggests sad mood participants did not necessarily see valence-free faces. Attentional interference for threatening stimuli is often associated with anxiety; however, the current results show that threat is not an attentional interference observed exclusively in states of anxiety but also in sad mood.

Cognitive context determines dorsal premotor cortical activity during hand movement in patients after stroke.

PubMed

Dennis, Andrea; Bosnell, Rose; Dawes, Helen; Howells, Ken; Cockburn, Janet; Kischka, Udo; Matthews, Paul; Johansen-Berg, Heidi

2011-04-01

Stroke patients often have difficulties in simultaneously performing a motor and cognitive task. Functional imaging studies have shown that movement of an affected hand after stroke is associated with increased activity in multiple cortical areas, particularly in the contralesional hemisphere. We hypothesized patients for whom executing simple movements demands greater selective attention will show greater brain activity during movement. Eight chronic stroke patients performed a behavioral interference test using a visuo-motor tracking with and without a simultaneous cognitive task. The magnitude of behavioral task decrement under cognitive motor interference (CMI) conditions was calculated for each subject. Functional MRI was used to assess brain activity in the same patients during performance of a visuo-motor tracking task alone; correlations between CMI score and movement-related brain activation were then explored. Movement-related activation in the dorsal precentral gyrus of the contralesional hemisphere correlated strongly and positively with CMI score (r(2) at peak voxel=0.92; P<0.05). Similar but weaker relationships were observed in the ventral precentral and middle frontal gyrus. There was no independent relationship between hand motor impairment and CMI. Results suggest that variations in the degree to which a cognitive task interferes with performance of a concurrent motor task explains a substantial proportion of the variations in movement-related brain activity in patients after stroke. The results emphasize the importance of considering cognitive context when interpreting brain activity patterns and provide a rationale for further evaluation of integrated cognitive and movement interventions for rehabilitation in stroke.

A multivariate analysis of age-related differences in functional networks supporting conflict resolution.

PubMed

Salami, Alireza; Rieckmann, Anna; Fischer, Håkan; Bäckman, Lars

2014-02-01

Functional neuroimaging studies demonstrate age-related differences in recruitment of a large-scale attentional network during interference resolution, especially within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). These alterations in functional responses have been frequently observed despite equivalent task performance, suggesting age-related reallocation of neural resources, although direct evidence for a facilitating effect in aging is sparse. We used the multi-source interference task and multivariate partial-least-squares to investigate age-related differences in the neuronal signature of conflict resolution, and their behavioral implications in younger and older adults. There were interference-related increases in activity, involving fronto-parietal and basal ganglia networks that generalized across age. In addition an age-by-task interaction was observed within a distributed network, including DLPFC and ACC, with greater activity during interference in the old. Next, we combined brain-behavior and functional connectivity analyses to investigate whether compensatory brain changes were present in older adults, using DLPFC and ACC as regions of interest (i.e. seed regions). This analysis revealed two networks differentially related to performance across age groups. A structural analysis revealed age-related gray-matter losses in regions facilitating performance in the young, suggesting that functional reorganization may partly reflect structural alterations in aging. Collectively, these findings suggest that age-related structural changes contribute to reductions in the efficient recruitment of a youth-like interference network, which cascades into instantiation of a different network facilitating conflict resolution in elderly people. © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Proactive Interference and Item Similarity in Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunting, Michael

2006-01-01

Proactive interference (PI) may influence the predictive utility of working memory span tasks. Participants in one experiment (N=70) completed Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and multiple versions of operation span and probed recall, modified for the type of memoranda (digits or words). Changing memoranda within- or across-trials…

Load Theory of Selective Attention and Cognitive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavie, Nilli; Hirst, Aleksandra; de Fockert, Jan W.; Viding, Essi

2004-01-01

A load theory of attention in which distractor rejection depends on the level and type of load involved in current processing was tested. A series of experiments demonstrates that whereas high perceptual load reduces distractor interference, working memory load or dual-task coordination load increases distractor interference. These findings…

Stroop tasks reveal abnormal selective attention among psychopathic offenders.

PubMed

Hiatt, Kristina D; Schmitt, William A; Newman, Joseph P

2004-01-01

Selective attention among offenders with psychopathy was investigated using 3 Stroop paradigms: a standard color-word (CW) Stroop, a picture-word (PW) Stroop, and a color-word Stroop in which the word and color were spatially separated (separated CW). Consistent with "overselective" attention, offenders with psychopathy displayed reduced Stroop interference on the separated CW and PW tasks relative to offenders who were not psychopathic. However, offenders with psychopathy displayed normal Stroop interference on the standard CW Stroop. Further, the reduced interference of offenders with psychopathy on the separated CW Stroop was accompanied by normal facilitation. These findings suggest a circumscribed attentional deficit in psychopathy that hinders the use of unattended information that is (a) not integrated with deliberately attended information and (b) not compatible with current goal-directed behavior. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

Individual differences in executive processing predict susceptibility to interference in verbal working memory.

PubMed

Hedden, Trey; Yoon, Carolyn

2006-09-01

Recent theories have suggested that resistance to interference is a unifying principle of executive function and that individual differences in interference may be explained by executive function (M. J. Kane & R. W. Engle, 2002). Measures of executive function, memory, and perceptual speed were obtained from 121 older adults (ages 63-82). We used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships of these constructs with interference in a working memory task. Executive function was best described as two related subcomponent processes: shifting and updating goal-relevant representations and inhibition of proactive interference. These subcomponents were distinct from verbal and visual memory and speed. Individual differences in interference susceptibility and recollection were best predicted by shifting and updating and by resistance to proactive interference, and variability in familiarity was predicted by resistance to proactive interference and speed. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

The effect of speed-accuracy strategy on response interference control in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Wylie, S A; van den Wildenberg, W P M; Ridderinkhof, K R; Bashore, T R; Powell, V D; Manning, C A; Wooten, G F

2009-07-01

Studies that used conflict paradigms such as the Eriksen Flanker task show that many individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) have pronounced difficulty resolving the conflict that arises from the simultaneous activation of mutually exclusive responses. This finding fits well with contemporary views that postulate a key role for the basal ganglia in action selection. The present experiment aims to specify the cognitive processes that underlie action selection deficits among PD patients in the context of variations in speed-accuracy strategy. PD patients (n=28) and healthy controls (n=17) performed an arrow version of the flanker task under task instructions that either emphasized speed or accuracy of responses. Reaction time (RT) and accuracy rates decreased with speed compared to accuracy instructions, although to a lesser extent for the PD group. Differences in flanker interference effects among PD and healthy controls depended on speed-accuracy strategy. Compared to the healthy controls, PD patients showed larger flanker interference effects under speed stress. RT distribution analyses suggested that PD patients have greater difficulty suppressing incorrect response activation when pressing for speed. These initial findings point to an important interaction between strategic and computational aspects of interference control in accounting for cognitive impairments of PD. The results are also compatible with recent brain imaging studies that demonstrate basal ganglia activity to co-vary with speed-accuracy adjustments.

Beyond interference control impairment in ADHD: evidence from increased intraindividual variability in the color-stroop test.

PubMed

Borella, Erika; de Ribaupierre, Anik; Cornoldi, Cesare; Chicherio, Christian

2013-09-01

The present study investigates intraindividual variability (IIV) in the Color-Stroop test and in a simple reaction time (SRT) task. Performance level and variability in reaction times (RTs)-quantified with different measures such as individual standard deviation (ISD) and coefficient of variation (ICV), as well as ex-Gaussian parameters (mu, sigma, tau)-were analyzed in 24 children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 24 typically developing children (TDC). Children with ADHD and TDC presented equivalent Color-Stroop interference effects when mean RTs were considered, and the two groups did not differ in the SRT task. Interestingly, compared to TDC, children with ADHD were more variable in their responses, showing increased ISD and ICV in the Color-Stroop interference condition and in the SRT task. Moreover, children with ADHD exhibited higher tau values-that is, more frequent abnormally long RTs-in the Color-Stroop interference condition than did the TDC, but comparable tau values in the SRT, suggesting more variable responses. These results speak in favor of a general deficit in more basic and central processes that only secondarily may affect the efficiency of inhibitory processes in children with ADHD. Overall the present findings confirm the role of IIV as a cornerstone in the ADHD cognitive profile and support the search for fine-grained analysis of performance fluctuations.

Adaptation to recent conflict in the classical color-word Stroop-task mainly involves facilitation of processing of task-relevant information.

PubMed

Purmann, Sascha; Pollmann, Stefan

2015-01-01

To process information selectively and to continuously fine-tune selectivity of information processing are important abilities for successful goal-directed behavior. One phenomenon thought to represent this fine-tuning are conflict adaptation effects in interference tasks, i.e., reduction of interference after an incompatible trial and when incompatible trials are frequent. The neurocognitive mechanisms of these effects are currently only partly understood and results from brainimaging studies so far are mixed. In our study we validate and extend recent findings by examining adaption to recent conflict in the classical Stroop task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Consistent with previous research we found increased activity in a fronto-parietal network comprising the medial prefrontal cortex, ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex when contrasting incompatible with compatible trials. These areas have been associated with attentional processes and might reflect increased cognitive conflict and resolution thereof during incompatible trials. While carefully controlling for non-attentional sequential effects we found smaller Stroop interference after an incompatible trial (conflict adaptation effect). These behavioral conflict adaptation effects were accompanied by changes in activity in visual color-selective areas (V4, V4α), while there was no modulation by previous trial compatibility in a visual word-selective area (VWFA). Our results provide further evidence for the notion, that adaptation to recent conflict seems to be based mainly on enhancement of processing of the task-relevant information.

Different motor tasks impact differently on cognitive performance of older persons during dual task tests.

PubMed

Simoni, David; Rubbieri, Gaia; Baccini, Marco; Rinaldi, Lucio; Becheri, Dimitri; Forconi, Tatiana; Mossello, Enrico; Zanieri, Samanta; Marchionni, Niccolò; Di Bari, Mauro

2013-07-01

Dual task paradigm states that the introduction of a second task during a cognitive or motor performance results in a decreased performance in either task. Treadmill walk, often used in clinical applications of dual task testing, has never been compared to overground walk, to ascertain its susceptibility to interference from a second task. We compared the effects of overground and treadmill gait on dual task performance. Gait kinematic parameters and cognitive performance were obtained in 29 healthy older adults (mean age 75 years, 14 females) when they were walking freely on a sensorized carpet or during treadmill walking with an optoelectronic system, in single task or dual task conditions, using alternate repetition of letters as a cognitive verbal task. During overground walking, speed, cadence, step length stride length, and double support time (all with P value<0.001) and cognitive performance (number of correct words, P<0.001) decreased substantially from single to dual task testing. When subjects walked at a fixed speed on the treadmill, cadence decreased significantly (P=0.005), whereas cognitive performance remained unaffected. Both motor and cognitive performances decline during dual task testing with overground walking. Conversely, cognitive performance remains unaffected in dual task testing on the treadmill. In the light of current dual task paradigm, these findings may have relevant implication for our understanding of motor control, as they suggest that treadmill walk does not involve brain areas susceptible to interference from the introduction of a cognitive task. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regional gray and white matter volume associated with Stroop interference: evidence from voxel-based morphometry.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Sassa, Yuko; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Nagase, Tomomi; Nouchi, Rui; Fukushima, Ai; Kawashima, Ryuta

2012-02-01

During Stroop tasks, subjects experience cognitive interference when they resolve interferences such as identifying the ink color of a printed word while ignoring the word's identity. Stroop paradigms are commonly used as an index of attention deficits and a tool for investigating the functions of the frontal lobes and other associated structures. Despite these uses and the vast amount of attention given to Stroop paradigms, the regional gray matter volume/regional white matter volume (rGMV/rWMV) correlates of Stroop interference have not yet been identified at the whole brain level in normal adults. We examined this issue using voxel-based morphometry in right-handed healthy young adults. We found significant negative relationships between the Stroop interference rate and rGMV in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right inferior frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. Furthermore, we found relationships between the Stroop interference rate and rWMV in bilateral anatomical clusters that extended around extensive WM regions in the dorsal part of the frontal lobe. These findings are the first to reveal rGMV/rWMV that underlie the performance of the Stroop task, a widely used psychological paradigm at the whole brain level. Of note, our findings support the notion that ACC contributes to Stroop performance and show the involvement of regions that have been implicated in response inhibition and attention. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What Stroop tasks can tell us about selective attention from childhood to adulthood.

PubMed

Wright, Barlow C

2017-08-01

A rich body of research concerns causes of Stroop effects plus applications of Stroop. However, several questions remain. We included assessment of errors with children and adults (N = 316), who sat either a task wherein each block employed only trials of one type (unmixed task) or where every block comprised of a mix of the congruent, neutral, and incongruent trials. Children responded slower than adults and made more errors on each task. Contrary to some previous studies, interference (the difference between neutral and incongruent condition) showed no reaction time (RT) differences by group or task, although there were differences in errors. By contrast, facilitation (the difference between neutral and congruent condition) was greater in children than adults, and greater on the unmixed task than the mixed task. After considering a number of theoretical accounts, we settle on the inadvertent word-reading hypothesis, whereby facilitation stems from children and the unmixed task promoting inadvertent reading particularly in the congruent condition. Stability of interference RT is explained by fixed semantic differences between neutral and incongruent conditions, for children versus adults and for unmixed versus mixed task. We conclude that utilizing two tasks together may reveal more about how attention is affected in other groups. © 2016 The Authors. British Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the British Psychological Society.

Human transinformation rates during one-to-four axis tracking with a concurrent audio task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baty, D. L.

1972-01-01

The information processing rates of six subjects performing one-, two-, three-, and four-axis compensatory tracking tasks, with and without a concurrent four-choice auditory task were determined. The purpose was to obtain further evidence concerning the nature of an hypothesized ceiling on human transinformation rates. Interference was found among tasks, but the evidence concerning a ceiling on information processing rates was inconclusive.

Is the hand to speech what speech is to the hand?

PubMed

Mildner, V

2000-01-01

Interference between the manual and the verbal performance on two types of concurrent verbal-manual tasks was studied on a sample of 48 female right-handers. The more complex verbal task (storytelling) affected both hands significantly, the less complex (essentially phonemic) task affected only the right hand, with insignificant negative influence on the left-hand performance. No significant reciprocal effects of the motor task on verbalization were found.

Unimodal and crossmodal working memory representations of visual and kinesthetic movement trajectories.

PubMed

Seemüller, Anna; Fiehler, Katja; Rösler, Frank

2011-01-01

The present study investigated whether visual and kinesthetic stimuli are stored as multisensory or modality-specific representations in unimodal and crossmodal working memory tasks. To this end, angle-shaped movement trajectories were presented to 16 subjects in delayed matching-to-sample tasks either visually or kinesthetically during encoding and recognition. During the retention interval, a secondary visual or kinesthetic interference task was inserted either immediately or with a delay after encoding. The modality of the interference task interacted significantly with the encoding modality. After visual encoding, memory was more impaired by a visual than by a kinesthetic secondary task, while after kinesthetic encoding the pattern was reversed. The time when the secondary task had to be performed interacted with the encoding modality as well. For visual encoding, memory was more impaired, when the secondary task had to be performed at the beginning of the retention interval. In contrast, memory after kinesthetic encoding was more affected, when the secondary task was introduced later in the retention interval. The findings suggest that working memory traces are maintained in a modality-specific format characterized by distinct consolidation processes that take longer after kinesthetic than after visual encoding. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Motivational Interference in Learning: The Impact of Leisure Alternatives on Subsequent Self-Regulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fries, Stefan; Dietz, Franziska; Schmid, Sebastian

2008-01-01

Students are often obliged to fulfill home assignments for school. While being engaged into such compulsory schooling, learners may be tempted to switch to a leisure alternative. Whenever students pursue the learning task although attractive leisure alternatives are present, thoughts about the missed activity can lead to motivational interference.…

The Color-Word Interference Test and Its Relation to Performance Impairment under Auditory Distraction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thackray, Richard I.; And Others

The ability to resist distraction is an important requirement for air traffic controllers. The study examined the relationship between performance on the Stroop color-word interference test (a suggested measure of distraction susceptibility) and impairment under auditory distraction on a task requiring the subject to generate random sequences of…

A Formal Model of Capacity Limits in Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oberauer, Klaus; Kliegl, Reinhold

2006-01-01

A mathematical model of working-memory capacity limits is proposed on the key assumption of mutual interference between items in working memory. Interference is assumed to arise from overwriting of features shared by these items. The model was fit to time-accuracy data of memory-updating tasks from four experiments using nonlinear mixed effect…

A Bilingual Advantage in Controlling Language Interference during Sentence Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Filippi, Roberto; Leech, Robert; Thomas, Michael S. C.; Green, David W.; Dick, Frederic

2012-01-01

This study compared the comprehension of syntactically simple with more complex sentences in Italian-English adult bilinguals and monolingual controls in the presence or absence of sentence-level interference. The task was to identify the agent of the sentence and we primarily examined the accuracy of response. The target sentence was signalled by…

Response Inhibition and Interference Control in Obsessive–Compulsive Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

van Velzen, Laura S.; Vriend, Chris; de Wit, Stella J.; van den Heuvel, Odile A.

2014-01-01

Over the past 20 years, motor response inhibition and interference control have received considerable scientific effort and attention, due to their important role in behavior and the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. Results of neuroimaging studies indicate that motor response inhibition and interference control are dependent on cortical–striatal–thalamic–cortical (CSTC) circuits. Structural and functional abnormalities within the CSTC circuits have been reported for many neuropsychiatric disorders, including obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, and trichotillomania. These disorders also share impairments in motor response inhibition and interference control, which may underlie some of their behavioral and cognitive symptoms. Results of task-related neuroimaging studies on inhibitory functions in these disorders show that impaired task performance is related to altered recruitment of the CSTC circuits. Previous research has shown that inhibitory performance is dependent upon dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin signaling, neurotransmitters that have been implicated in the pathophysiology of these disorders. In this narrative review, we discuss the common and disorder-specific pathophysiological mechanisms of inhibition-related dysfunction in OCD and related disorders. PMID:24966828

Why Do We Move Our Head to Look at an Object in Our Peripheral Region? Lateral Viewing Interferes with Attentive Search

PubMed Central

Nakashima, Ryoichi; Shioiri, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Why do we frequently fixate an object of interest presented peripherally by moving our head as well as our eyes, even when we are capable of fixating the object with an eye movement alone (lateral viewing)? Studies of eye-head coordination for gaze shifts have suggested that the degree of eye-head coupling could be determined by an unconscious weighing of the motor costs and benefits of executing a head movement. The present study investigated visual perceptual effects of head direction as an additional factor impacting on a cost-benefit organization of eye-head control. Three experiments using visual search tasks were conducted, manipulating eye direction relative to head orientation (front or lateral viewing). Results show that lateral viewing increased the time required to detect a target in a search for the letter T among letter L distractors, a serial attentive search task, but not in a search for T among letter O distractors, a parallel preattentive search task (Experiment 1). The interference could not be attributed to either a deleterious effect of lateral gaze on the accuracy of saccadic eye movements, nor to potentially problematic optical effects of binocular lateral viewing, because effect of head directions was obtained under conditions in which the task was accomplished without saccades (Experiment 2), and during monocular viewing (Experiment 3). These results suggest that a difference between the head and eye directions interferes with visual processing, and that the interference can be explained by the modulation of attention by the relative positions of the eyes and head (or head direction). PMID:24647634

Carving Executive Control At Its Joints: Working Memory Capacity Predicts Stimulus-Stimulus, But Not Stimulus-Response, Conflict

PubMed Central

Meier, Matt E.; Kane, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Three experiments examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and two different forms of cognitive conflict: stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (SR) interference. Our goal was to test whether WMC’s relation to conflict-task performance is mediated by stimulus-identification processes (captured by S-S conflict), response-selection processes (captured by S-R conflict), or both. In Experiment 1, subjects completed a single task presenting both S-S and S-R conflict trials, plus trials that combined the two conflict types. We limited ostensible goal-maintenance contributions to performance by requiring the same goal for all trial types and by presenting frequent conflict trials that reinforced the goal. WMC predicted resolution of S-S conflict as expected: Higher-WMC subjects showed reduced response time interference. Although WMC also predicted S-R interference, here, higher-WMC subjects showed increased error interference. Experiment 2A replicated these results in a version of the conflict task without combined S-S/S-R trials. Experiment 2B increased the proportion of congruent (non-conflict) trials to promote reliance on goal-maintenance processes. Here, higher-WMC subjects resolved both S-S and S-R conflict more successfully than did lower-WMC subjects. The results were consistent with Kane and Engle’s (2003) two-factor theory of cognitive control, according to which WMC predicts executive-task performance through goal-maintenance and conflict-resolution processes. However, the present results add specificity to the account by suggesting that higher-WMC subjects better resolve cognitive conflict because they more efficiently select relevant stimulus features against irrelevant, distracting ones. PMID:26120774

Carving executive control at its joints: Working memory capacity predicts stimulus-stimulus, but not stimulus-response, conflict.

PubMed

Meier, Matt E; Kane, Michael J

2015-11-01

Three experiments examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and 2 different forms of cognitive conflict: stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) interference. Our goal was to test whether WMC's relation to conflict-task performance is mediated by stimulus-identification processes (captured by S-S conflict), response-selection processes (captured by S-R conflict), or both. In Experiment 1, subjects completed a single task presenting both S-S and S-R conflict trials, plus trials that combined the 2 conflict types. We limited ostensible goal-maintenance contributions to performance by requiring the same goal for all trial types and by presenting frequent conflict trials that reinforced the goal. WMC predicted resolution of S-S conflict as expected: Higher WMC subjects showed reduced response time interference. Although WMC also predicted S-R interference, here, higher WMC subjects showed increased error interference. Experiment 2A replicated these results in a version of the conflict task without combined S-S/S-R trials. Experiment 2B increased the proportion of congruent (nonconflict) trials to promote reliance on goal-maintenance processes. Here, higher WMC subjects resolved both S-S and S-R conflict more successfully than did lower WMC subjects. The results were consistent with Kane and Engle's (2003) 2-factor theory of cognitive control, according to which WMC predicts executive-task performance through goal-maintenance and conflict-resolution processes. However, the present results add specificity to the account by suggesting that higher WMC subjects better resolve cognitive conflict because they more efficiently select relevant stimulus features against irrelevant, distracting ones. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Prefrontal inhibition of threat processing reduces working memory interference

PubMed Central

Clarke, Robert; Johnstone, Tom

2013-01-01

Bottom-up processes can interrupt ongoing cognitive processing in order to adaptively respond to emotional stimuli of high potential significance, such as those that threaten wellbeing. However it is vital that this interference can be modulated in certain contexts to focus on current tasks. Deficits in the ability to maintain the appropriate balance between cognitive and emotional demands can severely impact on day-to-day activities. This fMRI study examined this interaction between threat processing and cognition; 18 adult participants performed a visuospatial working memory (WM) task with two load conditions, in the presence and absence of anxiety induction by threat of electric shock. Threat of shock interfered with performance in the low cognitive load condition; however interference was eradicated under high load, consistent with engagement of emotion regulation mechanisms. Under low load the amygdala showed significant activation to threat of shock that was modulated by high cognitive load. A directed top-down control contrast identified two regions associated with top-down control; ventrolateral PFC and dorsal ACC. Dynamic causal modeling provided further evidence that under high cognitive load, top-down inhibition is exerted on the amygdala and its outputs to prefrontal regions. Additionally, we hypothesized that individual differences in a separate, non-emotional top-down control task would predict the recruitment of dorsal ACC and ventrolateral PFC during top-down control of threat. Consistent with this, performance on a separate dichotic listening task predicted dorsal ACC and ventrolateral PFC activation during high WM load under threat of shock, though activation in these regions did not directly correlate with WM performance. Together, the findings suggest that under high cognitive load and threat, top-down control is exerted by dACC and vlPFC to inhibit threat processing, thus enabling WM performance without threat-related interference. PMID:23750133

The contribution of disengagement to temporal discriminability.

PubMed

Shipstead, Zach; Nespodzany, Ashley

2018-05-01

The present study examines the idea that time-based forgetting of outdated information can lead to better memory of currently relevant information. This was done using the visual arrays task, along with a between-subjects manipulation of both the retention interval (1 s vs. 4 s) and the time between two trials (1 s vs. 4 s). Consistent with prior work [Shipstead, Z., & Engle, R. W. (2013). Interference within the focus of attention: Working memory tasks reflect more than temporary maintenance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39, 277-289; Experiment 1], longer retention intervals did not lead to diminished memory of currently relevant information. However, we did find that longer periods of time between two trials improved memory for currently relevant information. This replicates findings that indicate proactive interference affects visual arrays performance and extends previous findings to show that reduction of proactive interference can occur in a time-dependent manner.

Facilitating Goal-Oriented Behaviour in the Stroop Task: When Executive Control Is Influenced by Automatic Processing

PubMed Central

Parris, Benjamin A.; Bate, Sarah; Brown, Scott D.; Hodgson, Timothy L.

2012-01-01

A portion of Stroop interference is thought to arise from a failure to maintain goal-oriented behaviour (or goal neglect). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether goal- relevant primes could enhance goal maintenance and reduce the Stroop interference effect. Here it is shown that primes related to the goal of responding quickly in the Stroop task (e.g. fast, quick, hurry) substantially reduced Stroop interference by reducing reaction times to incongruent trials but increasing reaction times to congruent and neutral trials. No effects of the primes were observed on errors. The effects on incongruent, congruent and neutral trials are explained in terms of the influence of the primes on goal maintenance. The results show that goal priming can facilitate goal-oriented behaviour and indicate that automatic processing can modulate executive control. PMID:23056553

Interhemispheric Connectivity and Executive Functioning in Adults With Tourette Syndrome

PubMed Central

Margolis, Amy; Donkervoort, Mireille; Kinsbourne, Marcel; Peterson, Bradley S.

2008-01-01

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is relatively smaller, and the corpus callosum (CC) larger, in adults with Tourette syndrome (TS). The authors explored the possible roles of the PFC and the CC in mediating interhemispheric interference and coordination in TS adults. They measured performance on M. Kinsbourne and J. Cook's (1971) verbal–manual interference task and on the bimanual Purdue Pegboard in 38 adults with TS and 34 healthy adults. Compared with controls, TS subjects were impaired on the bimanual Purdue Pegboard. On the dual task, right-hand performance did not differ between groups, but the normally expected left-hand advantage (opposite hemisphere condition) was absent in TS subjects. In the control group only, better left-hand performance accompanied larger PFC volumes but not CC cross-sectional area. PFC dysfunction might have precluded executive control of interference in the TS group. PMID:16460223

The time course of protecting a visual memory representation from perceptual interference

PubMed Central

van Moorselaar, Dirk; Gunseli, Eren; Theeuwes, Jan; N. L. Olivers, Christian

2015-01-01

Cueing a remembered item during the delay of a visual memory task leads to enhanced recall of the cued item compared to when an item is not cued. This cueing benefit has been proposed to reflect attention within visual memory being shifted from a distributed mode to a focused mode, thus protecting the cued item against perceptual interference. Here we investigated the dynamics of building up this mnemonic protection against visual interference by systematically varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between cue onset and a subsequent visual mask in an orientation memory task. Experiment 1 showed that a cue counteracted the deteriorating effect of pattern masks. Experiment 2 demonstrated that building up this protection is a continuous process that is completed in approximately half a second after cue onset. The similarities between shifting attention in perceptual and remembered space are discussed. PMID:25628555

Extracommunicative functions of language: verbal interference causes selective categorization impairments.

PubMed

Lupyan, Gary

2009-08-01

In addition to its communicative functions, language has been argued to have a variety of extracommunicative functions, as assessed by its causal involvement in putatively nonlinguistic tasks. In the present work, I argue that language may be critically involved in the ability of human adults to categorize objects on a specific dimension (e.g., color) while abstracting over other dimensions (e.g., size). This ability is frequently impaired in aphasic patients. The present work demonstrates that normal participants placed under conditions of verbal interference show a pattern of deficits strikingly similar to that of aphasic patients: impaired taxonomic categorization along perceptual dimensions, and preserved thematic categorization. A control experiment using a visuospatial-interference task failed to find this selective pattern of deficits. The present work has implications for understanding the online role of language in normal cognition and supports the claim that language is causally involved in nonverbal cognition.

Inhibition, interference, and conflict in task switching.

PubMed

Costa, Russell E; Friedrich, Frances J

2012-12-01

The role of inhibition in the task-switching process has received increased empirical and theoretical attention in the literature on cognitive control. Many accounts have suggested that inhibition occurs when a conflict must be resolved-for example, when a target stimulus contains features of more than one task. In the two experiments reported here, we used variants of backward inhibition, or N - 2 repetition, designs to examine (1) whether inhibition occurs in the absence of conflict at the stimulus or response level, (2) when in the task-switching process such inhibition may occur, and (3) the potential consequences of inhibition. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that neither stimulus- nor response-level conflict is necessary for inhibition to occur, while the results of Experiment 2 suggest that inhibition may be associated with a reduction of proactive interference (PI) from a previously performed task. Evidence of inhibition and the reduction of PI both occurred at the task-set level. However, inhibition of specific stimulus values can also occur, but this is clearly separable from task-set inhibition. Both experiments also provided evidence that task-set inhibition can be applied at the time of the new task cue, as opposed to at the onset of the target or at the response stage of the trial. Taken together, the results from these experiments provide insight into when and where in the task-switching process inhibition may occur, as well as into the potential functional benefits that inhibition of task sets may provide.

Spatial discrimination deficits as a function of mnemonic interference in aged adults with and without memory impairment.

PubMed

Reagh, Zachariah M; Roberts, Jared M; Ly, Maria; DiProspero, Natalie; Murray, Elizabeth; Yassa, Michael A

2014-03-01

It is well established that aging is associated with declines in episodic memory. In recent years, an emphasis has emerged on the development of behavioral tasks and the identification of biomarkers that are predictive of cognitive decline in healthy as well as pathological aging. Here, we describe a memory task designed to assess the accuracy of discrimination ability for the locations of objects. Object locations were initially encoded incidentally, and appeared in a single space against a 5 × 7 grid. During retrieval, subjects viewed repeated object-location pairings, displacements of 1, 2, 3, or 4 grid spaces, and maximal corner-to-opposite-corner displacements. Subjects were tasked with judging objects in this second viewing as having retained their original location, or having moved. Performance on a task such as this is thought to rely on the capacity of the individual to perform hippocampus-mediated pattern separation. We report a performance deficit associated with a physically healthy aged group compared to young adults specific to trials with low mnemonic interference. Additionally, for aged adults, performance on the task was correlated with performance on the delayed recall portion of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), a neuropsychological test sensitive to hippocampal dysfunction. In line with prior work, dividing the aged group into unimpaired and impaired subgroups based on RAVLT Delayed Recall scores yielded clearly distinguishable patterns of performance, with the former subgroup performing comparably to young adults, and the latter subgroup showing generally impaired memory performance even with minimal interference. This study builds on existing tasks used in the field, and contributes a novel paradigm for differentiation of healthy from possible pathological aging, and may thus provide an avenue for early detection of age-related cognitive decline. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Examination of mechanisms underlying enhanced memory performance in action video game players: a pilot study

PubMed Central

Li, Xianchun; Cheng, Xiaojun; Li, Jiaying; Pan, Yafeng; Hu, Yi; Ku, Yixuan

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown enhanced memory performance resulting from extensive action video game playing. The mechanisms underlying the cognitive benefit were investigated in the current study. We presented two types of retro-cues, with variable intervals to memory array (Task 1) or test array (Task 2), during the retention interval in a change detection task. In Task 1, action video game players demonstrated steady performance while non-action video game players showed decreased performance as cues occurred later, indicating their performance difference increased as the cue-to-memory-array intervals became longer. In Task 2, both participant groups increased their performance at similar rates as cues presented later, implying the performance difference in two groups were irrespective of the test-array-to-cue intervals. These findings suggested that memory benefit from game plays is not attributable to the higher ability of overcoming interference from the test array, but to the interactions between the two processes of protection from decay and resistance from interference, or from alternative hypotheses. Implications for future studies were discussed. PMID:26136720

Perceptual load interacts with stimulus processing across sensory modalities.

PubMed

Klemen, J; Büchel, C; Rose, M

2009-06-01

According to perceptual load theory, processing of task-irrelevant stimuli is limited by the perceptual load of a parallel attended task if both the task and the irrelevant stimuli are presented to the same sensory modality. However, it remains a matter of debate whether the same principles apply to cross-sensory perceptual load and, more generally, what form cross-sensory attentional modulation in early perceptual areas takes in humans. Here we addressed these questions using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants undertook an auditory one-back working memory task of low or high perceptual load, while concurrently viewing task-irrelevant images at one of three object visibility levels. The processing of the visual and auditory stimuli was measured in the lateral occipital cortex (LOC) and auditory cortex (AC), respectively. Cross-sensory interference with sensory processing was observed in both the LOC and AC, in accordance with previous results of unisensory perceptual load studies. The present neuroimaging results therefore warrant the extension of perceptual load theory from a unisensory to a cross-sensory context: a validation of this cross-sensory interference effect through behavioural measures would consolidate the findings.

Examination of mechanisms underlying enhanced memory performance in action video game players: a pilot study.

PubMed

Li, Xianchun; Cheng, Xiaojun; Li, Jiaying; Pan, Yafeng; Hu, Yi; Ku, Yixuan

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown enhanced memory performance resulting from extensive action video game playing. The mechanisms underlying the cognitive benefit were investigated in the current study. We presented two types of retro-cues, with variable intervals to memory array (Task 1) or test array (Task 2), during the retention interval in a change detection task. In Task 1, action video game players demonstrated steady performance while non-action video game players showed decreased performance as cues occurred later, indicating their performance difference increased as the cue-to-memory-array intervals became longer. In Task 2, both participant groups increased their performance at similar rates as cues presented later, implying the performance difference in two groups were irrespective of the test-array-to-cue intervals. These findings suggested that memory benefit from game plays is not attributable to the higher ability of overcoming interference from the test array, but to the interactions between the two processes of protection from decay and resistance from interference, or from alternative hypotheses. Implications for future studies were discussed.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Executive Dysfunctions in ADHD: Implications for Inhibitory Control, Interference Control, Working Memory, and Cognitive Flexibility.

PubMed

Nejati, Vahid; Salehinejad, Mohammad Ali; Nitsche, Michael A; Najian, Asal; Javadi, Amir-Homayoun

2017-09-01

This study examined effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) on major executive functions (EFs), including response inhibition, executive control, working memory (WM), and cognitive flexibility/task switching in ADHD. ADHD children received (a) left anodal/right cathodal DLPFC tDCS and (b) sham stimulation in Experiment 1 and (a) left anodal DLPFC/right cathodal OFC tDCS, (b) left cathodal DLPFC/right anodal OFC tDCS, and (c) sham stimulation in Experiment 2. The current intensity was 1 mA for 15 min with a 72-hr interval between sessions. Participants underwent Go/No-Go task, N-back test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and Stroop task after each tDCS condition. Anodal left DLPFC tDCS most clearly affected executive control functions (e.g., WM, interference inhibition), while cathodal left DLPFC tDCS improved inhibitory control. Cognitive flexibility/task switching benefited from combined DLPFC-OFC, but not DLPFC stimulation alone. Task-specific stimulation protocols can improve EFs in ADHD.

Estimated capacity of object files in visual short-term memory is not improved by retrieval cueing.

PubMed

Saiki, Jun; Miyatsuji, Hirofumi

2009-03-23

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) has been claimed to maintain three to five feature-bound object representations. Some results showing smaller capacity estimates for feature binding memory have been interpreted as the effects of interference in memory retrieval. However, change-detection tasks may not properly evaluate complex feature-bound representations such as triple conjunctions in VSTM. To understand the general type of feature-bound object representation, evaluation of triple conjunctions is critical. To test whether interference occurs in memory retrieval for complete object file representations in a VSTM task, we cued retrieval in novel paradigms that directly evaluate the memory for triple conjunctions, in comparison with a simple change-detection task. In our multiple object permanence tracking displays, observers monitored for a switch in feature combination between objects during an occlusion period, and we found that a retrieval cue provided no benefit with the triple conjunction tasks, but significant facilitation with the change-detection task, suggesting that low capacity estimates of object file memory in VSTM reflect a limit on maintenance, not retrieval.

Higher levels of motor competence are associated with reduced interference in action perception across the lifespan.

PubMed

Wermelinger, Stephanie; Gampe, Anja; Daum, Moritz M

2017-11-07

Action perception and action production are tightly linked and elicit bi-directional influences on each other when performed simultaneously. In this study, we investigated whether age-related differences in manual fine-motor competence and/or age affect the (interfering) influence of action production on simultaneous action perception. In a cross-sectional eye-tracking study, participants of a broad age range (N = 181, 20-80 years) observed a manual grasp-and-transport action while performing an additional motor or cognitive distractor task. Action perception was measured via participants' frequency of anticipatory gaze shifts towards the action goal. Manual fine-motor competence was assessed with the Motor Performance Series. The interference effect in action perception was greater in the motor than the cognitive distractor task. Furthermore, manual fine-motor competence and age in years were both associated with this interference. The better the participants' manual fine-motor competence and the younger they were, the smaller the interference effect. However, when both influencing factors (age and fine-motor competence) were taken into account, a model including only age-related differences in manual fine-motor competence best fit with our data. These results add to the existing literature that motor competence and its age-related differences influence the interference effects between action perception and production.

Relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and interference control in breast cancer survivors.

PubMed

Zuniga, Krystle E; Mackenzie, Michael J; Roberts, Sarah A; Raine, Lauren B; Hillman, Charles H; Kramer, Arthur F; McAuley, Edward

2016-06-01

Nutrition plays an important role in brain structure and function, and the effects of diet may even be greater in those at greater risk of cognitive decline, such as individuals with cancer-related cognitive impairment. However, the relation of dietary components to cognitive function in cancer survivors is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine whether breast cancer survivors (BCS) evidenced impairments in interference control, a component of cognitive control, compared to age-matched women with no prior history of cancer, and to examine the moderating role of diet on cognitive function. In this cross-sectional study, a modified flanker task was used to assess interference control in BCS (n = 31) and age-matched women with no prior history of cancer (n = 30). Diet was assessed with 3-day food records. Differences between BCS and age-matched controls were assessed using linear mixed models, and multilevel regression analyses were conducted to assess the moderating role of diet on cognitive performance. Cognitive performance was not different between groups. Fruit intake and vegetable intake were significantly associated with better performance on the incompatible condition of the flanker task (i.e., shorter reaction time and increased accuracy), independent of disease status. The association between dietary components and cognition was stronger for the incompatible incongruent condition, suggesting that fruit and vegetables may be important for the up-regulation of cognitive control when faced with higher cognitive demands. There was no difference in performance on an interference control task between BCS and age-matched controls. The data suggest that greater fruit intake and vegetable intake were positively associated with interference control in both BCS and age-matched controls.

Negative Priming within a Stroop Task in Children and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Their Siblings, and Independent Controls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christiansen, Hanna; Oades, Robert D.

2010-01-01

Objective: Negative priming (NP) is the slowed response to a stimulus that was previously ignored. Response times in NP task conditions were compared with the interference provided by congruent/incongruent stimuli in a Stroop condition in the same task in children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), their unaffected…

Another look at retroactive and proactive interference: a quantitative analysis of conversion processes.

PubMed

Blank, Hartmut

2005-02-01

Traditionally, the causes of interference phenomena were sought in "real" or "hard" memory processes such as unlearning, response competition, or inhibition, which serve to reduce the accessibility of target items. I propose an alternative approach which does not deny the influence of such processes but highlights a second, equally important, source of interference-the conversion (Tulving, 1983) of accessible memory information into memory performance. Conversion is conceived as a problem-solving-like activity in which the rememberer tries to find solutions to a memory task. Conversion-based interference effects are traced to different conversion processes in the experimental and control conditions of interference designs. I present a simple theoretical model that quantitatively predicts the resulting amount of interference. In two paired-associate learning experiments using two different types of memory tests, these predictions were corroborated. Relations of the present approach to traditional accounts of interference phenomena and implications for eyewitness testimony are discussed.

Evaluating the effect of aging on interference resolution with time-varying complex networks analysis

PubMed Central

Ariza, Pedro; Solesio-Jofre, Elena; Martínez, Johann H.; Pineda-Pardo, José A.; Niso, Guiomar; Maestú, Fernando; Buldú, Javier M.

2015-01-01

In this study we used graph theory analysis to investigate age-related reorganization of functional networks during the active maintenance of information that is interrupted by external interference. Additionally, we sought to investigate network differences before and after averaging network parameters between both maintenance and interference windows. We compared young and older adults by measuring their magnetoencephalographic recordings during an interference-based working memory task restricted to successful recognitions. Data analysis focused on the topology/temporal evolution of functional networks during both the maintenance and interference windows. We observed that: (a) Older adults require higher synchronization between cortical brain sites in order to achieve a successful recognition, (b) The main differences between age groups arise during the interference window, (c) Older adults show reduced ability to reorganize network topology when interference is introduced, and (d) Averaging network parameters leads to a loss of sensitivity to detect age differences. PMID:26029079

Susceptibility to declarative memory interference is pronounced in primary insomnia.

PubMed

Griessenberger, Hermann; Heib, Dominik P J; Lechinger, Julia; Luketina, Nikolina; Petzka, Marit; Moeckel, Tina; Hoedlmoser, Kerstin; Schabus, Manuel

2013-01-01

Sleep has been shown to stabilize memory traces and to protect against competing interference in both the procedural and declarative memory domain. Here, we focused on an interference learning paradigm by testing patients with primary insomnia (N = 27) and healthy control subjects (N = 21). In two separate experimental nights with full polysomnography it was revealed that after morning interference procedural memory performance (using a finger tapping task) was not impaired in insomnia patients while declarative memory (word pair association) was decreased following interference. More specifically, we demonstrate robust associations of central sleep spindles (in N3) with motor memory susceptibility to interference as well as (cortically more widespread) fast spindle associations with declarative memory susceptibility. In general the results suggest that insufficient sleep quality does not necessarily show up in worse overnight consolidation in insomnia but may only become evident (in the declarative memory domain) when interference is imposed.

“The Relationship between Executive Functioning, Processing Speed and White Matter Integrity in Multiple Sclerosis”

PubMed Central

Genova, Helen M.; DeLuca, John; Chiaravalloti, Nancy; Wylie, Glenn

2014-01-01

The primary purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between performance on executive tasks and white matter integrity, assessed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). A second aim was to examine how processing speed affects the relationship between executive functioning and FA. This relationship was examined in two executive tasks that rely heavily on processing speed: the Color-Word Interference Test and Trail-Making Test (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System). It was hypothesized that reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) is related to poor performance on executive tasks in MS, but that this relationship would be affected by the statistical correction of processing speed from the executive tasks. 15 healthy controls and 25 persons with MS participated. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between executive functioning and FA, both before and after processing speed was removed from the executive scores. Before processing speed was removed from the executive scores, reduced FA was associated with poor performance on Color-Word Interference Test and Trail-Making Test in a diffuse network including corpus callosum and superior longitudinal fasciculus. However, once processing speed was removed, the relationship between executive functions and FA was no longer significant on the Trail Making test, and significantly reduced and more localized on the Color-Word Interference Test. PMID:23777468

Memory Reactivation Enables Long-Term Prevention of Interference.

PubMed

Herszage, Jasmine; Censor, Nitzan

2017-05-22

The ability of the human brain to successively learn or perform two competing tasks constitutes a major challenge in daily function. Indeed, exposing the brain to two different competing memories within a short temporal offset can induce interference, resulting in deteriorated performance in at least one of the learned memories [1-4]. Although previous studies have investigated online interference and its effects on performance [5-13], whether the human brain can enable long-term prevention of future interference is unknown. To address this question, we utilized the memory reactivation-reconsolidation framework [2, 12] stemming from studies at the synaptic level [14-17], according to which reactivation of a memory enables its update. In a set of experiments, using the motor sequence learning task [18] we report that a unique pairing of reactivating the original memory (right hand) in synchrony with novel memory trials (left hand) prevented future interference between the two memories. Strikingly, these effects were long-term and observed a month following reactivation. Further experiments showed that preventing future interference was not due to practice per se, but rather specifically depended on a limited time window induced by reactivation of the original memory. These results suggest a mechanism according to which memory reactivation enables long-term prevention of interference, possibly by creating an updated memory trace integrating original and novel memories during the reconsolidation time window. The opportunity to induce a long-term preventive effect on memories may enable the utilization of strategies optimizing normal human learning, as well as recovery following neurological insults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is attention essential for inducing synesthetic colors? Evidence from oculomotor distractors.

PubMed

Nijboer, Tanja C W; Van der Stigchel, Stefan

2009-06-30

In studies investigating visual attention in synesthesia, the targets usually induce a synesthetic color. To measure to what extent attention is necessary to induce synesthetic color experiences, one needs a task in which the synesthetic color is induced by a task-irrelevant distractor. In the current study, an oculomotor distractor task was used in which an eye movement was to be made to a physically colored target while ignoring a single physically colored or synesthetic distractor. Whereas many erroneous eye movements were made to distractors with an identical hue as the target (i.e., capture), much less interference was found with synesthetic distractors. The interference of synesthetic distractors was comparable with achromatic non-digit distractors. These results suggest that attention and hence overt recognition of the inducing stimulus are essential for the synesthetic color experience to occur.

An individual differences analysis of memory control

PubMed Central

Salthouse, Timothy A.; Siedlecki, Karen L.; Krueger, Lacy E.

2013-01-01

Performance on a wide variety of memory tasks can be hypothesized to be influenced by processes associated with controlling the contents of memory. In this project 328 adults ranging from 18 to 93 years of age performed six tasks (e.g., multiple trial recall with an interpolated interference list, directed forgetting, proactive interference, and retrieval inhibition) postulated to yield measures of the effectiveness of memory control. Although most of the patterns from earlier studies were replicated, only a few of the measures of memory control were reliable at the level of individual differences. Furthermore, the memory control measures had very weak relations with the age of the participant. Analyses examining the relations between established cognitive abilities and variables from the experimental tasks revealed that most of the variables were related only to episodic memory ability. PMID:24347812

The wandering self: Tracking distracting self-generated thought in a cognitively demanding context.

PubMed

Huijser, Stefan; van Vugt, Marieke K; Taatgen, Niels A

2018-02-01

We investigated how self-referential processing (SRP) affected self-generated thought in a complex working memory task (CWM) to test the predictions of a computational cognitive model. This model described self-generated thought as resulting from competition between task- and distracting processes, and predicted that self-generated thought interferes with rehearsal, reducing memory performance. SRP was hypothesized to influence this goal competition process by encouraging distracting self-generated thinking. We used a spatial CWM task to examine if SRP instigated such thoughts, and employed eye-tracking to examine rehearsal interference in eye-movement and self-generated thinking in pupil size. The results showed that SRP was associated with lower performance and higher rates of self-generated thought. Self-generated thought was associated with less rehearsal and we observed a smaller pupil size for mind wandering. We conclude that SRP can instigate self-generated thought and that goal competition provides a likely explanation for how self-generated thoughts arises in a demanding task. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A dual contribution to the involuntary semantic processing of unexpected spoken words.

PubMed

Parmentier, Fabrice B R; Turner, Jacqueline; Perez, Laura

2014-02-01

Sounds are a major cause of distraction. Unexpected to-be-ignored auditory stimuli presented in the context of an otherwise repetitive acoustic background ineluctably break through selective attention and distract people from an unrelated visual task (deviance distraction). This involuntary capture of attention by deviant sounds has been hypothesized to trigger their semantic appraisal and, in some circumstances, interfere with ongoing performance, but it remains unclear how such processing compares with the automatic processing of distractors in classic interference tasks (e.g., Stroop, flanker, Simon tasks). Using a cross-modal oddball task, we assessed the involuntary semantic processing of deviant sounds in the presence and absence of deviance distraction. The results revealed that some involuntary semantic analysis of spoken distractors occurs in the absence of deviance distraction but that this processing is significantly greater in its presence. We conclude that the automatic processing of spoken distractors reflects 2 contributions, one that is contingent upon deviance distraction and one that is independent from it.

Facial and semantic emotional interference: A pilot study on the behavioral and cortical responses to the dual valence association task

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Integration of compatible or incompatible emotional valence and semantic information is an essential aspect of complex social interactions. A modified version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) called Dual Valence Association Task (DVAT) was designed in order to measure conflict resolution processing from compatibility/incompatibly of semantic and facial valence. The DVAT involves two emotional valence evaluative tasks which elicits two forms of emotional compatible/incompatible associations (facial and semantic). Methods Behavioural measures and Event Related Potentials were recorded while participants performed the DVAT. Results Behavioural data showed a robust effect that distinguished compatible/incompatible tasks. The effects of valence and contextual association (between facial and semantic stimuli) showed early discrimination in N170 of faces. The LPP component was modulated by the compatibility of the DVAT. Conclusions Results suggest that DVAT is a robust paradigm for studying the emotional interference effect in the processing of simultaneous information from semantic and facial stimuli. PMID:21489277

Separating math from anxiety: The role of inhibitory mechanisms.

PubMed

Mammarella, Irene C; Caviola, Sara; Giofrè, David; Borella, Erika

2017-07-06

Deficits in executive functions have been hypothesized and documented for children with severe mathematics anxiety (MA) or developmental dyscalculia, but the role of inhibition-related processes has not been specifically explored. The main aim of the present study was to shed further light on the specificity of these profiles in children in terms of working memory (WM) and the inhibitory functions involved. Four groups of children between 8 and 10 years old were selected: one group with developmental dyscalculia (DD) and no MA, one with severe MA and developmental dyscalculia (MA-DD), one with severe MA and no DD (MA), and one with typical development (TD). All children were presented with tasks measuring two inhibition-related functions, that is, proactive interference and prepotent response, and a WM task. The results showed that children with severe MA (but no DD) were specifically impaired in the proactive interference task, while children with DD (with or without MA) failed in the WM task. Our findings point to the importance of distinguishing the cognitive processes underlying these profiles.

[Semantic interference and pathological anxiety: experimental approach in generalized anxiety].

PubMed

Azaïs, F; Granger, B; Debray, Q

1994-01-01

Patients with D.S.M. III-R generalized anxiety disorder and normal controls performed a computerized Stroop color naming-task in which they named colors of threat-related, positive and neutral words. Compared to controls, generalized anxious patients revealed a longer response latency for threat-related words, without correlation with anxious measures on Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In normal control group, response delay to emotional words was correlated to anxious score on STAI-Trait. There was no difference between the two groups in a recognition memory task. The results suggest existence of different semantic interference in categorical and normal anxiety, without implication of explicit memory.

When does a good working memory counteract proactive interference? Surprising evidence from a probe recognition task.

PubMed

Cowan, Nelson; Saults, J Scott

2013-02-01

It is often proposed that individuals with high working memory span overcome proactive interference (PI) from previous trials, saving working memory for task-relevant items. We examined this hypothesis in word-list probe recognition. We found no difference in PI related to span. Instead, ex-gaussian analysis of reaction time showed speed advantages for high spans specific to short lists (3 or 4 items) but absent from longer lists (6 or 8 items). We suggest that high-span advantages in reaction time are based on finesse during easy trials, not on overcoming PI. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Stroop-Like Effects for Monkeys and Humans: Processing Speed or Strength of Association?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Washburn, David A.

1994-01-01

Stroop-like effects have been found using a variety of paradigms and subject groups. In the present investigation, 6 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and 28 humans exhibited Stroop-like interference and facilitation in a relative-numerousness task. Monkeys, like humans, processed the meanings of the numerical symbols automatically, despite the fact that these meanings were irrelevant to task performance. These data also afforded direct comparison of interpretations of the Stroop effect in terms of processing speed versus association strength. These findings were consistent with parallel-processing models of Stroop-like interference proposed elsewhere, but not with processing-speed accounts posited frequently to explain the effect.

Crowding is size and eccentricity dependent.

PubMed

Gurnsey, Rick; Roddy, Gabrielle; Chanab, Waël

2011-06-17

Crowding is a form of lateral interaction in which flanking items interfere with the detection or discrimination of a target stimulus. It is believed that crowding is a property of peripheral vision only and that no crowding occurs at fixation. If these two claims are true, then there must be a change in the nature of crowding interactions across the visual field. In three different tasks, we determined target size and flanker separation at threshold for eccentricities of 0 to 16° in the lower visual field for 7 relative separations (1.25 to 8 times target size). In all three tasks, the magnitude of crowding increases with eccentricity; there was no crowding at fixation and extreme crowding at 16°. Using a novel double-scaling procedure, we show that the non-foveal data in all three tasks can be characterized as shifted versions of the same psychometric function such that different sections of the function characterize data at each eccentricity. This pattern of results can be understood in terms of size-dependent responses to the target and distance-dependent interference from the flankers. The data suggest that the distance-dependent interference increases with eccentricity.

Top-Down Processes Override Bottom-Up Interference in the Flanker Task.

PubMed

Avital-Cohen, Rotem; Tsal, Yehoshua

2016-05-01

Distractor interference in the flanker task is commonly viewed as an outcome of unintentional, involuntary processing, a by-product of attention-controlled processing of the target. An important implication of this notion is that the distractors are not subjected to top-down processing of their own. We tested this idea in a modified version of the flanker task, in which letter targets (S or O) were sometimes flanked by ambiguous distractors (a character that could be S or 5 or one that could be O or 0). Distractor interference was dependent on participants' expectations regarding the category of the distractors (i.e., letters or digits). For example, the O-0 distractor interfered with responding to S when it was perceived as a letter, but not when it was perceived as a digit. Hence, participants applied top-down processing to the peripheral distractors independently of the top-down processing applied to the targets. The fact that to-be-ignored peripheral distractors were processed to such a high level raises questions regarding the fundamental differences between target and distractor processing, and the quality of attentional filtering. © The Author(s) 2016.

Working memory operates over the same representations as attention

PubMed Central

Xie, Jiushu; Xia, Tiansheng; Mo, Lei

2017-01-01

A recent study observed a working memory (WM) Stroop effect with a magnitude equivalent to that of the classic Stroop effect, indicating that WM operates over the same representations as attention. However, more research is needed to examine this proposal. One unanswered question is whether the WM Stroop effect occurs when the WM item and the perceptual task do not have an overlapping response set. We addressed this question in Experiment 1 by conducting an attentional word-color task and a WM word-color task. The results showed that a WM Stroop effect also occurred in that condition, as a word that only indirectly evoked a color representation could interfere with the color judgement in both the attentional task and WM task. In Experiment 2, we used a classic Simon task and a WM Simon task to examine whether holding visuo-spatial information rather than verbal information in WM could interfere with perceptual judgment as well. We observed a WM Simon effect of equivalent magnitude to that of the classic Simon effect. The well-known stimulus-response compatibility effect also existed in the WM domain. The two experiments together demonstrated that WM operates over the same representations as attention, which sheds new light on the hypothesis that working memory is internally directed attention. PMID:28604840

Working memory operates over the same representations as attention.

PubMed

Chen, Ke; Ye, Yanyan; Xie, Jiushu; Xia, Tiansheng; Mo, Lei

2017-01-01

A recent study observed a working memory (WM) Stroop effect with a magnitude equivalent to that of the classic Stroop effect, indicating that WM operates over the same representations as attention. However, more research is needed to examine this proposal. One unanswered question is whether the WM Stroop effect occurs when the WM item and the perceptual task do not have an overlapping response set. We addressed this question in Experiment 1 by conducting an attentional word-color task and a WM word-color task. The results showed that a WM Stroop effect also occurred in that condition, as a word that only indirectly evoked a color representation could interfere with the color judgement in both the attentional task and WM task. In Experiment 2, we used a classic Simon task and a WM Simon task to examine whether holding visuo-spatial information rather than verbal information in WM could interfere with perceptual judgment as well. We observed a WM Simon effect of equivalent magnitude to that of the classic Simon effect. The well-known stimulus-response compatibility effect also existed in the WM domain. The two experiments together demonstrated that WM operates over the same representations as attention, which sheds new light on the hypothesis that working memory is internally directed attention.

Schema benefit vs. proactive interference: Contradicting behavioral outcomes and coexisting neural patterns.

PubMed

Oren, Noga; Shapira-Lichter, Irit; Lerner, Yulia; Tarrasch, Ricardo; Hendler, Talma; Giladi, Nir; Ash, Elissa L

2017-09-01

Prior knowledge can either assist or hinder the ability to learn new information. These contradicting behavioral outcomes, referred to as schema benefit and proactive interference respectively, have been studied separately. Here we examined whether the known neural correlates of each process coexist, and how they are influenced by attentional loading and aging. To this end we used an fMRI task that affected both processes simultaneously by presenting pairs of related short movies in succession. The first movie of each pair provided context for the second movie, which could evoke schema benefit and/or proactive interference. Inclusion of an easy or hard secondary task performed during encoding of the movies, as well as testing both younger (22-35y) and older (65-79y) adults, allowed examining the effect of attentional load and older age on the neural patterns associated with context. Analyses focused on three predefined regions and examined how their inter-subject correlation (inter-SC) and functional connectivity (FC) with the hippocampi changed between the first and second movie. The results in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) matched and expanded previous findings: higher inter-SC and lower FC were observed during the second compared to the first movie; yet the differentiation between the first and second movies in these regions was attenuated under high attentional load, pointing to dependency on attentional resources. Instead, at high load there was a significant context effect in the FC of the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), and greater FC in the second movie was related to greater proactive interference. Further, older adults showed context effect in the PCC and vlPFC. Intriguingly, older adults with inter-SC mPFC patterns similar to younger adults exhibited schema benefit in our task, while those with inter-SC PCC patterns similar to younger adults showed proactive interference in an independent task. The brain-behavior relationships corroborate the functional significance of these regions and indicate that the mPFC mainly contributes to schema benefit, while the left vlPFC and PCC contribute to proactive interference. Importantly, our findings show that the functions of the regions are retained throughout the lifespan and may predict the predominant behavioral outcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can the "musical stroop" task replace the classical stroop task? Commentary on “The musical Stroop effect: Opening a new avenue to research on automatisms” by l. Grégoire, P. Perruchet, and B. Poulin-Charronnat (Experimental Psychology, 2013, vol. 60, pp. 269–278).

PubMed

Zakay, Dan

2014-01-01

The musical Stroop task is analyzed and compared to the classical Stroop task. The analysis indicates that the two tasks differ in the following significant characteristics: ecological validity, the interrelations between the two perceptual dimensions involved, the nature of the automatic process and the existence of a potential Garner interference. It is concluded that the musical task has no advantage over the classical task.

The Relationship between Stroop Interference and Facilitation Effects: Statistical Artifacts, Baselines, and a Reassessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Tracy L.

2011-01-01

The relationship between interference and facilitation effects in the Stroop task is poorly understood yet central to its implications. At question is the modal view that they arise from a single mechanism--the congruency of color and word. Two developments have challenged that view: (a) the belief that facilitation effects are fractionally small…

A Release from Proactive Interference Analysis of Gender Schema Encoding for Occupations in Adults and Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kee, D.W.; Gregory-Domingue, A.; Rice, K.; Tone, K.

2005-01-01

The present study examined gender schema encoding (activation of gender stereotypes) in the absence deliberate purposes relating to people (stereotype application). A release from proactive interference short-term-memory task was used. College (Experiment 1) and sixth-grade (Experiment 2) participants were asked to retain item identity and…

Matched False-Belief Performance during Verbal and Nonverbal Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dungan, James; Saxe, Rebecca

2012-01-01

Language has been shown to play a key role in the development of a child's theory of mind, but its role in adult belief reasoning remains unclear. One recent study used verbal and nonverbal interference during a false-belief task to show that accurate belief reasoning in adults necessarily requires language (Newton & de Villiers, 2007). The…

Auditory Working Memory Load Impairs Visual Ventral Stream Processing: Toward a Unified Model of Attentional Load

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klemen, Jane; Buchel, Christian; Buhler, Mira; Menz, Mareike M.; Rose, Michael

2010-01-01

Attentional interference between tasks performed in parallel is known to have strong and often undesired effects. As yet, however, the mechanisms by which interference operates remain elusive. A better knowledge of these processes may facilitate our understanding of the effects of attention on human performance and the debilitating consequences…

Release from Proactive Interference with Positive and Negative Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferraro, F. Richaro; King, Brent

2004-01-01

Using the release from proactive interference (RPI) task, college students (n = 40) received 4 trials comprised of 3-word triads of either positive (P) or negative (N) words. Word-triad recall served as the dependent measure, and results revealed typical buildup of PI (i.e., no significant group X trial interaction across Trials 1-3). Significant…

Object Interference in Children's Colour and Position Naming: Lexical Interference or Task-Set Competition?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Heij, Wido; Boelens, Harrie; Kuipers, Jan-Rouke

2010-01-01

Cascade models of word production assume that during lexical access all activated concepts activate their names. In line with this view, it has been shown that naming an object's colour is facilitated when colour name and object name are phonologically related (e.g., "blue" and "blouse"). Prevor and Diamond's (2005) recent observation that…

Developmental Change in Proactive Interference across the Life Span: Evidence from Two Working Memory Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loosli, Sandra V.; Rahm, Benjamin; Unterrainer, Josef M.; Weiller, Cornelius; Kaller, Christoph P.

2014-01-01

Working memory (WM) as the ability to temporarily maintain and manipulate various kinds of information is known to be affected by proactive interference (PI) from previously relevant contents, but studies on developmental changes in the susceptibility to PI are scarce. In the present study, we investigated life span development of item-specific…

Converging Evidence for Control of Color-Word Stroop Interference at the Item Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bugg, Julie M.; Hutchison, Keith A.

2013-01-01

Prior studies have shown that cognitive control is implemented at the list and context levels in the color-word Stroop task. At first blush, the finding that Stroop interference is reduced for mostly incongruent items as compared with mostly congruent items (i.e., the item-specific proportion congruence [ISPC] effect) appears to provide evidence…

Acoustic and semantic interference effects in words and pictures.

PubMed

Dhawan, M; Pellegrino, J W

1977-05-01

Interference effects for pictures and words were investigated using a probe-recall task. Word stimuli showed acoustic interference effects for items at the end of the list and semantic interference effects for items at the beginning of the list, similar to results of Kintsch and Buschke (1969). Picture stimuli showed large semantic interference effects at all list positions with smaller acoustic interference effects. The results were related to latency data on picture-word processing and interpreted in terms of the differential order, probability, and/or speed of access to acoustic and semantic levels of processing. A levels of processing explanation of picture-word retention differences was related to dual coding theory. Both theoretical positions converge on an explanation of picture-word retention differences as a function of the relative capacity for semantic or associative processing.

How to Be Proactive About Interference: Lessons From Animal Memory

PubMed Central

Wright, Anthony A.; Katz, Jeffrey S.; Ma, Wei Ji

2015-01-01

Processes of proactive interference were explored using the pigeon as a model system of memory. This study shows that proactive interference extends back in time at least 16 trials (and as many minutes), revealing a continuum of interference and providing a framework for studying memory. Pigeons were tested in a delayed same/different task containing trial-unique pictures. On interference trials, sample pictures from previous trials reappeared as test pictures on different trials. Proactive-interference functions showed greatest interference from the most recent trial and with the longer of two delays (10 s vs. 1 s). These interference functions are accounted for by a time-estimation model based on signal detection theory. The model predicts that accuracy at test is determined solely by the ratio of the elapsed time since the offset of the current-trial sample to the elapsed time since the offset of the interfering sample. Implications for comparing memory of different species and different types of memory (e.g., familiarity vs. recollection) are discussed. PMID:22491142

How to be proactive about interference: lessons from animal memory.

PubMed

Wright, Anthony A; Katz, Jeffrey S; Ma, Wei Ji

2012-05-01

Processes of proactive interference were explored using the pigeon as a model system of memory. This study shows that proactive interference extends back in time at least 16 trials (and as many minutes), revealing a continuum of interference and providing a framework for studying memory. Pigeons were tested in a delayed same/different task containing trial-unique pictures. On interference trials, sample pictures from previous trials reappeared as test pictures on different trials. Proactive-interference functions showed greatest interference from the most recent trial and with the longer of two delays (10 s vs. 1 s). These interference functions are accounted for by a time-estimation model based on signal detection theory. The model predicts that accuracy at test is determined solely by the ratio of the elapsed time since the offset of the current-trial sample to the elapsed time since the offset of the interfering sample. Implications for comparing memory of different species and different types of memory (e.g., familiarity vs. recollection) are discussed.

Does Working Memory Enhance or Interfere with Speech Fluency in Adults Who Do and Do Not Stutter? Evidence from a Dual-Task Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eichorn, Naomi; Marton, Klara; Schwartz, Richard G.; Melara, Robert D.; Pirutinsky, Steven

2016-01-01

Purpose: The present study examined whether engaging working memory in a secondary task benefits speech fluency. Effects of dual-task conditions on speech fluency, rate, and errors were examined with respect to predictions derived from three related theoretical accounts of disfluencies. Method: Nineteen adults who stutter and twenty adults who do…

Tonic Inhibitory Control of Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells by α5-Containing GABAA Receptors Reduces Memory Interference.

PubMed

Engin, Elif; Zarnowska, Ewa D; Benke, Dietmar; Tsvetkov, Evgeny; Sigal, Maksim; Keist, Ruth; Bolshakov, Vadim Y; Pearce, Robert A; Rudolph, Uwe

2015-10-07

Interference between similar or overlapping memories formed at different times poses an important challenge on the hippocampal declarative memory system. Difficulties in managing interference are at the core of disabling cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders. Computational models have suggested that, in the normal brain, the sparse activation of the dentate gyrus granule cells maintained by tonic inhibitory control enables pattern separation, an orthogonalization process that allows distinct representations of memories despite interference. To test this mechanistic hypothesis, we generated mice with significantly reduced expression of the α5-containing GABAA (α5-GABAARs) receptors selectively in the granule cells of the dentate gyrus (α5DGKO mice). α5DGKO mice had reduced tonic inhibition of the granule cells without any change in fast phasic inhibition and showed increased activation in the dentate gyrus when presented with novel stimuli. α5DGKO mice showed impairments in cognitive tasks characterized by high interference, without any deficiencies in low-interference tasks, suggesting specific impairment of pattern separation. Reduction of fast phasic inhibition in the dentate gyrus through granule cell-selective knock-out of α2-GABAARs or the knock-out of the α5-GABAARs in the downstream CA3 area did not detract from pattern separation abilities, which confirms the anatomical and molecular specificity of the findings. In addition to lending empirical support to computational hypotheses, our findings have implications for the treatment of interference-related cognitive symptoms in neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly considering the availability of pharmacological agents selectively targeting α5-GABAARs. Interference between similar memories poses a significant limitation on the hippocampal declarative memory system, and impaired interference management is a cognitive symptom in many disorders. Thus, understanding mechanisms of successful interference management or processes that can lead to interference-related memory problems has high theoretical and translational importance. This study provides empirical evidence that tonic inhibition in the dentate gyrus (DG), which maintains sparseness of neuronal activation in the DG, is essential for management of interference. The specificity of findings to tonic, but not faster, more transient types of neuronal inhibition and to the DG, but not the neighboring brain areas, is presented through control experiments. Thus, the findings link interference management to a specific mechanism, proposed previously by computational models. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3513699-15$15.00/0.

Interference Impacts Working Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Aurtenetxe, Sara; García-Pacios, Javier; del Río, David; López, María E.; Pineda-Pardo, José A.; Marcos, Alberto; Delgado Losada, Maria L.; López-Frutos, José M.; Maestú, Fernando

2016-01-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia, specifically Alzheimer's disease (AD). The most common cognitive impairment of MCI includes episodic memory loss and difficulties in working memory (WM). Interference can deplete WM, and an optimal WM performance requires an effective control of attentional resources between the memoranda and the incoming stimuli. Difficulties in handling interference lead to forgetting. However, the interplay between interference and WM in MCI is not well-understood and needs further investigation. The current study investigated the effect of interference during a WM task in 20 MCIs and 20 healthy elder volunteers. Participants performed a delayed match-to-sample paradigm which consisted in two interference conditions, distraction and interruption, and one control condition without any interference. Results evidenced a disproportionate impact of interference on the WM performance of MCIs, mainly in the presence of interruption. These findings demonstrate that interference, and more precisely interruption, is an important proxy for memory-related deficits in MCI. Thus, the current findings reveal novel evidence regarding the causes of WM forgetting in MCI patients, associated with difficulties in the mechanisms of attentional control. PMID:27790082

Development of a Methodology for Assessing Aircrew Workloads.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-01

Workload Feasibility Study. .. ...... 52 Subjects. .. .............. ........ 53 Equipment .. ............... ....... 53 Date Analysis ... analysis ; simulation; standard time systems; switching synthetic time systems; task activities; task interference; time study; tracking; workload; work sampl...standard data systems, information content analysis , work sampling and job evaluation. Con- ventional methods were found to be deficient in accounting

Effectiveness of a Play Therapy Intervention on Children's Externalizing and Off-Task Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meany-Walen, Kristin K.; Teeling, Sunny; Davis, Aubrey; Artley, George; Vignovich, Andrea

2017-01-01

Children's externalizing and off-task behaviors are deemed a major concern for elementary teachers and interfere with the classroom learning environment (Abidin & Robinson, 2002; Shillingford-Butler & Theodore, 2013). Children with these behaviors are at risk of falling behind academically and experiencing ongoing behavioral problems…

Phonological Coding in Good and Poor Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briggs, Pamela; Underwood, Geoffrey

1982-01-01

A set of four experiments investigates the relationship between phonological coding and reading ability, using a picture-word interference task and a decoding task. Results with regard to both adults and children suggest that while poor readers possess weak decoding skills, good and poor readers show equivalent evidence of direct semantic and…

Sensorimotor Interference When Reasoning About Described Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avraamides, Marios N.; Kyranidou, Melina-Nicole

The influence of sensorimotor interference was examined in two experiments that compared pointing with iconic arrows and verbal responding in a task that entailed locating target-objects from imagined perspectives. Participants studied text narratives describing objects at locations around them in a remote environment and then responded to targets from memory. Results revealed only minor differences between the two response modes suggesting that bodily cues do not exert severe detrimental interference on spatial reasoning from imagined perspective when non-immediate described environments are used. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Unstable Memories Create a High-Level Representation that Enables Learning Transfer.

PubMed

Mosha, Neechi; Robertson, Edwin M

2016-01-11

A memory is unstable, making it susceptible to interference and disruption, after its acquisition [1-4]. The function or possible benefit of a memory being unstable at its acquisition is not well understood. Potentially, instability may be critical for the communication between recently acquired memories, which would allow learning in one task to be transferred to the other subsequent task [1, 5]. Learning may be transferred between any memories that are unstable, even between different types of memory. Here, we test the link between a memory being unstable and the transfer of learning to a different type of memory task. We measured how learning in one task transferred to and thus improved learning in a subsequent task. There was transfer from a motor skill to a word list task and, vice versa, from a word list to a motor skill task. What was transferred was a high-level relationship between elements, rather than knowledge of the individual elements themselves. Memory instability was correlated with subsequent transfer, suggesting that transfer was related to the instability of the memory. Using different methods, we stabilized the initial memory, preventing it from being susceptible to interference, and found that these methods consistently prevented transfer to the subsequent memory task. This suggests that the transfer of learning across diverse tasks is due to a high-level representation that can only be formed when a memory is unstable. Our work has identified an important function of memory instability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring adolescent cognitive control in a combined interference switching task.

PubMed

Mennigen, Eva; Rodehacke, Sarah; Müller, Kathrin U; Ripke, Stephan; Goschke, Thomas; Smolka, Michael N

2014-08-01

Cognitive control enables individuals to flexibly adapt to environmental challenges. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated 185 adolescents at the age of 14 with a combined response interference switching task measuring behavioral responses (reaction time, RT and error rate, ER) and brain activity during the task. This task comprises two types of conflict which are co-occurring, namely, task switching and stimulus-response incongruence. Data indicated that already in adolescents an overlapping cognitive control network comprising the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is recruited by conflicts arising from task switching and response incongruence. Furthermore our study revealed higher blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses elicited by incongruent stimuli in participants with a pronounced incongruence effect, calculated as the RT difference between incongruent and congruent trials. No such correlation was observed for switch costs. Furthermore, increased activation of the default mode network (DMN) was only observed in congruent trials compared to incongruent trials, but not in task repetition relative to task switch trials. These findings suggest that even though the two processes of task switching and response incongruence share a common cognitive control network they might be processed differentially within the cognitive control network. Results are discussed in the context of a novel hypothesis concerning antagonistic relations between the DMN and the cognitive control network. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of working memory in auditory selective attention.

PubMed

Dalton, Polly; Santangelo, Valerio; Spence, Charles

2009-11-01

A growing body of research now demonstrates that working memory plays an important role in controlling the extent to which irrelevant visual distractors are processed during visual selective attention tasks (e.g., Lavie, Hirst, De Fockert, & Viding, 2004). Recently, it has been shown that the successful selection of tactile information also depends on the availability of working memory (Dalton, Lavie, & Spence, 2009). Here, we investigate whether working memory plays a role in auditory selective attention. Participants focused their attention on short continuous bursts of white noise (targets) while attempting to ignore pulsed bursts of noise (distractors). Distractor interference in this auditory task, as measured in terms of the difference in performance between congruent and incongruent distractor trials, increased significantly under high (vs. low) load in a concurrent working-memory task. These results provide the first evidence demonstrating a causal role for working memory in reducing interference by irrelevant auditory distractors.

An Experimental Analysis of Memory Processing

PubMed Central

Wright, Anthony A

2007-01-01

Rhesus monkeys were trained and tested in visual and auditory list-memory tasks with sequences of four travel pictures or four natural/environmental sounds followed by single test items. Acquisitions of the visual list-memory task are presented. Visual recency (last item) memory diminished with retention delay, and primacy (first item) memory strengthened. Capuchin monkeys, pigeons, and humans showed similar visual-memory changes. Rhesus learned an auditory memory task and showed octave generalization for some lists of notes—tonal, but not atonal, musical passages. In contrast with visual list memory, auditory primacy memory diminished with delay and auditory recency memory strengthened. Manipulations of interitem intervals, list length, and item presentation frequency revealed proactive and retroactive inhibition among items of individual auditory lists. Repeating visual items from prior lists produced interference (on nonmatching tests) revealing how far back memory extended. The possibility of using the interference function to separate familiarity vs. recollective memory processing is discussed. PMID:18047230

The Association of Aging and Aerobic Fitness With Memory

PubMed Central

Bullock, Alexis M.; Mizzi, Allison L.; Kovacevic, Ana; Heisz, Jennifer J.

2018-01-01

The present study examined the differential effects of aging and fitness on memory. Ninety-five young adults (YA) and 81 older adults (OA) performed the Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) to assess high-interference memory and general recognition memory. Age-related differences in high-interference memory were observed across the lifespan, with performance progressively worsening from young to old. In contrast, age-related differences in general recognition memory were not observed until after 60 years of age. Furthermore, OA with higher aerobic fitness had better high-interference memory, suggesting that exercise may be an important lifestyle factor influencing this aspect of memory. Overall, these findings suggest different trajectories of decline for high-interference and general recognition memory, with a selective role for physical activity in promoting high-interference memory. PMID:29593524

Phonological Priming with Nonwords in Children with and without Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Patricia J.; Seiger-Gardner, Liat; Obeid, Rita; MacWhinney, Brian

2015-01-01

Purpose: The cross-modal picture-word interference task is used to examine contextual effects on spoken-word production. Previous work has documented lexical-phonological interference in children with specific language impairment (SLI) when a related distractor (e.g., bell) occurs prior to a picture to be named (e.g., a bed). In the current study,…

Effects of Length of Retention Interval on Proactive Interference in Short-Term Visual Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meudell, Peter R.

1977-01-01

These experiments show two things: (a) In visual memory, long-term interference on a current item from items previously stored only seems to occur when the current item's retention interval is relatively long, and (b) the visual code appears to decay rapidly, reaching asymptote within 3 seconds of input in the presence of an interpolated task.…

Shared and Disorder-Specific Prefrontal Abnormalities in Boys with Pure Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Compared to Boys with Pure CD during Interference Inhibition and Attention Allocation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubia, Katya; Halari, Rozmin; Smith, Anna B.; Mohammad, Majeed; Scott, Stephen; Brammer, Michael J.

2009-01-01

Background: Inhibitory and attention deficits have been suggested to be shared problems of disruptive behaviour disorders. Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and patients with conduct disorder (CD) show deficits in tasks of attention allocation and interference inhibition. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging…

Lexical Selection and Verbal Self-Monitoring: Effects of Lexicality, Context, and Time Pressure in Picture-Word Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dhooge, Elisah; Hartsuiker, Robert J.

2012-01-01

Current views of lexical selection in language production differ in whether they assume lexical selection by competition or not. To account for recent data with the picture-word interference (PWI) task, both views need to be supplemented with assumptions about the control processes that block distractor naming. In this paper, we propose that such…

Turning Simple Span into Complex Span: Time for Decay or Interference from Distractors?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewandowsky, Stephan; Geiger, Sonja M.; Morrell, Daniel B.; Oberauer, Klaus

2010-01-01

We investigated the effects of the duration and type of to-be-articulated distractors during encoding of a verbal list into short-term memory (STM). Distractors and to-be-remembered items alternated during list presentation, as in the complex-span task that underlies much of working-memory research. According to an interference model of STM, known…

Backward Blocking and Interference between Cues Are Empirically Equivalent in Non-Causally Framed Learning Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luque, David; Moris, Joaquin; Orgaz, Cristina; Cobos, Pedro L.; Matute, Helena

2011-01-01

Backward blocking (BB) and interference between cues (IbC) are cue competition effects produced by very similar manipulations. In a standard BB design, both effects might occur simultaneously, which implies a potential problem for studying BB. In the present study with humans, the magnitude of both effects was compared using a non-causal scenario…

Cognitive control of familiarity: directed forgetting reduces proactive interference in working memory.

PubMed

Festini, Sara B; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A

2014-03-01

Proactive interference (PI) occurs when previously learned information interferes with new learning. In a working memory task, PI induces longer response times and more errors to recent negative probes than to new probes, presumably because the recent probe's familiarity invites a "yes" response. Warnings, longer intertrial intervals, and the increased contextual salience of the probes can reduce but not eliminate PI, suggesting that cognitive control over PI is limited. Here we tested whether control exerted in the form of intentional forgetting performed during working memory can reduce the magnitude of PI. In two experiments, participants performed a working memory task with directed-forgetting instructions and the occasional presentation of recent probes. Surprise long-term memory testing indicated better memory for to-be-remembered than for to-be-forgotten items, documenting the classic directed-forgetting effect. Critically, in working memory, PI was virtually eliminated for recent probes from prior to-be-forgotten lists, as compared to recent probes from prior to-be-remembered lists. Thus cognitive control, when executed via directed forgetting, can reduce the adverse and otherwise persistent interference from familiarity, an effect that we attribute to attenuated memory representations of the to-be-forgotten items.

Pornographic picture processing interferes with working memory performance.

PubMed

Laier, Christian; Schulte, Frank P; Brand, Matthias

2013-01-01

Some individuals report problems during and after Internet sex engagement, such as missing sleep and forgetting appointments, which are associated with negative life consequences. One mechanism potentially leading to these kinds of problems is that sexual arousal during Internet sex might interfere with working memory (WM) capacity, resulting in a neglect of relevant environmental information and therefore disadvantageous decision making. In this study, 28 healthy individuals performed 4 experimental manipulations of a pictorial 4-back WM task with neutral, negative, positive, or pornographic stimuli. Participants also rated 100 pornographic pictures with respect to sexual arousal and indicated masturbation urges previous to and following pornographic picture presentation. Results revealed worse WM performance in the pornographic picture condition of the 4-back task compared with the three remaining picture conditions. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analysis indicated an explanation of variance of the sensitivity in the pornographic picture condition by the subjective rating of the pornographic pictures as well as by a moderation effect of masturbation urges. Results contribute to the view that indicators of sexual arousal due to pornographic picture processing interfere with WM performance. Findings are discussed with respect to Internet sex addiction because WM interference by addiction-related cues is well known from substance dependencies.

Developmental change in proactive interference across the life span: evidence from two working memory tasks.

PubMed

Loosli, Sandra V; Rahm, Benjamin; Unterrainer, Josef M; Weiller, Cornelius; Kaller, Christoph P

2014-04-01

Working memory (WM) as the ability to temporarily maintain and manipulate various kinds of information is known to be affected by proactive interference (PI) from previously relevant contents, but studies on developmental changes in the susceptibility to PI are scarce. In the present study, we investigated life span development of item-specific PI. To this end, 92 individuals between the ages of 8 and 74 years completed a recent-probes task and an n-back task that both composed experimental manipulations of PI. Regarding global WM development, young adults had higher WM performance than children and older adults in both tasks. Significant PI × Age interactions revealed that susceptibility to PI changed over the life span in both tasks, whereas the developmental course of PI differed between the tasks: Children committed more PI-related errors than young adults in the recent-probes task but showed marginally less PI in the n-back task. Regarding reaction time costs, children did not differ from adults in the recent-probes task and were less affected than adults in the n-back. Older adults showed more PI-related errors than young adults in both tasks. Therefore, as expected, item-specific PI changed over the life span with the young adults being less susceptible to PI than children and older adults. The diverging developmental effects of PI across both tasks, especially in the children, are supposed to reflect different causes for the difficulties regarding resisting PI in children and older adults. These might concern differently developed underlying cognitive processes such as inhibition or recollection, or different responses to task demands across both tasks. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Dialect Interference in Lexical Processing: Effects of Familiarity and Social Stereotypes.

PubMed

Clopper, Cynthia

2017-01-01

The current study explored the roles of dialect familiarityand social stereotypes in dialect interference effects in a speeded lexical classification task. Listeners classified the words bad and bed or had and head produced by local Midland and non-local Northern talkers and the words sod and side or rod and ride produced by non-local, non-stereotyped Northern and nonlocal, stereotyped Southern talkers in single- and mixed-talker blocks. Lexical classification was better for the local dialect than for the non-local dialects, and for the stereotyped non-local dialect than for the non-stereotyped non-local dialect. Dialect interference effects were observed for all three dialects, although the patterns of interference differed. For the local dialect, dialect interference was observed for response times, whereas for the non-local dialects, dialect interference was observed primarily for accuracy. These findings reveal complex interactions between indexical and lexical information in speech processing. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Increasing Cognitive Load Reduces Interference from Masked Appetitive and Aversive but Not Neutral Stimuli

PubMed Central

Uher, Rudolf; Brooks, Samantha J.; Bartholdy, Savani; Tchanturia, Kate; Campbell, Iain C.

2014-01-01

Interactions between cognition and emotion are important for survival, often occurring in the absence of awareness. These interactions have been proposed to involve competition between cognition and emotion for attentional resources. Emotional stimuli have been reported to impair performance on cognitive tasks of low, but not high, load if stimuli are consciously perceived. This study explored whether this load-dependent interference effect occurred in response to subliminal emotional stimuli. Masked emotional (appetitive and aversive), but not neutral, stimuli interfered with performance accuracy but not response time on a cognitive task (n-back) at low (1-back), but not high (2-back) load. These results show that a load-dependent interference effect applies to masked emotional stimuli and that the effect generalises across stimulus categories with high motivational value. This supports models of selective attention that propose that cognition and emotion compete for attentional resources. More specifically, interference from masked emotional stimuli at low load suggests that attention is biased towards salient stimuli, while dissipation of interference under high load involves top-down regulation of attention. Our data also indicate that top-down goal-directed regulation of attention occurs in the absence of awareness and does not require metacognitive monitoring or evaluation of bias over behaviour, i.e., some degree of self-regulation occurs at a non-conscious level. PMID:24709953

Item-specific proactive interference in olfactory working memory.

PubMed

Moss, Andrew; Miles, Christopher; Elsley, Jane; Johnson, Andrew

2018-04-01

We examine item-specific olfactory proactive interference (PI) effects and undertake comparisons with verbal and non-verbal visual stimuli. Using a sequential recent-probes task, we show no evidence for PI with hard-to-name odours (Experiment 1). However, verbalisable odours do exhibit PI effects (Experiment 2). These findings occur despite above chance performance and similar serial position functions across both tasks. Experiments 3 and 4 apply words and faces, respectively, to our modified procedure, and show that methodological differences cannot explain the null finding in Experiment 1. The extent to which odours exhibit analogous PI effects to that of other modalities is, we argue, contingent on the characteristics of the odours employed.

Does proactive interference play a significant role in visual working memory tasks?

PubMed

Makovski, Tal

2016-10-01

Visual working memory (VWM) is an online memory buffer that is typically assumed to be immune to source memory confusions. Accordingly, the few studies that have investigated the role of proactive interference (PI) in VWM tasks found only a modest PI effect at best. In contrast, a recent study has found a substantial PI effect in that performance in a VWM task was markedly improved when all memory items were unique compared to the more standard condition in which only a limited set of objects was used. The goal of the present study was to reconcile this discrepancy between the findings, and to scrutinize the extent to which PI is involved in VWM tasks. Experiments 1-2 showed that the robust advantage in using unique memory items can also be found in a within-subject design and is largely independent of set size, encoding duration, or intertrial interval. Importantly, however, PI was found mainly when all items were presented at the same location, and the effect was greatly diminished when the items were presented, either simultaneously (Experiment 3) or sequentially (Experiments 4-5), at distinct locations. These results indicate that PI is spatially specific and that without the assistance of spatial information VWM is not protected from PI. Thus, these findings imply that spatial information plays a key role in VWM, and underscore the notion that VWM is more vulnerable to interference than is typically assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Interference, aging, and visuospatial working memory: the role of similarity.

PubMed

Rowe, Gillian; Hasher, Lynn; Turcotte, Josée

2010-11-01

Older adults' performance on working memory (WM) span tasks is known to be negatively affected by the buildup of proactive interference (PI) across trials. PI has been reduced in verbal tasks and performance increased by presenting distinctive items across trials. In addition, reversing the order of trial presentation (i.e., starting with the longest sets first) has been shown to reduce PI in both verbal and visuospatial WM span tasks. We considered whether making each trial visually distinct would improve older adults' visuospatial WM performance, and whether combining the 2 PI-reducing manipulations, distinct trials and reversed order of presentation, would prove additive, thus providing even greater benefit. Forty-eight healthy older adults (age range = 60-77 years) completed 1 of 3 versions of a computerized Corsi block test. For 2 versions of the task, trials were either all visually similar or all visually distinct, and were presented in the standard ascending format (shortest set size first). In the third version, visually distinct trials were presented in a reverse order of presentation (longest set size first). Span scores were reliably higher in the ascending version for visually distinct compared with visually similar trials, F(1, 30) = 4.96, p = .03, η² = .14. However, combining distinct trials and a descending format proved no more beneficial than administering the descending format alone. Our findings suggest that a more accurate measurement of the visuospatial WM span scores of older adults (and possibly neuropsychological patients) might be obtained by reducing within-test interference.

Assessment of pedophilic sexual interest with an attentional choice reaction time task.

PubMed

Mokros, Andreas; Dombert, Beate; Osterheider, Michael; Zappalà, Angelo; Santtila, Pekka

2010-10-01

Choice-reaction time (CRT) is an experimental information-processing paradigm. Based on an interference effect in visual attention, the CRT method has been shown to be suitable for measuring sexual orientation in men and women. The present study assessed the potential of the CRT to identify deviant (i.e., pedophilic) sexual interest. Participants were patients from forensic-psychiatric hospitals: 21 child molesters and 21 non-sex offenders. The dependent variable was reaction time in an ostensible seek-and-locate task (i.e., identifying the position of a dot superimposed on a picture of a person). There was an interaction effect between stimulus age category and participant group status: Child molesters took longer to respond to pictures of children relative to pictures of adults. Non-sex offenders showed an opposite pattern (i.e., longer reaction times with pictures of adults than with pictures of children). In addition, the data supported the notion of sexual content induced delay: Subjects took longer for the task with nude stimuli than with clothed ones. A subtractive preference index, derived from the reaction times for child and adult stimulus material, allowed distinguishing participants from both groups almost perfectly (ROC-AUC = .998). We conclude that a match of sexual interest with properties of visual stimuli led to a cognitive interference effect: Attentional resources were drawn from the ostensible task of locating the dot towards exploring the picture. This opens up the possibility of using this interference effect (i.e., the delay of response times) for diagnostic purposes.

Priming can affect naming colours using the study-test procedure. Revealing the role of task conflict.

PubMed

Sharma, Dinkar

2016-11-14

The Stroop paradigm has been widely used to study attention whilst its use to explore implicit memory have been mixed. Using the non-colour word Stroop task we tested contrasting predictions from the proactive-control/task-conflict model (Kalanthroff, Avnit, Henik, Davelaar & Usher, 2015) that implicate response conflict and task conflict for the priming effects. Using the study-test procedure 60 native English speakers were tested to determine whether priming effects from words that had previously been studied would cause interference when presented in a colour naming task. The results replicate a finding by MacLeod (1996) who showed no differences between the response latencies to studied and unstudied words. However, this pattern was predominately in the first half of the study where it was also found that both studied and unstudied words in a mixed block were slower to respond to than a block of pure unstudied words. The second half of the study showed stronger priming interference effects as well as a sequential modulation effect in which studied words slowed down the responses of studied words on the next trial. We discuss the role of proactive and reactive control processes and conclude that task conflict best explains the pattern of priming effects reported. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Incidental category learning and cognitive load in a multisensory environment across childhood.

PubMed

Broadbent, H J; Osborne, T; Rea, M; Peng, A; Mareschal, D; Kirkham, N Z

2018-06-01

Multisensory information has been shown to facilitate learning (Bahrick & Lickliter, 2000; Broadbent, White, Mareschal, & Kirkham, 2017; Jordan & Baker, 2011; Shams & Seitz, 2008). However, although research has examined the modulating effect of unisensory and multisensory distractors on multisensory processing, the extent to which a concurrent unisensory or multisensory cognitive load task would interfere with or support multisensory learning remains unclear. This study examined the role of concurrent task modality on incidental category learning in 6- to 10-year-olds. Participants were engaged in a multisensory learning task while also performing either a unisensory (visual or auditory only) or multisensory (audiovisual) concurrent task (CT). We found that engaging in an auditory CT led to poorer performance on incidental category learning compared with an audiovisual or visual CT, across groups. In 6-year-olds, category test performance was at chance in the auditory-only CT condition, suggesting auditory concurrent tasks may interfere with learning in younger children, but the addition of visual information may serve to focus attention. These findings provide novel insight into the use of multisensory concurrent information on incidental learning. Implications for the deployment of multisensory learning tasks within education across development and developmental changes in modality dominance and ability to switch flexibly across modalities are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Biodynamic feedback training to assure learning partial load bearing on forearm crutches.

PubMed

Krause, Daniel; Wünnemann, Martin; Erlmann, Andre; Hölzchen, Timo; Mull, Melanie; Olivier, Norbert; Jöllenbeck, Thomas

2007-07-01

To examine how biodynamic feedback training affects the learning of prescribed partial load bearing (200N). Three pre-post experiments. Biomechanics laboratory in a German university. A volunteer sample of 98 uninjured subjects who had not used crutches recently. There were 24 subjects in experiment 1 (mean age, 23.2y); 64 in experiment 2 (mean age, 43.6y); and 10 in experiment 3 (mean age, 40.3y), parallelized by arm force. Video instruction and feedback training: In experiment 1, 2 varied instruction videos and reduced feedback frequency; in experiment 2, varied frequencies of changing tasks (contextual interference); and in experiment 3, feedback training (walking) and transfer (stair tasks). Vertical ground reaction force. Absolute error of practiced tasks was significantly reduced for all samples (P<.050). Varied contextual interference conditions did not significantly affect retention (P=.798) or transfer (P=.897). Positive transfer between tasks was significant in experiment 2 (P<.001) and was contrary to findings in experiment 3 (P=.071). Biodynamic feedback training is applicable for learning prescribed partial load bearing. The frequency of changing tasks is irrelevant. Despite some support for transfer effects, additional practice in climbing and descending stairs might be beneficial.

Acquisition, retention and transfer of simulated laparoscopic tasks using fNIR and a contextual interference paradigm.

PubMed

Shewokis, Patricia A; Shariff, Faiz U; Liu, Yichuan; Ayaz, Hasan; Castellanos, Andres; Lind, D Scott

2017-02-01

Using functional near infrared spectroscopy, a noninvasive, optical brain imaging tool that monitors changes in hemodynamics within the prefrontal cortex (PFC), we assessed performance and cognitive effort during the acquisition, retention and transfer of multiple simulated laparoscopic tasks by novice learners within a contextual interference paradigm. Third-year medical students (n = 10) were randomized to either a blocked or random practice schedule. Across 3 days, students performed 108 acquisition trials of 3 laparoscopic tasks on the LapSim ® simulator followed by delayed retention and transfer tests. Performance metrics (Global score, Total time) and hemodynamic responses (total hemoglobin (μm)) were assessed during skill acquisition, retention and transfer. All acquisition tasks resulted in significant practice schedule X trial block interactions for the left medial anterior PFC. During retention and transfer, random performed the skills in less time and had lower total hemoglobin change in the right dorsolateral PFC than blocked. Compared with blocked, random practice resulted in enhanced learning through better performance and less cognitive load for retention and transfer of simulated laparoscopic tasks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interfering with free recall of words: Detrimental effects of phonological competition.

PubMed

Fernandes, Myra A; Wammes, Jeffrey D; Priselac, Sandra; Moscovitch, Morris

2016-09-01

We examined the effect of different distracting tasks, performed concurrently during memory retrieval, on recall of a list of words. By manipulating the type of material and processing (semantic, orthographic, and phonological) required in the distracting task, and comparing the magnitude of memory interference produced, we aimed to infer the kind of representation upon which retrieval of words depends. In Experiment 1, identifying odd digits concurrently during free recall disrupted memory, relative to a full attention condition, when the numbers were presented orthographically (e.g. nineteen), but not numerically (e.g. 19). In Experiment 2, a distracting task that required phonological-based decisions to either word or picture material produced large, but equivalent effects on recall of words. In Experiment 3, phonological-based decisions to pictures in a distracting task disrupted recall more than when the same pictures required semantically-based size estimations. In Experiment 4, a distracting task that required syllable decisions to line drawings interfered significantly with recall, while an equally difficult semantically-based color-decision task about the same line drawings, did not. Together, these experiments demonstrate that the degree of memory interference experienced during recall of words depends primarily on whether the distracting task competes for phonological representations or processes, and less on competition for semantic or orthographic or material-specific representations or processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Test-Retest Reliability of Measures Commonly Used to Measure Striatal Dysfunction across Multiple Testing Sessions: A Longitudinal Study.

PubMed

Palmer, Clare E; Langbehn, Douglas; Tabrizi, Sarah J; Papoutsi, Marina

2017-01-01

Cognitive impairment is common amongst many neurodegenerative movement disorders such as Huntington's disease (HD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) across multiple domains. There are many tasks available to assess different aspects of this dysfunction, however, it is imperative that these show high test-retest reliability if they are to be used to track disease progression or response to treatment in patient populations. Moreover, in order to ensure effects of practice across testing sessions are not misconstrued as clinical improvement in clinical trials, tasks which are particularly vulnerable to practice effects need to be highlighted. In this study we evaluated test-retest reliability in mean performance across three testing sessions of four tasks that are commonly used to measure cognitive dysfunction associated with striatal impairment: a combined Simon Stop-Signal Task; a modified emotion recognition task; a circle tracing task; and the trail making task. Practice effects were seen between sessions 1 and 2 across all tasks for the majority of dependent variables, particularly reaction time variables; some, but not all, diminished in the third session. Good test-retest reliability across all sessions was seen for the emotion recognition, circle tracing, and trail making test. The Simon interference effect and stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) from the combined-Simon-Stop-Signal task showed moderate test-retest reliability, however, the combined SSRT interference effect showed poor test-retest reliability. Our results emphasize the need to use control groups when tracking clinical progression or use pre-baseline training on tasks susceptible to practice effects.

Dysfunctional overnight memory consolidation in ecstasy users.

PubMed

Smithies, Vanessa; Broadbear, Jillian; Verdejo-Garcia, Antonio; Conduit, Russell

2014-08-01

Sleep plays an important role in the consolidation and integration of memory in a process called overnight memory consolidation. Previous studies indicate that ecstasy users have marked and persistent neurocognitive and sleep-related impairments. We extend past research by examining overnight memory consolidation among regular ecstasy users (n=12) and drug naïve healthy controls (n=26). Memory recall of word pairs was evaluated before and after a period of sleep, with and without interference prior to testing. In addition, we assessed neurocognitive performances across tasks of learning, memory and executive functioning. Ecstasy users demonstrated impaired overnight memory consolidation, a finding that was more pronounced following associative interference. Additionally, ecstasy users demonstrated impairments on tasks recruiting frontostriatal and hippocampal neural circuitry, in the domains of proactive interference memory, long-term memory, encoding, working memory and complex planning. We suggest that ecstasy-associated dysfunction in fronto-temporal circuitry may underlie overnight consolidation memory impairments in regular ecstasy users. © The Author(s) 2014.

Spatial sequences, but not verbal sequences, are vulnerable to general interference during retention in working memory.

PubMed

Morey, Candice C; Miron, Monica D

2016-12-01

Among models of working memory, there is not yet a consensus about how to describe functions specific to storing verbal or visual-spatial memories. We presented aural-verbal and visual-spatial lists simultaneously and sometimes cued one type of information after presentation, comparing accuracy in conditions with and without informative retro-cues. This design isolates interference due specifically to maintenance, which appears most clearly in the uncued trials, from interference due to encoding, which occurs in all dual-task trials. When recall accuracy was comparable between tasks, we found that spatial memory was worse in uncued than in retro-cued trials, whereas verbal memory was not. Our findings bolster proposals that maintenance of spatial serial order, like maintenance of visual materials more broadly, relies on general rather than specialized resources, while maintenance of verbal sequences may rely on domain-specific resources. We argue that this asymmetry should be explicitly incorporated into models of working memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual differences in control of language interference in late bilinguals are mainly related to general executive abilities

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Recent research based on comparisons between bilinguals and monolinguals postulates that bilingualism enhances cognitive control functions, because the parallel activation of languages necessitates control of interference. In a novel approach we investigated two groups of bilinguals, distinguished by their susceptibility to cross-language interference, asking whether bilinguals with strong language control abilities ("non-switchers") have an advantage in executive functions (inhibition of irrelevant information, problem solving, planning efficiency, generative fluency and self-monitoring) compared to those bilinguals showing weaker language control abilities ("switchers"). Methods 29 late bilinguals (21 women) were evaluated using various cognitive control neuropsychological tests [e.g., Tower of Hanoi, Ruff Figural Fluency Task, Divided Attention, Go/noGo] tapping executive functions as well as four subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. The analysis involved t-tests (two independent samples). Non-switchers (n = 16) were distinguished from switchers (n = 13) by their performance observed in a bilingual picture-naming task. Results The non-switcher group demonstrated a better performance on the Tower of Hanoi and Ruff Figural Fluency task, faster reaction time in a Go/noGo and Divided Attention task, and produced significantly fewer errors in the Tower of Hanoi, Go/noGo, and Divided Attention tasks when compared to the switchers. Non-switchers performed significantly better on two verbal subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Information and Similarity), but not on the Performance subtests (Picture Completion, Block Design). Conclusions The present results suggest that bilinguals with stronger language control have indeed a cognitive advantage in the administered tests involving executive functions, in particular inhibition, self-monitoring, problem solving, and generative fluency, and in two of the intelligence tests. What remains unclear is the direction of the relationship between executive functions and language control abilities. PMID:20180956