Effects of serial position and set size in auditory recognition memory

Wingfield, Arthur

doi:10.3758/bf03198067

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…The results of the present study coincide very closely with those of Wingfield (1973) in terms of the linear relation between mean RT and LL. The procedure used favored almost perfect performance because the design was concerned with the nature of the comparison and not the error rates.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The results of the present study are consistent with this prediction. The discrepancies between various studies can perhaps be accounted for when considering the mode of presentation; namely that visually presented material produces different results than auditory studies (as suggested by WingfIeld, 1973). This quantitative difference can most readily be seen by a comparison of the y-intercepts, when there is a more rapid encoding of the auditory as opposed to the visual probes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to examining the variables of probe position and list length (LL) on reaction time (RT), as Wingfield (1973) did, this study attempts to assess the importance of organismic variables such as sex and environmental influences such as distracting stimuli.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Strategy in auditory recognition memory

Toga

1975

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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Six male and six female undergraduates were presented with lists of up to six digits in length, each followed by a "probe" digit. They then searched the memorized lists for the presence or absence of the test item. Reaction times (RTs) were used to gain insight into the strategies employed in high-speed recognition scanning. This study showed parallel increases of RTs for both positive and negative responses as a function of list length (LL). However, the serial position of the probe digit produced no significant differences in average RTs. The experiment supports the indication of a serial exhaustive, as opposed to self-terminating search in high-speed scanning for "presence" in immediate memory.The problem of recall from recent memory can be viewed as a search process involving the rapid inspection and testing of those items in store for the critical characteristics necessary for the experimental task. This conceptualization leads to an analytic method of study that is similar to the techniques employed in visual search studies. Usually in visual search, the subject is first presented with a target item and then must search for the presence of that item in a later-presented list.Implicit in the paradigm of these search process experiments is the supposition that if the selection of the response requires the use of information that is in memory, the latency of the response will reveal something about the process by which the information is retrieved. Fitts and Posner (1967) reported that RTs to locate a probe item increase with the length of the list, whether the search is performed visually or in memory. A second more specific problem in the study of retrieval is the effect of serial position (of the probe) on the latency of response. It has been shown that RT is a function of serial position, whereby searching terminates and the recognition response is made as the target is encountered (Sternberg, 1969).Two alternative models have been designed to explain the processing necessary for a retrieval task. Townsend (1971) described the two processes that are labeled "serial" and "parallel." By parallel processing, it is meant that the items to be processed are examined concurrently. Although processing begins on all items simultaneously, it does not necessarily end simultaneously. Thus the variance in RT reflects the difference in that completion time. By serial processing, it is meant that the elements are processed one at a time, each being completed before the next is begun. It is necessary to differentiate between two types of serial serach (Sternberg, 1969). In self-terminating serial search, the test stimulus is compared successively to one item in memory after another, either until a match occurs (leading to a positive response) 01 until all comparisons have been completed without a match (leading to a negative response). In exhaustive serial serach, the test stimulus is compared successively to all of memorized items. Only then is a response made; positive if a match occurs, and negative if otherwise. Sinc...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Strategy in auditory recognition memory

Toga

1975

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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“…In the memory scanning task, individuals are presented with a short list of items (the memory set), followed by a probe item, and they are asked to decide by pressing a reaction time (RT) button whether the probe item was or was not a member of the memory set. Sternberg (1966Sternberg ( , 1969 and others (e.g., Burrows andOkada 1971, 1973;Anders et al 1972;Cavanagh 1972: Wingfield 1973 observed that increasing the number of items in the memory set prolonged RTs to the probes in a systematic manner. Sternberg (1966Sternberg ( , 1969Sternberg ( , 1975 maintained that memory scanning in this task was serial and exhaustive since RTs increased linearly with set size, and since the slope of the RT/set size function did not differ between in-set (positive) and out-of-set (negative) probes, indicating that subjects were scanning the entire list before making a decision.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…A number of studies have shown that there are serial position effects in the memory scanning task (Corballis 1967;Morin et al 1967;Murdock 1968;Forrin and Morin 1969;Clifton and Birenbaum 1970;Burrows and Okada 1971;Kirsner and Craik 1971;Klatzky et al 1971;Corballis et al 1972;Baddeley and Ecob 1973;Forrin and Cunningham 1973;Wingfield 1973;Aub6 and Murdock 1974;Koh et al 1977). When recognition accuracy is plotted as a function of the serial position of an item in the list, items in the first and/or the last positions are shown to be better remembered (Corballis 1967;Morin et al 1967;Murdock 1968).…”

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confidence: 99%

Event-related potential correlates of the serial position effect in short-term memory

Patterson

Pratt

Starr

1991

Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology

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Summan'Event-related potential (ERP) correlates of the serial position effect in short-term memory were investigated using a memory scanning task. Nine normal young adults (18-39 years) indicated whether a probe item was a member of a previously presented 5-item memory set by pressing 1 of 2 reaction-time buttons. Three types of stimuli were used: verbal digits presented both auditorily and visually, and musical notes presented auditorily. The ERPs to the probes were separately averaged according to the serial position of the probe (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5) in the memory set. The ERPs to the memory set items in positions 1, 3 and 5 also were separately averaged.Both baseline-to-peak and average amplitudes of a late positive parietal potential to the probes were larger to probe items presented in the last position in the memory set than to probes presented in the middle positions (2, 3 and 4), showing a significant recency effect, but only for auditory digits. Reaction time reflected significant recency effects for both auditory digits and notes, but not for visual digits. Response accuracy (percent correct) showed a significant recency effect only for notes. For each stimulus type, both the baseline-to-peak and average amplitudes of a late frontal component to the memory set items became more negative (in the case of the visual digits, less positive) in the third and last serial position of the memory set compared to the first. These findings provide electrophysiological evidence of serial position effects in short-term memory, which, during memory scanning, are dependent on stimulus modality (auditory. visual) and type (verbal, non-verbal).

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References

1981

The Psychology of Human Memory

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Effects of serial position and set size in auditory recognition memory

Cited by 17 publications

References 10 publications

Strategy in auditory recognition memory

Strategy in auditory recognition memory

Event-related potential correlates of the serial position effect in short-term memory

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