Individual differences in Sternberg’s memory scanning task

Corbin, Lucie

doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.04.001

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Since the original study by Sternberg (1966), several cognitive models were proposed for search strategies on the basis of slopes of RTs to positive and negative probes, such as serialexhaustive search, serial-self terminating search or parallel search with limited capacity (Townsend and Fifić, 2004). A comprehensive discussion about possible memory scanning strategies suggests that participants may prefer different search strategies in the same experimental condition, which can be influential on their performance (Corbin and Marquer, 2009). Although a detailed discussion on the search strategies seems to be beyond the available results of this study, faster RTs for positive probes in 3LET and 5LET conditions support a self-terminating serial search model which assumes that participants stop comparing the probe with the set of memorized items as soon as a match is found.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

P3 response during short-term memory retrieval revisited by a spatio-temporal analysis

Ergen¹,

Yıldırım²,

Uslu³

et al. 2012

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

P3 response during short-term memory retrieval revisited by a spatio-temporal analysis

Ergen¹,

Yıldırım²,

Uslu³

et al. 2012

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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“…Breakspear et al, 2010;Deco et al, 2012;Valdes-Hernandez et al, 2010) and on the behavioral level (e.g., in terms of differences in strategy use; cf. Corbin and Marquer, 2009).…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using within-subject pattern classification to understand lifespan age differences in oscillatory mechanisms of working memory selection and maintenance

et al. 2015

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In lifespan studies, large within-group heterogeneity with regard to behavioral and neuronal data is observed. This casts doubt on the validity of group-statistics-based approaches to understand age-related changes on cognitive and neural levels. Recent progress in brain-computer interface research demonstrates the potential of machine learning techniques to derive reliable person-specific models, representing brain behavior mappings. The present study now proposes a supervised learning approach to derive person-specific models for the identification and quantification of interindividual differences in oscillatory EEG responses related to working memory selection and maintenance mechanisms in a heterogeneous lifespan sample. EEG data were used to discriminate different levels of working memory load and the focus of visual attention. We demonstrate that our approach leads to person-specific models with better discrimination performance compared to classical person-nonspecific models. We show how these models can be interpreted both on an individual as well as on a group level. One of the key findings is that, with regard to the time dimension, the between-person variance of the obtained person-specific models is smaller in older than in younger adults. This is contrary to what we expected because of increased behavioral and neuronal heterogeneity in older adults.

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“…Furthermore, at a closer look, in some studies, slope ratios-recalculated from reported slopes-were found to be below 1.0 (e.g., Chase & Calfee, 1969;Swanson et al, 1972), raising the question whether memory search processes differed among individual participants. In an interesting recent study, cognitive strategies reported by individuals varied widely (Corbin & Marquer, 2009); however, no relationship between reported strategies and RT patterns was found. From a measurement perspective, the imperfect reliability of slopes reported in the literature (see below) raises the question whether slope ratios collected within a single session can be unambiguously ascribed to individual participants.…”

Section: Controversies About the Memory Search Process In The Sternbementioning

confidence: 96%

“…The lack of identifiability of memory search processes with data from a single session may explain why it has not been possible so far to associate different RT patterns with individual differences in reported strategy use (Corbin & Marquer, 2009; see also Marquer & Pereira, 1990) or differential patterns of neural activity (Pelosi et al, 1995). Thus, an important question for future research will be whether observed individual differences in RT patterns, strategy use, and neural activation can be integrated meaningfully on the individual level if sufficient reliability is ensured for the identification of the relevant information (cf.…”

Section: Individual Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, even within a group of healthy younger adults of mostly university students, a set of alternative, substitutable processes may exist and fulfill the same cognitive function (cf. Corbin & Marquer, 2009). Whereas alternative processes may appear on average different in their efficiency, for any particular individual and process, the functional outcome (i.e., performance) may well be equivalent with the on average more efficient process.…”

Section: Are 'Exhaustive' and 'Self-terminating' Memory Searchers Difmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

When Group Means Fail: Can One Size Fit All?

Grandy

Lindenberger

Werkle‐Bergner

2017

Preprint

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The present study examined whether a cognitive process model that is inferred based on group data holds, and is meaningful, at the level of the individual person. Investigation of this issue is tantamount to questioning that the same set and configuration of cognitive processes is present within all individuals, a usually untested assumption in standard group-based experiments. Search from memory as assessed with the Sternberg memory scanning paradigm is among the most widely studied phenomena in cognitive psychology. According to the original memory scanning model, search is serial and exhaustive. Here we critically examined the validity of this model across individuals and practice. 32 younger adults completed 1488 trials of the Sternberg task distributed over eight sessions. In the first session, group data followed the pattern predicted by the original model, replicating earlier findings. However, data from the first session were not sufficiently reliable for identifying whether each individual complied with the serial exhaustive search model. In sessions six to eight, when participants performed near asymptotic levels of performance, between-person differences were reliable, group data deviated substantially from the original memory search model, and the model fit only 13 of the 32 participants' data. Our findings challenge the proposition that one general memory search process exists within a group of healthy younger adults, and questions the testability of this proposition at the individual level in single-session experiments. Implications for cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience are discussed with reference to earlier work emphasizing the explicit consideration of potentially existent individual differences.

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Individual differences in Sternberg’s memory scanning task

Cited by 14 publications

References 44 publications

P3 response during short-term memory retrieval revisited by a spatio-temporal analysis

P3 response during short-term memory retrieval revisited by a spatio-temporal analysis

Using within-subject pattern classification to understand lifespan age differences in oscillatory mechanisms of working memory selection and maintenance

When Group Means Fail: Can One Size Fit All?

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