The Facilitation Of Removal Process Working To Memory Updating

Previous research has claimed that working memory(WM) updating is one of three primary central executive processes, and the only one to reliably predict fluid intelligence. However, standard WM updating tasks confound updating requirements with generic WM functions. Ecker et al introduces a method for isolating a process unique to WM updating, namely the removal of no-longer relevant information. In a modified version of an established updating paradigm, to-be-updated items were cued before the new memoranda were presented. Overall, longer cue-target intervals—that is, longer time available for removal of outdated information—led to faster updating, suggesting that people can actively remove information from WM.This study modified their task, avoid working memory focus switch cost, Experiment 1 demonstrated that the benefit of item repetition during memory updating is strongly reduced if participants are given time to remove outdated information prior to the encoding of the updated information.Experiment 2 used the updating paradigm introduced by Ecker et al.(in press), but modified it such that on each updating step, either 1, 2,or the total set of 3 items was updated, predicted that longer CTIs should lead to a substantial time gain in partial updating, but little gain on updating steps replacing the entire memory set, further evidence that an active removal process is central to WM updating, and this removal operation is item-specific and goes beyond finding a to-be-updated item, and how the removal process fits into a recent computational model of WM updating, which assumes that updating subsets of information held in working memory involves switching between maintenance and updating modes of working memoryIn Experiment Three, we used the EEG recording and used N170 as a tool to further investigated if participants are given time to remove outdated information prior to the encoding new item, can make the encoding process easierAcross three experiments, provided evidence that giving people sufficient time in an updating task to remove to-be-substituted items before the presentation of new items substantially speeds subsequent updating. This supports Ecker et al’s proposal that active removal is an item-specific process and is the core in WM updating.