Work

Consistent Failure to Produce a Cognitive Load Effect in Visual Working Memory Using a Standard Dual-Task Procedure

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Working memory performance is impaired when an attention-demanding task is executed during memory retention. The cognitive load effect is the consistent finding that the size of the memory impairment is determined by the relative amount of time that the secondary processing task occupies attention during memory retention. Cognitive load has been proposed to be a Priority-A benchmark any model of working memory should be able to explain (Oberauer et al., 2018), in part because the effect appears to generalize across different experimental procedures and materials. Using a standard dual-task procedure, we detail four experiments using a visual working memory recall task, two requiring memory for low-level features and two requiring memory for canonical angles (up, down, left, right, etc.). In all four experiments, we failed to find a cognitive load effect, calling into question the generality of the cognitive load effect and whether it is driving forgetting in multitasking contexts.

Source: Journal of Cognition

DOI: 10.5334/joc.108

Authors: Timothy J. Ricker, Evie Vergauwe

Institutions: College of Staten Island, City University of New York, University of Geneva

Language: English

Topic: Cognitive Abilities and Testing

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,027

Funder: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung