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Primacy and recency effects as indices of the focus of attention.

ABSTRACT: Ongoing debate surrounds the capacity and characteristics of the focus of attention. The present study investigates whether a pattern of larger recency effects and smaller primacy effects reported in previous working memory studies is specific to task conditions used in those studies, or generalizes across manipulations of task-demand. Two experiments varied task-demands by requiring participants to remember lists of letters and to then respond to a subsequent two-item probe by indicating either the item that was presented later in the list (judgment of recency) or the item was presented earlier (judgment of primacy). Analyses tested the prediction that a WM task emphasizing later items in a list (judgment of recency) would encourage exaggerated recency effects and attenuated primacy effects, while a task emphasizing earlier items (judgment of primacy) would encourage exaggerated primacy effects and attenuated recency effects. Behavioral results from two experiments confirmed this prediction. In contrast to past studies, fMRI contrasts revealed no brain regions where activity was significantly altered by the presence of recency items in the probe, for either task condition. However, presence of the primacy item in the probe significantly influenced activity in frontal lobe brain regions linked to active maintenance, but the location and direction of activation changes varied as a function of task instructions. In sum, two experiments demonstrate that the behavioral and neural signatures of WM, specifically related to primacy and recency effects, are dependent on task-demands. Findings are discussed as they inform models of the structure and capacity of WM.

SUBMITTER: Morrison AB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3900765 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Primacy and recency effects as indices of the focus of attention.

Morrison Alexandra B AB Conway Andrew R A AR Chein Jason M JM

Frontiers in human neuroscience 20140124

Ongoing debate surrounds the capacity and characteristics of the focus of attention. The present study investigates whether a pattern of larger recency effects and smaller primacy effects reported in previous working memory studies is specific to task conditions used in those studies, or generalizes across manipulations of task-demand. Two experiments varied task-demands by requiring participants to remember lists of letters and to then respond to a subsequent two-item probe by indicating either ...[more]

PMID: 24478672

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Project description:Loudness judgments of sounds varying in level across time show a non-uniform temporal weighting, with increased weights assigned to the beginning of the sound (primacy effect). In addition, higher weights are observed for temporal components that are higher in level than the remaining components (loudness dominance). In three experiments, sounds consisting of 100- or 475-ms Gaussian wideband noise segments with random level variations were presented and either none, the first, or a central temporal segment was amplified or attenuated. In Experiment 1, the sounds consisted of four 100-ms segments that were separated by 500-ms gaps. Previous experiments did not show a primacy effect in such a condition. In Experiment 2, four- or ten-100-ms-segment sounds without gaps between the segments were presented to examine the interaction between the primacy effect and level dominance. As expected, for the sounds with segments separated by gaps, no primacy effect was observed, but weights on amplified segments were increased and weights on attenuated segments were decreased. For the sounds with contiguous segments, a primacy effect as well as effects of relative level (similar to those in Experiment 1) were found. For attenuation, the data indicated no substantial interaction between the primacy effect and loudness dominance, whereas for amplification an interaction was present. In Experiment 3, sounds consisting of either four contiguous 100-ms or 475-ms segments, or four 100-ms segments separated by 500-ms gaps were presented. Effects of relative level were more pronounced for the contiguous sounds. Across all three experiments, the effects of relative level were more pronounced for attenuation. In addition, the effects of relative level showed a dependence on the position of the change in level, with opposite direction for attenuation compared to amplification. Some of the results are in accordance with explanations based on masking effects on auditory intensity resolution.

Project description:Dual-task performance is often impaired after stroke. This may be resolved by enhancing patients' automaticity of movement. This study sets out to test the constrained action hypothesis, which holds that automaticity of movement is enhanced by triggering an external focus (on movement effects), rather than an internal focus (on movement execution). Thirty-nine individuals with chronic, unilateral stroke performed a one-leg-stepping task with both legs in single- and dual-task conditions. Attentional focus was manipulated with instructions. Motor performance (movement speed), movement automaticity (fluency of movement), and dual-task performance (dual-task costs) were assessed. The effects of focus on movement speed, single- and dual-task movement fluency, and dual-task costs were analysed with generalized estimating equations. Results showed that, overall, single-task performance was unaffected by focus (p = .341). Regarding movement fluency, no main effects of focus were found in single- or dual-task conditions (p's ≥ .13). However, focus by leg interactions suggested that an external focus reduced movement fluency of the paretic leg compared to an internal focus (single-task conditions: p = .068; dual-task conditions: p = .084). An external focus also tended to result in inferior dual-task performance (β = -2.38, p = .065). Finally, a near-significant interaction (β = 2.36, p = .055) suggested that dual-task performance was more constrained by patients' attentional capacity in external focus conditions. We conclude that, compared to an internal focus, an external focus did not result in more automated movements in chronic stroke patients. Contrary to expectations, trends were found for enhanced automaticity with an internal focus. These findings might be due to patients' strong preference to use an internal focus in daily life. Future work needs to establish the more permanent effects of learning with different attentional foci on re-automating motor control after stroke.

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Primacy and recency effects as indices of the focus of attention.

Publications

Primacy and recency effects as indices of the focus of attention.

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