Niklaus, M; Singmann, H; Oberauer, K; (2019) Two distinct mechanisms of selection in working memory: Additive last-item and retro-cue benefits. Cognition , 183 pp. 282-302. 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.11.015.

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Abstract

In working memory research, individual items are sometimes said to be in the “focus of attention”. According to one view, this occurs for the last item in a sequentially presented list (last-item benefit). According to a second view, this occurs when items are externally cued during the retention interval (retro-cue benefit). We investigated both phenomena at the same time to determine whether both result from the same cognitive mechanisms. If that were the case, retro-cue benefits should be reduced when the retro-cue is directed to the item that already benefits from being presented last. We measured speed-accuracy-tradeoff functions with the response-deadline paradigm to measure retrieval dynamics in a short-term recognition task. Across three experiments, we found that retro-cues benefited the last item and other items to the same extent. The additivity of the last-item benefit and the retro-cue benefit points towards the co-existence of at least two distinct forms of attentional prioritization in working memory.

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