Conceptual masking disrupts change-detection performance.

The present study investigated the effects of long-term knowledge on backward masking interference in visual working memory (VWM) by varying the similarity of mask stimuli along categorical dimensions. To-be-remembered items and masks were taken from categories controlled for perceptual distinctiveness and distinctiveness in kinds (e.g.

Modeling cyclic variations in sustained human performance as measured by reaction time and the flash visual evoked potential-P2.

Recent research suggests that sustained attention is punctuated by periodic lapses that produce cyclic variations in sustained human performance. Research conducted by our laboratory (Arruda, Zhang, Amoss, Coburn, & Aue, 2009) and by the laboratories of others (Aue, Arruda, Kass, & Stanny, 2009; Smith, Valentino, & Arruda, 2003) suggests that sustained human performance cycles approximately every 1.5 and 5.

Age-related differences in recall for words using semantics and prosody.

The positivity effect is a developmental shift seen in older adults to be increasingly influenced by positive information in areas such as memory, attention, and decision-making. This study is the first to examine the age-related differences of the positivity effect for emotional prosody. Participants heard a factorial combination of words that were semantically positive or negative said with either positive or negative intonation.

Comparison of interstimulus intervals on change detection in nondriving and driving scenarios.

Change detection across disruptions of visual scenes is typically studied using brief durations of the interstimulus interval (ISI) (i.e., up to 300 ms).

From Brown-Peterson to continual distractor via operation span: A SIMPLE account of complex span.

Three memory tasks-Brown-Peterson, complex span, and continual distractor-all alternate presentation of a to-be-remembered item and a distractor activity, but each task is associated with a different memory system, short-term memory, working memory, and long-term memory, respectively. SIMPLE, a relative local distinctiveness model, has previously been fit to data from both the Brown-Peterson and continual distractor tasks; here we use the same version of the model to fit data from a complex span task. Despite the many differences between the tasks, including unpredictable list length, SIMPLE fit the data well.

The effect of perceptual cues on inhibiting irrelevant information in older adults using a list-learning method.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The inhibitory deficit hypothesis (Hasher & Zacks, 1988 , The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, 22, 193-225) suggests that older adults are more susceptible to interference from irrelevant information because of age-related declines in inhibitory ability. Reading comprehension tasks have found that this deficit can be overcome by salient perceptual cues used to accentuate relevant information (Carlson, Hasher, Connelly, & Zacks, 1995 , Psychology and Aging, 10, 427-436). This study examined the ability of older adults to use perceptual cues to aid inhibition in list-learning tasks.

Does working memory change with age? The interactions of concurrent articulation with the effects of word length and acoustic confusion.

The effects of acoustic confusion (phonological similarity), word length, and concurrent articulation (articulatory suppression) are cited as support for Working Memory's phonological loop component (e.g., Baddeley, 2000 , Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 7, 544).