Reciprocity of Retention and Interpolated-Task Scores in Short-Term Memory 1

Abstract

A serial reaction task was used as the interpolated activity in an experiment testing short-term memory (STM) for word strings after 30 sec. Significant effects of the complexity of each task upon performance of the other were found, viz., retention of five-word stimuli led to poorer performance on an interpolated task than retention of three-word stimuli, and a stimulus-response lag in the reaction task reduced memory scores. However, there was not clear evidence for reciprocity of performance levels from trial to trial within Ss. The recognition that STM experiments employ divided-attention paradigms is potentially important in the interpretation of proactive inhibition effects.