Abstract
Inhibitory models of working memory efficiency (Engle, 1996; Zacks & Hasher, 1994) assert that individual differences in working memory reflect the efficiency of inhibitory processes that exclude irrelevant information and suppress no-longer-relevant information. The present study examined the implication that these two inhibitory processes operate at consistent levels of efficiency within individuals by examining the correlation between two cognitive inhibition effects, negative priming and negative error priming. Negative priming involves slower response to a probe-trial target that was used as a to-be-ignored distractor on the immediately preceding prime trial. Negative error priming is the phenomenon that errors in a sequence of simple arithmetic trials are unlikely to involve the correct answer to the preceding problem. Participants received distractor—target pairs of simple addition problems and were required to produce the target problem sum. Negative priming was observed for prime distractors, whereas negative error priming was observed in connection with previous targets but not distractors. Consistent with the assumptions of these working memory models, the magnitudes of the two effects were significantly correlated.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arbuthnott, K. D. (1995). Inhibitory mechanisms in cognition: Phenomena and models.Current Psychology of Cognition,14, 3–45.
Arbuthnott, K. D. (1996). To repeat or not to repeat: Repetition facilitation and inhibition in sequential retrieval.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,125, 261–283.
Arbuthnott, K. D., &Campbell, J. I. D. (1996). Effects of operand order and problem repetition on error priming in cognitive arithmetic.Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology,50, 182–195.
Barkley, R. A. (1997). Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: Constructing a unifying theory of ADHD.Psychological Bulletin,121, 65–94.
Beech, A., Powell, T., McWilliam, J., &Claridge, G. (1989). Evidence of reduced “cognitive inhibition” in schizophrenia.British Journal of Clinical Psychology,28, 110–116.
Bjorklund, D. F., &Harnishfeger, K. K. (1990). The resources construct in cognitive development: Diverse sources of evidence and a theory of inefficient inhibition.Developmental Review,1, 48–71.
Campbell, J. I. D. (1991). Conditions of error priming in number-fact retrieval.Memory & Cognition,19, 197–209.
Campbell, J. I. D. (1994). Architectures for numerical cognition.Cognition,53, 1–44.
Campbell, J. I. D., &Arbuthnott, K. D. (1996). Inhibitory processes in sequential retrieval: Evidence from variable-lag repetition priming.Brain & Cognition,30, 59–80.
Campbell, J. I. D., &Clark, J. M. (1989). Time course of error priming in number-fact retrieval: Evidence for excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,15, 920–929.
Campbell, J. I. D., &Graham, D. J. (1985). Mental multiplication skill: Structure, process, and acquisition.Canadian Journal of Psychology,39, 339–366.
Campbell, J. I. D., &Tarling, D. P. M. (1996). Retrieval processes in arithmetic production and verification.Memory & Cognition,24, 156–172.
Clark, J. M. (1992). Inhibitory mechanisms in normal and dysfunctional number processing. In J. I. D. Campbell (Ed.),The nature and origins of mathematical skills (pp. 411–456). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Connelly, S. L., Hasher, L., &Zacks, R. T. (1991). Age and reading: The impact of distraction.Psychology & Aging,6, 533–541.
Conway, A. R. A., &Engle, R. W. (1994). Working memory and retrieval: A resource-dependent inhibition model.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,123, 354–373.
De Beni, R., Palladino, P., Pazzaglia, F., &Cornoldi, C. (1998). Increases in intrusion errors and working memory deficit of poor comprehenders.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,51A, 305–320.
Earles, J. L., Connor, L. T., Frieske, D., Park, D. C., Smith, A. D., &Zwahr, M. (1997). Age differences in inhibition: Possible causes and consequences.Aging, Neuropsychology, & Cognition,4, 45–57.
Engle, R. W. (1996). Working memory and retrieval: An inhibitionresource approach. In In J. T. E. Richardson, R. W. Engle, L. Hasher, R. H. Logie, E. R. Stoltzfus, & R. T. Zacks (Eds.),Working memory and human cognition (pp. 89–119). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fox, E. (1995). Negative priming from ignored distractors in visual selection: A review.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,2, 145–173.
Geary, D. C., Widaman, K. F., &Little, T. D. (1986). Cognitive addition and multiplication: Evidence for a single memory network.Memory & Cognition,14, 478–487.
Gernsbacher, M. A., &Faust, M. E. (1991). The mechanism of suppression: A component of general comprehension skill.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,17, 245–262.
Gottlieb, D. I. (1988). GABAergic neurons. In R. R. Llinas (Ed.),The biology of the brain: From neurons to networks (pp. 102–113). New York: Freeman.
Hamm, V. P., &Hasher, L. (1992). Age and the availability of inferences.Psychology & Aging,7, 56–64.
Harnishfeger, K. K. (1995). The development of cognitive inhibition: Theories, definitions, and research evidence. In F. N. Dempster & C. J. Brainerd (Eds),Interference and inhibition in cognition (pp. 175–204). San Diego: Academic Press.
Hartman, M., &Hasher, L. (1991). Aging and suppression: Memory for previously relevant information.Psychology & Aging,6, 587–594.
Hasher, L., Stoltzfus, E. R., Zacks, R. T., &Rypma, B. (1991). Age and inhibition.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,17, 163–169.
Hasher, L., &Zacks, R. T. (1988). Working memory, comprehension, and aging: A review and a new view. In G. H. Bower (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 22, pp. 193–225). New York: Academic Press.
Johnston, W. A., &Heinz, S. P. (1978). Flexibility and capacity demands of attention.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,107, 420–435.
Kane, M. J., May, C. P., Hasher, L., Rahhal, T., &Stoltzfus, E. R. (1997). Dual mechanisms of negative priming.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,23, 632–650.
Kramer, A. F., Humphrey, D. G., Larish, J. F., Logan, G. D., &Strayer, D. L. (1994). Aging and inhibition: Beyond a unitary view of inhibitory processing in attention.Psychology & Aging,9, 491–512.
LeFevre, J. A., Bisanz, J., &Mrkonjic, L. (1988). Cognitive arithmetic: Evidence for obligatory activation of arithmetic facts.Memory & Cognition,16, 45–53.
Logan, G. D., Schacher, R. J., &Tannock, R. (1997). Impulsivity and inhibitory control.Psychological Science,8, 60–64.
Lorsbach, T., &Reimer, J. (1997). Developmental changes in the inhibition of previously relevant information.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,64, 317–342.
May, C. P., Kane, M. J., &Hasher, L. (1995). Determinants of negative priming.Psychological Bulletin,118, 35–54.
McDowd, J. M., &Filion, D. L. (1992). Aging, selective attention, and inhibitory processes: A psychophysiological approach.Psychology & Aging,7, 65–71.
McDowd, J. M., &Oseas-Kreger, D. M. (1991). Aging, inhibitory processes, and negative priming.Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences,46, P340-P345.
McDowd, J. M., Oseas-Kreger, D. M., &Filion, D. L. (1995). Inhibitory processes in cognition and aging. In F. N. Dempster & C. J. Brainerd (Eds.),Interference and inhibition in cognition (pp. 363–400). San Diego: Academic Press.
Miller, K., &Paredes, D. R. (1990). Starting to add worse: Effects of learning to multiply on children’s addition.Cognition,37, 213–242.
Miller, K., Perlmutter, M., &Keating, D. (1984). Cognition arithmetic: Comparison of operations.Journal of Experimental Psychology,10, 46–60.
Milliken, B., &Rock, A. (1997). Negative priming, attention, and discriminating the present from the past.Consciousness & Cognition,6, 308–327.
Neill, W. T. (1997). Episodic retrieval in negative priming and repetition priming.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,23, 1291–1305.
Neill, W. T., Valdes, L. A., &Terry, K. M. (1995). Selective attention and the inhibitory control of cognition. In F. N. Dempster & C. J. Brainerd (Eds.),Interference and inhibition in cognition (pp. 207–261). San Diego: Academic Press.
Olson, S. L. (1989). Assessment of impulsivity in preschoolers: Crossmeasure convergences, longitudinal stability, and relevance to social competence.Journal of Clinical Child Psychology,18, 176–183.
Rosen, V. M., &Engle, R. W. (1997). The role of working memory capacity in retrieval.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,126, 211–227.
Simpson, G. B., &Kang, H. (1994). Inhibitory processes in the recognition of homograph meanings. In D. Dagenbach & T. H. Carr (Eds),Inhibitory processes in attention, memory, and language (pp. 359–381). San Diego: Academic Press.
Stoltzfus, E. R., Hasher, L., &Zacks, R. T. (1996). Working memory and aging: Current status of the inhibitory view. In J. T. E. Richardson, R. W. Engle, L. Hasher, R. H. Logie, E. R. Stoltzfus, & R. T. Zacks (Eds.),Working memory and human cognition (pp. 66–88). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tipper, S. P. (1985). The negative priming effect: Inhibitory priming by ignored objects.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,37A, 571–590.
Tipper, S. P., &Driver, J. (1988). Negative priming between pictures and words in a selective attention task: Evidence for semantic processing of ignored stimuli.Memory & Cognition,16, 64–70.
Tipper, S. P., Weaver, B., Cameron, S., Brehaut, J. C., &Bastedo, J. (1991). Inhibitory mechanisms of attention in identification tasks: Time-course and disruption.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,17, 681–692.
West, R. L. (1996). An application of prefrontal cortex function theory to cognitive aging.Psychological Bulletin,120, 272–292.
Zacks, R. T., &Hasher, L. (1994). Directed ignoring: Inhibitory regulation of working memory. In D. Dagenbach & T. H. Carr (Eds.),Inhibitory processes in attention, memory, and language (pp. 241–264). San Diego: Academic Press.
Zacks, R. T., Radvansky, G., &Hasher, L. (1996). Studies of directed forgetting in older adults.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,22, 143–156.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to both authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arbuthnott, K., Campbell, J.I.D. Cognitive inhibition in selection and sequential retrieval. Memory & Cognition 28, 331–340 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198548
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198548