Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents
Working memory is a limited-capacity system responsible for maintaining information that is known to dramatically develop throughout childhood and adolescence. Different maintenance mechanisms are proposed to support working memory development, among which is attentional refreshing. Attentional refr...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Intelligence |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/11/1/4 |
| _version_ | 1797440505579044864 |
|---|---|
| author | Beatrice Valentini Evie Vergauwe |
| author_facet | Beatrice Valentini Evie Vergauwe |
| author_sort | Beatrice Valentini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Working memory is a limited-capacity system responsible for maintaining information that is known to dramatically develop throughout childhood and adolescence. Different maintenance mechanisms are proposed to support working memory development, among which is attentional refreshing. Attentional refreshing is assumed to improve the accessibility of working-memory representations by cycling attention from one mental representation to the other, serially. It has been suggested that the efficiency of refreshing increases between the ages of 7 and 14 years old, thereby supporting working memory development. Yet, there is not much research about refreshing in adolescence. Here, we investigate the occurrence of refreshing in 15-year-olds by using a recently-developed index, i.e., the last-presented benefit. Adolescents had to remember a list of four letters and judge whether a subsequent probe letter was present or not in the list. Reaction times to the probe were used to assess the spontaneous occurrence of refreshing. We found that, unlike young adults, 15-year-olds showed consistent speeded responses to probes matching the last-presented memory item, indicating that, in this task, adolescents did not refocus their attention away from the last memory item to initiate refreshing. Implications for working memory functioning and development are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:08:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e29e4fa3c339400882c48c411bfd727a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-3200 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:08:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Intelligence |
| spelling | doaj.art-e29e4fa3c339400882c48c411bfd727a2023-11-30T22:55:37ZengMDPI AGJournal of Intelligence2079-32002022-12-01111410.3390/jintelligence11010004Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in AdolescentsBeatrice Valentini0Evie Vergauwe1Faculty of Psychology and Science of Education, University of Geneva, Bureau 5158, 40 Boulevard Pont d’Arve, 1205 Genève, SwitzerlandFaculty of Psychology and Science of Education, University of Geneva, Bureau 5158, 40 Boulevard Pont d’Arve, 1205 Genève, SwitzerlandWorking memory is a limited-capacity system responsible for maintaining information that is known to dramatically develop throughout childhood and adolescence. Different maintenance mechanisms are proposed to support working memory development, among which is attentional refreshing. Attentional refreshing is assumed to improve the accessibility of working-memory representations by cycling attention from one mental representation to the other, serially. It has been suggested that the efficiency of refreshing increases between the ages of 7 and 14 years old, thereby supporting working memory development. Yet, there is not much research about refreshing in adolescence. Here, we investigate the occurrence of refreshing in 15-year-olds by using a recently-developed index, i.e., the last-presented benefit. Adolescents had to remember a list of four letters and judge whether a subsequent probe letter was present or not in the list. Reaction times to the probe were used to assess the spontaneous occurrence of refreshing. We found that, unlike young adults, 15-year-olds showed consistent speeded responses to probes matching the last-presented memory item, indicating that, in this task, adolescents did not refocus their attention away from the last memory item to initiate refreshing. Implications for working memory functioning and development are discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/11/1/4working memoryattentionattentional refreshinglast-presented benefit |
| spellingShingle | Beatrice Valentini Evie Vergauwe Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents Journal of Intelligence working memory attention attentional refreshing last-presented benefit |
| title | Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents |
| title_full | Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents |
| title_fullStr | Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents |
| title_short | Stuck on the Last: The Last-Presented Benefit as an Index of Attentional Refreshing in Adolescents |
| title_sort | stuck on the last the last presented benefit as an index of attentional refreshing in adolescents |
| topic | working memory attention attentional refreshing last-presented benefit |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/11/1/4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT beatricevalentini stuckonthelastthelastpresentedbenefitasanindexofattentionalrefreshinginadolescents AT evievergauwe stuckonthelastthelastpresentedbenefitasanindexofattentionalrefreshinginadolescents |