Self-reported Strategy Use in Working Memory Tasks

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2024 Feb 28

PMID 38418835

Authors

Liisa Ritakallio

Daniel Fellman

Juha Salmi

Jussi Jylkka

Matti Laine

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Mnemonic strategies can facilitate working memory performance, but our knowledge on strategy use as a function of task characteristics remains limited. We examined self-reported strategy use in several working memory tasks with pretest data from two large-scale online training experiments. A three-level measure of strategy sophistication (no strategy, maintenance, manipulation) was coded based on participants' open-ended strategy reports. A considerable portion of participants reported some memory strategy, and strategy sophistication was associated with objective task performance. We found a consistent effect of stimulus type: verbal stimuli (letters or digits) elicited higher strategy sophistication than nonverbal ones (colours or spatial positions). In contrast, the association between task paradigm and strategy sophistication was less consistent in the two experiments. The present results highlight the importance of self-generated strategies in understanding individual differences in working memory performance and the role of stimulus characteristics as one of the task-related determinants of strategy use.

References

Bailey H, Dunlosky J, Hertzog C . Does strategy training reduce age-related deficits in working memory?. Gerontology. 2014; 60(4):346-56. PMC: 4074452. DOI: 10.1159/000356699. View

Dent K, Smyth M . Verbal coding and the storage of form-position associations in visual-spatial short-term memory. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2005; 120(2):113-40. DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2005.03.004. View

Taconnat L, Clarys D, Vanneste S, Bouazzaoui B, Isingrini M . Aging and strategic retrieval in a cued-recall test: the role of executive functions and fluid intelligence. Brain Cogn. 2006; 64(1):1-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2006.09.011. View

Ericsson K, Chase W . Exceptional memory. Am Sci. 1982; 70(6):607-15. View

Borella E, Carretti B, Sciore R, Capotosto E, Taconnat L, Cornoldi C . Training working memory in older adults: Is there an advantage of using strategies?. Psychol Aging. 2017; 32(2):178-191. DOI: 10.1037/pag0000155. View

Murty V, Sambataro F, Radulescu E, Altamura M, Iudicello J, Zoltick B . Selective updating of working memory content modulates meso-cortico-striatal activity. Neuroimage. 2011; 57(3):1264-72. PMC: 3908780. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.05.006. View

Forsberg A, Fellman D, Laine M, Johnson W, Logie R . Strategy mediation in working memory training in younger and older adults. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2020; 73(8):1206-1226. PMC: 7575302. DOI: 10.1177/1747021820915107. View

Oberauer K . Is Rehearsal an Effective Maintenance Strategy for Working Memory?. Trends Cogn Sci. 2019; 23(9):798-809. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.06.002. View

Carretti B, Borella E, De Beni R . Does strategic memory training improve the working memory performance of younger and older adults?. Exp Psychol. 2007; 54(4):311-20. DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169.54.4.311. View

10.

Germine L, Nakayama K, Duchaine B, Chabris C, Chatterjee G, Wilmer J . Is the Web as good as the lab? Comparable performance from Web and lab in cognitive/perceptual experiments. Psychon Bull Rev. 2012; 19(5):847-57. DOI: 10.3758/s13423-012-0296-9. View

11.

Laine M, Fellman D, Eraste T, Ritakallio L, Salmi J . Strategy use and its evolvement in word list learning: a replication study. R Soc Open Sci. 2024; 11(2):230651. PMC: 10864779. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230651. View

12.

Brady T, Stormer V . The role of meaning in visual working memory: Real-world objects, but not simple features, benefit from deeper processing. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2021; 48(7):942-958. DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001014. View

13.

Bartsch L, Loaiza V, Jancke L, Oberauer K, Lewis-Peacock J . Dissociating refreshing and elaboration and their impacts on memory. Neuroimage. 2019; 199:585-597. PMC: 11158115. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.06.028. View

14.

Guerrero L, Isingrini M, Angel L, Fay S, Taconnat L, Bouazzaoui B . Effect of self-reported internal memory strategy use on age-related episodic and working memory decline: Contribution of control processes. Can J Exp Psychol. 2021; 75(4):348-361. DOI: 10.1037/cep0000240. View

15.

Nee D, Brown J, Askren M, Berman M, Demiralp E, Krawitz A . A meta-analysis of executive components of working memory. Cereb Cortex. 2012; 23(2):264-82. PMC: 3584956. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhs007. View

16.

Craik F . Reducing age-related Memory Deficits: The Roles of Environmental Support and self-initiated Processing Activities. Exp Aging Res. 2022; 48(5):401-427. DOI: 10.1080/0361073X.2022.2084660. View

17.

Bailey H, Dunlosky J, Hertzog C . Does differential strategy use account for age-related deficits in working-memory performance?. Psychol Aging. 2009; 24(1):82-92. PMC: 2658624. DOI: 10.1037/a0014078. View

18.

Dunlosky J, Kane M . The contributions of strategy use to working memory span: a comparison of strategy assessment methods. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2007; 60(9):1227-45. DOI: 10.1080/17470210600926075. View

19.

McNamara D, Scott J . Working memory capacity and strategy use. Mem Cognit. 2001; 29(1):10-7. DOI: 10.3758/bf03195736. View

20.

Bartsch L, Singmann H, Oberauer K . The effects of refreshing and elaboration on working memory performance, and their contributions to long-term memory formation. Mem Cognit. 2018; 46(5):796-808. DOI: 10.3758/s13421-018-0805-9. View