Release from Proactive Inhibition as a Function of Interpolated Task Difficulty

Abstract

A three-part study investigates the effect of varying levels of interpolated task difficulty on recall, using a release from proactive inhibition methodology. It was hypothesized that difficulty of interpolated activity would affect recall levels. 544 college students served as Ss. Exp. 1 determined relative difficulty of four interpolated tasks, three of which are frequently used in proactive-inhibition studies, by measuring the amount of time necessary to complete each task. Utilizing a basic Peterson and Peterson format, Exp. 2 demonstrates that difficulty of the interpolated task will affect recall while not affecting the buildup of proactive inhibition. Again, incorporating the same format, Exp. 3 indicated the three commonly used distractor tasks, Stroop color-naming, counting backward, and color block-naming, can be used interchangeably; however, if the task is very easy (such as naming color blocks), recall may be so high that a ceiling effect is encountered. It is therefore suggested that researchers use one of the more difficult distractor tasks such as counting backward or the Stroop color-naming task for the prevention of rehearsal given the kind of Ss of the present study.