Proactive Interference Effects Research Articles

Impact of ageing on problem size and proactive interference in arithmetic facts solving.

Arithmetic facts (AFs) are required when solving problems such as "3 × 4" and refer to calculations for which the correct answer is retrieved from memory. Currently, two important effects that modulate the performance in AFs have been highlighted: the problem size effect and the proactive interference effect. The aim of this study is to investigate possible age-related changes of the problem size effect and the proactive interference effect in AF solving. To this end, the performance of young and older adults was compared in a multiplication production task. Furthermore, an independent measure of proactive interference was assessed to further define the architecture underlying this effect in multiplication solving. The results indicate that both young and older adults were sensitive to the effects of interference and of the problem size. That is, both interference and problem size affected performance negatively: the time needed to solve a multiplication problem increases as the level of interference and the size of the problem increase. Regarding the effect of ageing, the problem size effect remains constant with age, indicating a preserved AF network in older adults. Interestingly, sensitivity to proactive interference in multiplication solving was less pronounced in older than in younger adults suggesting that part of the proactive interference has been overcome with age.

Memory in wild mountain chickadees from different elevations: comparing first-year birds with older survivors

Understanding both inter- and intraspecific variation in animals' cognitive abilities is one of the central goals of cognitive ecology. We developed a field system for testing spatial learning in wild chickadees using radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled feeders that allowed us to track individuals across multiple years. Mountain chickadees, Poecile gambeli, inhabit a continuous montane gradient, and individuals inhabiting higher elevations experience harsher winters than those at lower elevations. Previous studies found that chickadees at higher elevations cached more food and demonstrated better spatial memory, but they performed worse during reversal learning than chickadees at lower elevations. Here, we employed spatial learning, reversal learning and memory retention tasks to compare elevation-related performance of first-year juvenile birds with that of adults that had survived at least 1 year. Chickadees from high elevation performed better in the initial learning task but worse in the reversal task than birds from low elevation. There were no differences between first-year birds and adults in the initial learning task, but adults performed significantly better in the reversal test. First-year birds also made more errors associated with the initial target, which suggests higher levels of proactive interference. There were no significant differences between elevations or between juvenile and adults in memory performance after a 16-day retention. After retention, chickadees did not discriminate between the feeders that provided food during the initial task or during the reversal task prior to retention. These results are also consistent with the effects of proactive interference, as birds should have only visited the most recently rewarding feeder. Our findings suggest that the ability to quickly learn changing information is critical for chickadees at both elevations as surviving adults did better in the reversal task than first-year birds. Our results also suggest that selection may favour better reversal learning abilities associated with lower levels of proactive interference.

Modeling age differences in effects of pair repetition and proactive interference using a single parameter.

In this article, we apply the REM model (Shiffrin & Steyvers, 1997) to age differences in associative memory. Using Criss and Shiffrin's (2005) associative version of REM, we show that in a task with pairs repeated across 2 study lists, older adults' reduced benefit of pair repetition can be produced by a general reduction in the diagnosticity of information stored in memory. This reduction can be modeled similarly well by reducing the overall distinctiveness of memory features, or by reducing the accuracy of memory encoding. We report a new experiment in which pairs are repeated across 3 study lists and extend the model accordingly. Finally, we extend the model to previously reported data using the same task paradigm, in which the use of a high-association strategy introduced proactive interference effects in young adults but not older adults. Reducing the diagnosticity of information in memory also reduces the proactive interference effect. Taken together, the modeling and empirical results reported here are consistent with the claim that some age differences that appear to be specific to associative information can be produced via general degradation of information stored in memory. The REM model provides a useful framework for examining age differences in memory as well as harmonizing seemingly conflicting prior modeling approaches for the associative deficit. (PsycINFO Database Record

Item-specific proactive interference in olfactory working memory

ABSTRACTWe examine item-specific olfactory proactive interference (PI) effects and undertake comparisons with verbal and non-verbal visual stimuli. Using a sequential recent-probes task, we show no evidence for PI with hard-to-name odours (Experiment 1). However, verbalisable odours do exhibit PI effects (Experiment 2). These findings occur despite above chance performance and similar serial position functions across both tasks. Experiments 3 and 4 apply words and faces, respectively, to our modified procedure, and show that methodological differences cannot explain the null finding in Experiment 1. The extent to which odours exhibit analogous PI effects to that of other modalities is, we argue, contingent on the characteristics of the odours employed.

A novel cognitive assessment paradigm to detect Pre-mild cognitive impairment (PreMCI) and the relationship to biological markers of Alzheimer's disease

ObjectiveA number of older adults obtain normal scores on formal cognitive tests, but present clinical concerns that raise suspicion of cognitive decline. Despite not meeting full criteria for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), these PreMCI states confer risk for progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD). This investigation addressed a pressing need to identify cognitive measures that are sensitive to PreMCI and are associated with brain biomarkers of neurodegeneration. MethodParticipants included 49 older adults with a clinical history suggestive of cognitive decline but normal scores on an array of neuropsychological measures, thus not meeting formal criteria for MCI. The performance of these PreMCI participants were compared to 117 cognitively normal (CN) elders on the LASSI-L, a cognitive stress test that uniquely assesses the failure to recover from proactive semantic interference effects (frPSI). Finally, a subset of these individuals had volumetric analyses based on MRI scans. ResultsPreMCI participants evidenced greater LASSI- L deficits, particularly with regards to frPSI and delayed recall, relative to the CN group. No differences on MRI measures were observed. Controlling for false discovery rate (FDR), frPSI was uniquely related to increased dilatation of the inferior lateral ventricle and decreased MRI volumes in the hippocampus, precuneus, superior parietal region, and other AD prone areas. In contrast, other LASSI-L indices and standard memory tests were not related to volumetric findings. ConclusionsDespite equivalent performance on traditional memory measures, the frPSI distinguished between PreMCI and CN elders and was associated with reductions in brain volume in numerous AD-relevant brain regions.

A model of human motor sequence learning explains facilitation and interference effects based on spike-timing dependent plasticity

The ability to learn sequential behaviors is a fundamental property of our brains. Yet a long stream of studies including recent experiments investigating motor sequence learning in adult human subjects have produced a number of puzzling and seemingly contradictory results. In particular, when subjects have to learn multiple action sequences, learning is sometimes impaired by proactive and retroactive interference effects. In other situations, however, learning is accelerated as reflected in facilitation and transfer effects. At present it is unclear what the underlying neural mechanism are that give rise to these diverse findings. Here we show that a recently developed recurrent neural network model readily reproduces this diverse set of findings. The self-organizing recurrent neural network (SORN) model is a network of recurrently connected threshold units that combines a simplified form of spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) with homeostatic plasticity mechanisms ensuring network stability, namely intrinsic plasticity (IP) and synaptic normalization (SN). When trained on sequence learning tasks modeled after recent experiments we find that it reproduces the full range of interference, facilitation, and transfer effects. We show how these effects are rooted in the network’s changing internal representation of the different sequences across learning and how they depend on an interaction of training schedule and task similarity. Furthermore, since learning in the model is based on fundamental neuronal plasticity mechanisms, the model reveals how these plasticity mechanisms are ultimately responsible for the network’s sequence learning abilities. In particular, we find that all three plasticity mechanisms are essential for the network to learn effective internal models of the different training sequences. This ability to form effective internal models is also the basis for the observed interference and facilitation effects. This suggests that STDP, IP, and SN may be the driving forces behind our ability to learn complex action sequences.

Effects of proactive interference on non-verbal working memory.

Working memory (WM) is a cognitive system responsible for actively maintaining and processing relevant information and is central to successful cognition. A process critical to WM is the resolution of proactive interference (PI), which involves suppressing memory intrusions from prior memories that are no longer relevant. Most studies that have examined resistance to PI in a process-pure fashion used verbal material. By contrast, studies using non-verbal material are scarce, and it remains unclear whether the effect of PI is domain-general or whether it applies solely to the verbal domain. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of PI in visual WM using both objects with high and low nameability. Using a Directed-Forgetting paradigm, we varied discriminability between WM items on two dimensions, one verbal (high-nameability vs. low-nameability objects) and one perceptual (colored vs. gray objects). As in previous studies using verbal material, effects of PI were found with object stimuli, even after controlling for verbal labels being used (i.e., low-nameability condition). We also found that the addition of distinctive features (color, verbal label) increased performance in rejecting intrusion probes, most likely through an increase in discriminability between content-context bindings in WM.

Polymorphism C366G of gene GRIN2B and verbal episodic memory: No association with schizophrenia

The present study searched for associations between gene GRIN2B (glutamate receptor, ionotropic, N-methyl-D-aspartate, subunit 2B) and component processes of verbal episodic memory in schizophrenic patients. The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) as a part of a large neuropsychological battery was administered to 302 patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders (sample PI). Also, 285 patients (sample P2) and 243 healthy controls (sample C2) performed the “10 words” test that measures short-term memory. The GRIN2B rs7301328 (C366G) polymorphism was genotyped for each subject. There were no associations between the polymorphism and any measure of the RAVLT either in the whole PI sample or in a subsample of patients with a severe cognitive deficit. The GRIN2B influenced immediate recall and proactive interference in the “10 words” test in the control group: homozygotes CC recalled fewer words and showed a lower effect of proactive interference than carriers of other genotypes. The results suggest that the C366G polymorphism could influence verbal episodic memory in the general population, but this influence is absent in schizophrenic patients.

Recognition Memory is Improved by a Structured Temporal Framework During Encoding.

In order to function optimally within our environment, we continuously extract temporal patterns from our experiences and formulate expectations that facilitate adaptive behavior. Given that our memories are embedded within spatiotemporal contexts, an intriguing possibility is that mnemonic processes are sensitive to the temporal structure of events. To test this hypothesis, in a series of behavioral experiments we manipulated the regularity of interval durations at encoding to create temporally structured and unstructured frameworks. Our findings revealed enhanced recognition memory (d′) for stimuli that were explicitly encoded within a temporally structured vs. unstructured framework. Encoding information within a temporally structured framework was also associated with a reduction in the negative effects of proactive interference and was linked to greater recollective recognition memory. Furthermore, rhythmic temporal structure was found to enhance recognition memory for incidentally encoded information. Collectively, these results support the possibility that we possess a greater capacity to learn and subsequently remember temporally structured information.

Material-specific retroactive interference effects of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition on the Wechsler Memory Scale–Fourth Edition in a nonclinical sample

ABSTRACTIntroduction: This study investigated proactive and retroactive interference effects between the Wechsler Memory Scale–Fourth Edition (WMS–IV) using the flexible approach, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition (WAIS–IV). Method: One hundred and eighty nonclinical participants were assigned to a four (visual interference, verbal interference, visual and verbal interference, vs. no interference) by two (retroactive vs. proactive) between-subjects design. The administration order of the tests was counterbalanced (i.e., administration of the WAIS–IV prior to the WMS–IV, and the WAIS–IV administered during the delay interval of the WMS–IV). Results: The WAIS–IV produced significant retroactive interference effects on the WMS–IV; however, no proactive interference effect was observed. The retroactive interference effect was dependent on material specificity. Conclusions: The results indicate that material presented within the delay of the WMS–IV can have a significant effect on subsequent delayed recall. Clinicians should carefully consider the effects associated with carry-over effects of these tests when using them in combination.

Serial reversal learning in gray squirrels: Learning efficiency as a function of learning and change of tactics.

Learning allows individuals to adapt their behaviors flexibly to a changing environment. When the same change recurs repeatedly, acquiring relevant tactics may increase learning efficiency. We examined this relationship, along with the effects of proactive interference and other interference information, in a serial spatial reversal task with 5 gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). Squirrels completed an acquisition and 11 reversal phases with a poke box in which 2 of 4 possible reward locations were baited diagonally in a square array. In this situation, an efficient tactic is to locate the diagonally related locations consecutively (integrative search tactic) instead of searching rewards in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction (sequential search tactic). All squirrels formed a learning set, acquiring successive reversals in fewer trials. Although 4 squirrels gradually employed more integrative tactics in locating the rewards both within and between phases, sequential tactics were used in the first trial of each phase. This suggests the integrative tactic did not depend on an association between the rewarded locations but was learned as a spatial pattern and/or by use of extra-apparatus cues to locate individual rewards. Generalized estimating equation models showed that learning efficiency increased with experience and tactic change. Although tactic change partially mediated the effect of learning on learning efficiency, learning remained an independent contribution to improved efficiency. Squirrels that used more integrative tactics made fewer total errors than squirrels that used less integrative tactics, suggesting that learning a task-relevant tactic using spatial cues can provide direct benefits in maximizing rewards and minimizing time costs.

Editorial: Representational states in memory: where do we stand?

Editorial: Representational states in memory: where do we stand?

The cost of learning: interference effects in memory development.

Learning often affects future learning and memory for previously learned information by exerting either facilitation or interference effects. Several theoretical accounts of interference effects have been proposed, each making different developmental predictions. This research examines interference effects across development, with the goal of better understanding mechanisms of interference and of memory development. Preschool-aged children and adults participated in a 3-phased associative learning paradigm containing stimuli that were either unique or repeated across phases. Both age groups demonstrated interference effects, but only for repeated items. Whereas proactive interference effects were comparable across age groups, retroactive interference reached catastrophic-like levels in children. Additionally, retroactive interference increased in adults when contextual differences between phases were minimized (Experiment 2), and decreased in adults who were more successful at encoding repeated pairs of stimuli during a training phase (Experiment 3). These results are discussed with respect to theories of memory and memory development.

Sleep and memory consolidation: Motor performance and proactive interference effects in sequence learning

That post-training sleep supports the consolidation of sequential motor skills remains debated. Performance improvement and sensitivity to proactive interference are both putative measures of long-term memory consolidation. We tested sleep-dependent memory consolidation for visuo-motor sequence learning using a proactive interference paradigm. Thirty-three young adults were trained on sequence A on Day 1, then had Regular Sleep (RS) or were Sleep Deprived (SD) on the night after learning. After two recovery nights, they were tested on the same sequence A, then had to learn a novel, potentially competing sequence B. We hypothesized that proactive interference effects on sequence B due to the prior learning of sequence A would be higher in the RS condition, considering that proactive interference is an indirect marker of the robustness of sequence A, which should be better consolidated over post-training sleep. Results highlighted sleep-dependent improvement for sequence A, with faster RTs overnight for RS participants only. Moreover, the beneficial impact of sleep was specific to the consolidation of motor but not sequential skills. Proactive interference effects on learning a new material at Day 4 were similar between RS and SD participants. These results suggest that post-training sleep contributes to optimizing motor but not sequential components of performance in visuo-motor sequence learning.

Experience with Proactive Interference Diminishes Its Memory Monitoring and Control

先前的学习与记忆对后继学习项目的削弱作用，称为前摄干扰。前摄干扰监控是指对前摄干扰造成的记忆成绩的削弱所进行的监督和调整。前摄干扰的监测偏差是指学习者对被干扰项目做出的监测判断比控制项目的判断等级高。研究考察“学．测经验”对前摄干扰监测、控制及干扰行为的修正作用。采用前摄干扰经典的A-B-D实验范式，利用三个实验分别考察前摄干扰监测偏差是否存在；考察增加“学-测经验”之后被试能否意识到前摄干扰的存在；以及增加“学-测经验”之后被试是否可以对前摄干扰进行修正。结果发现：（1）被试对前摄干扰存在监测偏差，且延迟判断的偏差更大。（2）在延迟判断条件下，通过增加“学．测经验”，可以修正监测偏差。（3）通过增加“学-测经验”，被试可以自主调控学习过程；用时较多的被试在自主调控学习过程之后能够完全克服前摄干扰。这一研究结果说明，“学-测经验”能够修正被试对前摄干扰的监控偏差：而当给予被试充分的学习时间，被试能够克服前摄干扰作用。研究为揭示前摄干扰的元记忆监控的规律、探索制约前摄干扰的因素及修正前摄干扰具有一定启示作用。

Ghosts in the machine: memory interference from the previous trial.

Previous memoranda can interfere with the memorization or storage of new information, a concept known as proactive interference. Studies of proactive interference typically use categorical memoranda and match-to-sample tasks with categorical measures such as the proportion of correct to incorrect responses. In this study we instead train five macaques in a spatial memory task with continuous memoranda and responses, allowing us to more finely probe working memory circuits. We first ask whether the memoranda from the previous trial result in proactive interference in an oculomotor delayed response task. We then characterize the spatial and temporal profile of this interference and ask whether this profile can be predicted by an attractor network model of working memory. We find that memory in the current trial shows a bias toward the location of the memorandum of the previous trial. The magnitude of this bias increases with the duration of the memory period within which it is measured. Our simulations using standard attractor network models of working memory show that these models easily replicate the spatial profile of the bias. However, unlike the behavioral findings, these attractor models show an increase in bias with the duration of the previous rather than the current memory period. To model a bias that increases with current trial duration we posit two separate memory stores, a rapidly decaying visual store that resists proactive interference effects and a sustained memory store that is susceptible to proactive interference.

Time-based loss in visual short-term memory is from trace decay, not temporal distinctiveness.

There is no consensus as to why forgetting occurs in short-term memory tasks. In past work, we have shown that forgetting occurs with the passage of time, but there are 2 classes of theories that can explain this effect. In the present work, we investigate the reason for time-based forgetting by contrasting the predictions of temporal distinctiveness and trace decay in the procedure in which we have observed such loss, involving memory for arrays of characters or letters across several seconds. The 1st theory, temporal distinctiveness, predicts that increasing the amount of time between trials will lead to less proactive interference, resulting in less forgetting across a retention interval. In the 2nd theory, trace decay, temporal distinctiveness between trials is irrelevant to the loss over a retention interval. Using visual array change detection tasks in 4 experiments, we find small proactive interference effects on performance under some specific conditions, but no concomitant change in the effect of a retention interval. We conclude that trace decay is the more suitable class of explanations of the time-based forgetting in short-term memory that we have observed, and we suggest the need for further clarity in what the exact basis of that decay may be.

Testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating competing information.

Testing initially learned information before presenting new information has been shown to counteract the deleterious effects of proactive interference by segregating competing sources of information. The present experiments were conducted to demonstrate that testing can also have its effects in part by integrating competing information. Variations of classic A-B, A-D paired-associate learning paradigms were employed that included two lists of word pairs and a cued-recall test. Repeated pairs appeared in both lists (A-B, A-B), control pairs appeared in List 2 only (A-B, C-D), and changed pairs appeared with the same cue in both lists but with different responses (A-B, A-D). The critical manipulation was whether pairs were tested or restudied in an interpolated phase that occurred between Lists 1 and 2. On a final cued-recall test, participants recalled List 2 responses and then indicated when they recollected that responses had earlier changed between lists. The change recollection measure indexed the extent to which competing responses were integrated during List 2. Change was recollected more often for tested than for restudied pairs. Proactive facilitation was obtained in cued recall when change was recollected, whereas proactive interference was obtained when change was not recollected. These results provide evidence that testing counteracted proactive interference in part by making List 1 responses more accessible during List 2, thus promoting integration and increasing later recollection of change. These results have theoretical implications because they show that testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating or segregating competing information.

Everyday-like memory and its cognitive correlates in healthy older adults and in young patients with traumatic brain injury: a pilot study based on virtual reality

Purpose State: A pilot-study with a comparison approach between aging and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is proposed to investigate everyday object memory patterns using a virtual HOMES test. Methods: Sixteen young controls, 15 older adults and 15 TBI patients underwent the HOMES test and traditional tests. Results: Older adults and TBI patients exhibited similar HOMES performances: poor recall, a greater recognition benefit, high false recognitions, but intact clustering and proactive interference effects. The age-related differences for HOMES measures were mainly mediated by executive functioning, while the HOMES performances in the TBI group were correlated with memory measures. Conclusion: The differential cognitive mediating effects for a similar everyday-like memory pattern are discussed by highlighting the need for more cautious interpretations of cognitive mechanisms behind similar behavioral patterns in different populations especially in clinical and rehabilitation settings.Implication for RehabilitationVirtual reality might provide ecological scenarios to assess the multiple processes of everyday memory in elderly people as well as in TBI patients.A similar pattern of Everyday-like memory failures might result from different cognitive origins among different neuropsychological patients.The assessment of specific cognitive origins of Everyday-like memory impairments deserves consideration for drawing up relevant rehabilitative programs that match the specific cognitive needs of patients for performing everyday memory tasks.

Do emotional stimuli interfere with two distinct components of inhibition?

Emotions have recently been shown to interfere with the efficacy of inhibitory control. However, understanding their impact requires taking into account that inhibition is not a unitary construct, but consists of distinct functions underlain by specific mechanisms. In this study, 88 participants performed two emotional versions of classic laboratory tasks designed to assess (1) the ability to inhibit a prepotent response (a stop-signal task using faces with different emotional expressions) and (2) the capacity to resist the effect of proactive interference (PI; a recent negative task that included emotional words). Overall results showed that emotional stimuli interfered with inhibition capacities in both tasks. Although tending in the same direction, these results suggest that different underlying mechanisms (e.g., top-down vs. bottom-up processes) or consecutive differences in emotional processing (e.g., different interactions with stimulus/task properties, processing stages or motivational aspects) are at play in these two inhibition-related functions.