The reaction-time task-rule congruency effect is not affected by working memory load: further support for the activated long-term memory hypothesis

• Published in: Psychological research Vol. 74; no. 4; pp. 388 - 399
• Main Authors: Kessler, Yoav, Meiran, Nachshon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.07.2010; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Experiments; Humans; Hypotheses; Memory; Memory, Short-Term; Original Article; Psychological research; Psychological Theory; Psychology; Psychology Research; Reaction Time; Load Task; Work Memory Load; Task Switching; Work Memory; Compatibility Effect
• ISSN: 0340-0727; 1430-2772; 1430-2772
• DOI: 10.1007/s00426-009-0261-z

Previous studies claimed that task representation is carried out by the activated long-term memory portion of working memory (WM; Meiran and Kessler in J Exp Psychol Human Percept Perform 34:137–157, 2008 ). The present study provides a more direct support for this hypothesis. We used the reaction-time task-rule congruency effect (RT-TRCE) in a task-switching setup, and tested the effects of loading WM with irrelevant task rules on RT-TRCE. Experiment 1 manipulated WM load in a between-subject design. WM participants performed a color/shape task switching, while having 0, 1 or 3 numerical task rules as WM load. Experiment 2 used a similar load manipulation (1 or 3 rules to load WM) in a within-subject design. Experiment 3 extended these results by loading WM with perceptual tasks that were more similar to the shape/color tasks. The results show that RT-TRCE was not affected by WM load supporting the activated long-term memory hypothesis.