References
- Monsell, S. (1978). Recency, immediate recognition memory, and reaction time. Cognitive Psychology, 10(4), 465-501. 10.1016/0010-0285(78)90008-7
- Sochat, V. V., Eisenberg, I. W., Enkavi, A. Z., Li, J., Bissett, P. G., & Poldrack, R. A. (2016). The Experiment Factory: Standardizing behavioral experiments. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 610. 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00610
- Oberauer, K. (2005). Binding and inhibition in working memory: Individual and age differences in short-term recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134(3), 368-387. 10.1037/0096-3445.134.3.368
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the recent-probes task?
A working-memory recognition task, introduced in Monsell's 1978 work, in which some negative probes were targets on the previous trial — creating proactive interference.
What is the recent-negative cost?
Slower or less accurate responses to negative probes that were targets on a recent trial compared with never-presented probes — the task's key index.
What does the cost reveal?
That memory contents linger and must be actively controlled; imaging work links better resolution of this conflict to fronto-basal-ganglia control mechanisms.
Why is this paradigm valuable?
It isolates a specific executive function — resisting proactive interference — inside a simple, well-controlled recognition task.
About This Experiment
This experiment is an educational adaptation for demonstration purposes. It is not a clinical diagnostic tool. Results reflect your performance in this specific session and should not be interpreted as an assessment of your cognitive abilities.
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