A semantic strategy instruction intervention aimed at boosting young and older adults' visual working memory capacity.
Greater semantic availability (meaningfulness) within visual stimuli can positively impact visual working memory performance. Across two experiments, we investigated the effects of semantic availability and, for the first time, semantic strategy instruction on visual working memory performance. Expe...
| Published in: | Memory & Cognition Vol. 53; no. 6; pp. 1677 - 1696 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Aug2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=187671944&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 187671944 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0090502X MEG jtl: Memory & Cognition issn: 0090502X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2025 vid: 53 iid: 6 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 187671944 10.3758/s13421-024-01676-8 ppf: 1677 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 984KB tig: atl: A semantic strategy instruction intervention aimed at boosting young and older adults' visual working memory capacity. aug: au: Hart, Rebecca Nicholls, Louise A. Brown affil: https://ror.org/00n3w3b69 Department of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, 40 George Street, G1 1QE, Glasgow, UK su: United Kingdom Task performance Age distribution Randomized controlled trials Analysis of variance Semantics Cognition Adults Old age Data analysis Research funding Statistical sampling Factorial experiment designs Questionnaires Probability theory Mann Whitney U Test Experimental design Statistics Neuropsychological tests Semantic memory Visual perception Short-term memory Comparative studies sug: subj: Task performance Age distribution Randomized controlled trials Analysis of variance Semantics Cognition Adults Old age United Kingdom Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Data analysis Research funding Statistical sampling Factorial experiment designs Questionnaires Probability theory Mann Whitney U Test Experimental design Statistics Neuropsychological tests Semantic memory Visual perception Short-term memory Comparative studies keyword: Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Visual working memory · Strategy instruction training · Semantic long-term memory · Cognitive ageing/aging Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Visual working memory · Strategy instruction training · Semantic long-term memory · Cognitive ageing/aging ab: Greater semantic availability (meaningfulness) within visual stimuli can positively impact visual working memory performance. Across two experiments, we investigated the effects of semantic availability and, for the first time, semantic strategy instruction on visual working memory performance. Experiment 1 focused on young adults' (aged 18–35 years) strategies during visual matrix task recognition. Results highlighted an existing propensity to report incorporating a semantic strategy. Interestingly, there was no significant effect of semantic availability within the task stimuli. Semantic strategy instruction also did not boost, or indeed hinder, accuracy. Experiment 2 incorporated older adults (aged 60–87 years) and highlighted marked differences in capacity with older age. Greater semantic availability reliably benefitted capacity for young adults only. Furthermore, semantic strategy instruction neither boosted nor hindered capacity, even in older adults. There were also some interesting patterns regarding reported strategy use across groups. Again, participants reported spontaneously using semantic strategies, particularly young adults. However, instruction may have encouraged more frequent use of semantic strategies in older adults. Finally, the results suggest a role for task practice, likely related to strategy development and implementation over time. Future semantic strategy instruction protocols may need to incorporate more extensive training and/or practice to benefit working memory capacity. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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