Consistent visual context between sample and probe boosts all measures of VSTM performance, and the benefit is preserved across the adult age range¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Performance was better on all VSTM measures when probe context matched the sample display. → Daniel J. Mitchell 2018 q3 i? Context increased Kmax by 0.18 items on average, enough to compensate for approximately 30 years of age-related decline. → Daniel J. Mitchell 2018 (2) q3 i? Kmax, precision, and misbinding showed no age-by-context interaction, with Bayes factors favoring the null; the RMSE interaction was weakly significant without sensorimotor adjustment but nonsignificant after adjustment. → Daniel J. Mitchell 2018 (3)

Evidence¶

Daniel J. Mitchell 2018¶

Daniel J. Mitchell, Cam-CAN (Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience), Rhodri Cusack. (2018). Visual Short-Term Memory Through the Lifespan: Preserved Benefits of Context and Metacognition. Psychology and Aging. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000265

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Linear mixed effects model on the Cam-CAN sample with within-subject factor of probe context (present, absent), age covariate, and participant random effect. Context was experimentally manipulated, supporting a causal boost to VSTM performance.

"An effect of context was also observed for all measures, with performance being better when the context matched between probe and sample."

Daniel J. Mitchell 2018 (2)¶

Daniel J. Mitchell, Cam-CAN (Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience), Rhodri Cusack. (2018). Visual Short-Term Memory Through the Lifespan: Preserved Benefits of Context and Metacognition. Psychology and Aging. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000265

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Descriptive estimate from the same mixed effects analysis: reinstating the colors of uncued items at probe raised maximum item capacity by 0.18 items on average. This is a printed mean difference, not a standardized effect size.

"In terms of the number of reportable items, the presence of context increased Kmax by 0.18 items on average, enough to compensate for approximately 30 years of age-related decline."

Daniel J. Mitchell 2018 (3)¶

Daniel J. Mitchell, Cam-CAN (Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience), Rhodri Cusack. (2018). Visual Short-Term Memory Through the Lifespan: Preserved Benefits of Context and Metacognition. Psychology and Aging. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000265

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Age-by-context interaction tests in the linear mixed effects model, run with and without sensorimotor adjustment. For RMSE the article reports a weakly significant interaction (p = .037) without adjustment that became nonsignificant (p = .054) after adjustment, with the context benefit on RMSE dropping from 8.7 to 5.8 degrees over 71 years.

"the measures of Kmax, precision and misbinding showed no interaction of age and context, and Bayes factors indicated substantial evidence in favor of the null hypothesis."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• VSTM performance declines with advancing adult age in raw error, item capacity, precision, and misbinding, even after adjusting for sensorimotor performance — related