Working memory and retrieval: A resource-dependent inhibition model.
DOI: 10.1037//0096-3445.123.4.354
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This study investigated how individual differences in working memory capacity influence retrieval from primary and secondary memory using four experiments. Participants were classified as high or low working memory span and performed speeded verification tasks involving memory sets of varying sizes under conditions that required either immediate search or delayed activation. Results indicated that working memory capacity affected retrieval performance only in primary memory conditions, specifically when interference or response competition was present. Retrieval from secondary memory was found to be independent of set size for sets larger than two items and did not differ between high and low capacity groups. The authors conclude that working memory capacity reflects the ability to inhibit irrelevant information during controlled search rather than the speed of automatic activation.
Key finding
Individual differences in working memory capacity affect retrieval from primary memory under conditions of interference but do not affect retrieval from secondary memory.
Methodology
lab_experiment
Sample size: 80
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via openalex_abstract on 2026-05-08 (13 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-07 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 4 | 2026-05-28 |
| extract | skipped | empty | — | — | 4 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
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| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-08 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-07 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b | — | 3 | 2026-06-01 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 18 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-03 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-01; verification: verified.
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