Short-term and working memory tasks

A small set of items must be held, and sometimes manipulated, over a delay of seconds before a probe or reproduction; span, capacity or set-size effects are the measures.

This family contains 7 tasks.

Change Detection

Brief sample array followed after a blank delay by a probe array; participant reports whether any item changed. Yields visual working memory capacity (K). Engages 4 processesVisual working memoryActive maintenanceSelective attentionEncoding. 2 aliasesLuck-Vogel TaskVWM Capacity Task, 7 variationsStandard Color Change DetectionSingle-Probe Change DetectionOrientation Change DetectionConjunction Change DetectionChange Detection with FilteringContinuous Report / Precision TaskSequential Presentation.

Corsi Block-Tapping

Experimenter taps a sequence on spatially arranged blocks; participant reproduces the sequence forward or backward. Indexes visuospatial short-term and working memory span. Engages 4 processesSpatial working memoryActive maintenanceSpatial memoryManipulation. 3 aliasesCorsiBlock TappingCorsi Span, 7 variationsForward Corsi SpanBackward Corsi SpanComputerized (eCorsi)Supra-Span CorsiWalking Corsi (large-scale)Sequential vs. Simultaneous PresentationCrossed/Uncrossed Paths.

Delayed Match-to-Sample

Sample stimulus followed by a delay and then a probe or choice array; response indicates whether the probe matches the sample. Indexes short-term memory maintenance. Engages 4 processesActive maintenanceRecognitionEncodingVisual working memory. 3 aliasesDMTSDMSDelayed Match-to-Sample, 7 variationsStandard DMTSVariable Delay DMTSMulti-Choice DMTSDMTS with Distraction During DelaySpatial DMTSDMTS with Object Complexity ManipulationDelayed Non-Match-to-Sample (DNMS).

Digit Span

Auditory or visual digit sequences reproduced in forward or backward order; longest correctly reproduced length indexes verbal short-term and working memory span. Engages 5 processesVerbal working memoryRehearsalActive maintenanceManipulationChunking. 3 aliasesDSForward/Backward SpanDigit Span, 11 variationsForward Digit SpanBackward Digit SpanDigit Span Sequencing (WAIS-IV)Letter-Number SequencingAuditory vs. Visual PresentationAdaptive Staircase VersionsSpatial Digit SpanRunning Digit SpanGrouped/Chunked PresentationMatrix SpanSupra-Span Lists.

N-Back

Continuous stream in which each item must be compared to the one n items back; accuracy and RT index working memory updating and monitoring. Engages 5 processesWorking memory updatingActive maintenanceWorking memoryInterference controlResponse selection. 2 aliasesN-BackDual N-Back, 8 variationsVerbal N-BackSpatial N-BackEmotional N-BackDual N-BackFractal/Object N-BackAdaptive N-BackN-Back with LuresAuditory N-Back.

Operation Span

Alternating arithmetic verification and word/letter memory items; complex-span score indexes working memory capacity under processing load. Engages 5 processesWorking memoryActive maintenanceVerbal working memoryDivided attentionInterference control. 3 aliasesOSPANComplex SpanOperation Span, 6 variationsAutomated OSPAN (AOSPAN)Reading Span (RSPAN)Symmetry Span (SYMSPAN)Counting SpanShortened OSPANAdaptive OSPAN.

Sternberg Item Recognition

Short memory set followed by a probe; yes/no judgment of set membership. RT typically scales linearly with set size. Engages 5 processesActive maintenanceRetrievalWorking memoryVerbal working memoryResponse selection. 2 aliasesSternberg Memory ScanningMemory Search Task, 5 variationsVisual SternbergAuditory SternbergCross-Modal SternbergSternberg with Irrelevant ItemsRecent-Probes Sternberg.