Abstract
The role of verbal and visuospatial working memory in rule-based and information-integration category learning was examined. Previously, Maddox, Ashby, Ing, and Pickering (2004) found that a sequentially presented verbal working memory task did not affect information-integration learning, but disrupted rule-based learning when the rule was on the spatial frequency of a Gabor stimulus. This pattern was replicated in Experiment 1, in which the same category structures were used, but in which the verbal working memory task was replaced with a visuospatial analog. Experiment 2A examined rule-based learning on an oblique orientation and also found both verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks disrupting learning. Experiment 2B examined rule-based learning on a cardinal orientation and found a minimal effect of the verbal working memory task, but a large effect of the visuospatial working memory task. The conceptual significance of cardinal orientations and the role of visuospatial and verbal working memory in category learning are discussed.
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This research was supported in part by National Institute of Health Grant R01 MH59196 AFOSR FA9550-06-1-0204 to W.T.M.
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Zeithamova, D., Maddox, W.T. The role of visuospatial and verbal working memory in perceptual category learning. Memory & Cognition 35, 1380–1398 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193609
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193609