Dataset for "Distinguishing between temporary and permanent removal in verbal working memory"

Dataset for “Distinguishing between temporary and permanent removal in verbal working memory”

Manuscript's abstract

We employed the retro-cue paradigm to examine performance improvements resulting from permanent versus temporary removal in verbal working memory. Permanent removal entails discarding a subset of WM representations marked as definitively irrelevant, while temporary removal involves momentarily setting aside the uncued subset of representations from the attentional focus, preserving accessibility for later refocusing. We observed that permanent and temporary removal led to marked progressive reductions in reaction time and errors across cue-target intervals (200, 400, 800, and 1600 ms), reflecting the gradual simplification of the search set following informative cues. Although removal conditions did not differ in accuracy, responses were slower in the temporary removal condition, especially at the longest interval. A key finding was that performance in the temporary removal condition, but not in the permanent removal condition, was modulated by the presentation order of the target's memory set. This order effect was also observed in a non-removal control condition where double retro-cues marked all presented information as relevant. We suggest that these order effects depend on maintaining the integrity of the retrieval structure (all the contextual cues) needed to guide attentional access to specific representations, including those provisionally set aside in the temporary removal condition. In conclusion, the primary distinction between permanent and temporary removal processes is that permanent removal simplifies the retrieval structure by eliminating unnecessary contextual cues, resulting in a greater reduction in the complexity of the search set compared to temporary removal.

Dataset description

FILES: one_row_per_trial.csv, one_row_per_trial.xlsx

Column 1: participant_id (from 1 to 56).Column 2: participant_sex (0 = female; 1 = male; 2 = other).Column 3: participant_age (in years).Column 4: frame_1_locus (the location of the presentation frame where the first set is presented; up: above the fixation cross; down: below the fixation cross).Column 5: trial_number (from 17 to 64, block 1; from 81 to 128, block 2; from 145 to 192, block 3; from 209 to 256, block 4. The 16 missing trials preceding each block were practice trials).Column 6: condition (c1 = permanent removal; c2 = temporary removal; c3 = control-2; c4 = control-4)Column 7: cue_target_interval (i1 = 200 ms; i2 = 400 ms; i3 = 800 ms; i4 = 1600 ms).Column 7: presentation_frame (f1 = presentation frame 1 = the target belonged to the set presented first; f2 = presentation frame 2 = the target belonged to the set presented second).Column 8: rt1 (reaction time; 0 = no response within the 1200-ms response window) Column 9: acc1 (accuracy; 1 = correct response; 0 = incorrect response or no response within the response window)Column 10: rt2 (reaction time in the second response of the temporary removal condition; reaction time; 0 = no response within the 1200-ms response window).Column 11: acc2 (accuracy in the second response of the temporary removal condition; 1 = correct response; 0 = incorrect response or no response within the response window).