Intertrial Intervals and Motor Short-Term Memory

Abstract

Earlier work which showed no proactive inhibition (PI) effects in motor short-term memory (STM) may have failed to do so because the long intertrial intervals used may have allowed the traces from previous positions to weaken and become ineffective in producing PI. The present investigation determined whether the intertrial interval was a factor in PI. The task involved presentation and recall (after a 10-sec. retention interval) of positions along a trackway, each subject having 10 different positions on each of 10 trials. Intertrial intervals were either 10 or 90 sec. for two groups of 20 subjects. No PI occurred and intertrial intervals was not a variable in PI, which failed to support the view that motor and verbal STM may be similar systems.