Effects of Sequencing of Information and Interstimulus Interval in Metered-Memory Search

Abstract

The effects of information sequencing and variations in interstimulus interval were investigated in a metered-memory-search paradigm where S responded with a rule-defined letter belonging to a memory set. If information concerning the starting point of the search was presented before the defining rule, the over-all latency was shorter than if the reverse was the case, supporting the notion that isolation of the starting position is an integral component of the metered-memory-search task. Increasing the interstimulus interval between information about the starting position and rule-defining transformation resulted over-all in a longer latency but had no effect on rate of search.