A Critical Evaluation of c as a Measure of Mnemonic Resolution

Richard D. Morey; Candice C. Morey; Benoit Brisson; Sebastien Tremblay

doi:10.1037/a0027335

A Critical Evaluation of c as a Measure of Mnemonic Resolution

Richard D. Morey^*, Candice C. Morey, Benoit Brisson, Sebastien Tremblay

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review

Abstract

It is known that visual working memory capacity is limited, but the nature of this limit remains a subject of controversy. Increasingly, two factors are thought to limit visual memory: an object-based limit associated with so-called "slots" models, and an information-based limit associated with resource models. Recently, Barton, Ester, and Awh (2009) introduced a measure of mnemonic resolution, which they dubbed c. We show here that c is critically flawed, and cannot be interpreted as a measure of resolution. We recommend strongly against its use and interpretation, and suggest alternatives approaches for researchers who want to explore mnemonic resolution.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1069-1072
Number of pages	4
Journal	Journal of Experimental Psycholgoy: Human Perception and Performance
Volume	38
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027335
Publication status	Published - Aug 2012

Keywords

SHORT-TERM-MEMORY
change detection
working memory
ALLOCATION
CAPACITY
modeling
SHIFTS
RESOURCES
process models
capacity
mnemonic resolution
VISUAL WORKING-MEMORY

Access to Document

10.1037/a0027335

Cite this

@article{a91f4e18091a4463afeae99751733617,

title = "A Critical Evaluation of c as a Measure of Mnemonic Resolution",

abstract = "It is known that visual working memory capacity is limited, but the nature of this limit remains a subject of controversy. Increasingly, two factors are thought to limit visual memory: an object-based limit associated with so-called {"}slots{"} models, and an information-based limit associated with resource models. Recently, Barton, Ester, and Awh (2009) introduced a measure of mnemonic resolution, which they dubbed c. We show here that c is critically flawed, and cannot be interpreted as a measure of resolution. We recommend strongly against its use and interpretation, and suggest alternatives approaches for researchers who want to explore mnemonic resolution.",

keywords = "SHORT-TERM-MEMORY, change detection, working memory, ALLOCATION, CAPACITY, modeling, SHIFTS, RESOURCES, process models, capacity, mnemonic resolution, VISUAL WORKING-MEMORY",

author = "Morey, {Richard D.} and Morey, {Candice C.} and Benoit Brisson and Sebastien Tremblay",

year = "2012",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1037/a0027335",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

pages = "1069--1072",

journal = "Journal of Experimental Psycholgoy: Human Perception and Performance",

issn = "0096-1523",

publisher = "American Psychological Association Inc.",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Critical Evaluation of c as a Measure of Mnemonic Resolution

AU - Morey, Richard D.

AU - Morey, Candice C.

AU - Brisson, Benoit

AU - Tremblay, Sebastien

PY - 2012/8

Y1 - 2012/8

N2 - It is known that visual working memory capacity is limited, but the nature of this limit remains a subject of controversy. Increasingly, two factors are thought to limit visual memory: an object-based limit associated with so-called "slots" models, and an information-based limit associated with resource models. Recently, Barton, Ester, and Awh (2009) introduced a measure of mnemonic resolution, which they dubbed c. We show here that c is critically flawed, and cannot be interpreted as a measure of resolution. We recommend strongly against its use and interpretation, and suggest alternatives approaches for researchers who want to explore mnemonic resolution.

AB - It is known that visual working memory capacity is limited, but the nature of this limit remains a subject of controversy. Increasingly, two factors are thought to limit visual memory: an object-based limit associated with so-called "slots" models, and an information-based limit associated with resource models. Recently, Barton, Ester, and Awh (2009) introduced a measure of mnemonic resolution, which they dubbed c. We show here that c is critically flawed, and cannot be interpreted as a measure of resolution. We recommend strongly against its use and interpretation, and suggest alternatives approaches for researchers who want to explore mnemonic resolution.

KW - SHORT-TERM-MEMORY

KW - change detection

KW - working memory

KW - ALLOCATION

KW - CAPACITY

KW - modeling

KW - SHIFTS

KW - RESOURCES

KW - process models

KW - capacity

KW - mnemonic resolution

KW - VISUAL WORKING-MEMORY

U2 - 10.1037/a0027335

DO - 10.1037/a0027335

M3 - Editorial

VL - 38

SP - 1069

EP - 1072

JO - Journal of Experimental Psycholgoy: Human Perception and Performance

JF - Journal of Experimental Psycholgoy: Human Perception and Performance

SN - 0096-1523

IS - 4

ER -

A Critical Evaluation of c as a Measure of Mnemonic Resolution

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this