Question

What differences in brain activity (based on fMRI data) do we see between the primacy and recency effect?

Answer 1

The current study inspects whether a pattern of huge recency effects and small primacy effects documented in studies of previous working memory is particular to duty conditions applied in those studies, or across manipulations of duty-demand. 2 experiments vary task-demands by needing participants to remember lists of letters as well as to then replied to a subsequent two-item probe by specify either the item which was presented in future in the list or the item was given earlier.

Analyses tested the prediction that a task of WM highlighting later items in a list will motivate exaggerated recency effects and reduce the force of primacy effects, moreover a task highlighting previous items (judgment of primacy) will motivate exaggerated primacy effects and reduce the force of recency effects. Results of  Behavioral from 2 experiments confirmed this type of prediction.

fMRI contrasts has stated no brain regions where the activity was significantly changed by the existence of recency items in the probe. However, existence of the primacy item in the probe significantly affect activity in frontal lobe brain areas combined to active maintenance, but the direction and location of activation changes varied as a purpose of instructions of task. Both experiments demonstrate that the neural and behavioral signatures of WM, particularly related to recency effects and primacy effects, are dependent on task-demands.