The N-back task is often considered to be a canonical example of a task that relies on working memory (WM), requiring both maintenance of representations of previously presented stimuli and also processing of these representations. In particular, the set-size effect in this task (e.g., poorer performance on three-back than two-back judgments), as in others, is often interpreted as indicating that the task relies on retention and processing of information in a limited-capacity WM system. Here, we consider an alternative possibility: that retention in episodic memory (EM) rather than WM can account for both set-size and lure effects in the N-back task. Accordingly, performance in the N-back task may reflect engagement of the processing ("working") function of WM but not necessarily limits in either that processing ability nor in retention ("memory"). To demonstrate this point, we constructed a neural network model that was augmented with an EM component, but lacked any capacity to retain information across trials in WM, and trained it to perform the N-back task. We show that this model can account for the set-size and lure effects obtained in an N-back study by M. J. Kane et al. (2007), and that it does so as a result of the well-understood effects of temporal distinctiveness on EM retrieval, and the processing of this information in WM. These findings help illuminate the ways in which WM may interact with EM in the service of cognitive function and add to a growing body of evidence that tasks commonly assumed to rely on WM may alternatively (or additionally) rely on EM. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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当工作记忆可能只是工作时，而不是记忆。

N-back 任务通常被认为是依赖工作记忆 (WM) 的任务的典型示例，既需要维护先前呈现的刺激的表示，也需要处理这些表示。特别是，与其他任务一样，该任务中的集合大小效应（例如，三背判断的性能比两背判断的性能较差）通常被解释为表明该任务依赖于在有限的范围内保留和处理信息。容量WM系统。在这里，我们考虑另一种可能性：情景记忆（EM）而不是 WM 中的保留可以解释 N-back 任务中的集合大小和诱饵效应。因此，N-back 任务中的表现可以反映 WM 的处理（“工作”）功能的参与，但不一定限制该处理能力或保留（“记忆”）。为了证明这一点，我们构建了一个神经网络模型，该模型使用 EM 组件进行了增强，但缺乏在 WM 中的试验中保留信息的能力，并训练它执行 N-back 任务。我们证明该模型可以解释 MJ Kane 等人在 N-back 研究中获得的集合大小和诱饵效应。(2007)，并且它这样做是由于时间独特性对 EM 检索以及 WM 中该信息的处理的众所周知的影响。这些发现有助于阐明 WM 与 EM 相互作用以服务于认知功能的方式，并增加了越来越多的证据表明通常认为依赖于 WM 的任务也可能（或另外）依赖于 EM。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。