Department of Psychology

Memory research

My memory-related research mainly revolves around two topics. The first one is concerned with the interplay of attention and working memory and the (de-)selection of working memory content. An important question is: What happens to working memory items when they are no longer needed? This question is addressed using working memory updating tasks as well as the retro-cue paradigm.

The second interest is the role of the language production modality for long-term memory retrieval. There is evidence for a superiority of the written over the oral mode for list-wise material, however, with other material there are also divergent results. Currently, we are trying to investigate constraints and the generalizability of such observations.

Recent publications:

Janczyk, M., Aßmann, M., & Grabowski, J. (2018). Oral vs. written recall of long-term memory items: Replicating and extending the Writing Superiority Effect across knowledge domains. American Journal of Psychology, 131, 263-272.

Janczyk, M. (2017). A common capacity limitation for response and item selection in working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43, 1690-1698.

Gressmann, M., & Janczyk, M. (2016). The (un)clear case of invalid retro-cues. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 244.

Janczyk, M., & Reuss, H. (2016). Only pre-cueing but no retro-cueing effects emerge with masked arrow cues. Consciousness and Cognition, 42, 93-100.

Janczyk, M. & Berryhill, M.E. (2014). Orienting attention in visual working memory requires central capacity: Decreased retro-cue effects under dual-task conditions. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. 76, 715-724.

Janczyk, M. & Grabowski, J. (2011). The focus of attention in working memory: Evidence from a word updating task. Memory, 19, 211-225.

Janczyk, M., Wienrich , C. & Kunde, W. (2008). On the costs of refocusing items in working memory: A matter of inhibition or decay? Memory, 16, 374-385.

Janczyk, M., Schöler, H. & Grabowski, J. (2004). Arbeitsgedächtnis und Aufmerksamkeit bei Vorschulkindern mit gestörter und unauffälliger Sprachentwicklung. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie, 36, 200-206.