COGNITIVE SEQUENCE KNOWLEDGE - WHAT IS LEARNED

In 4 experiments, participants performed running-arithmetic tasks. The se tasks involved a sequential ordering of individual operations and a structure of subgoals that defined how calculations fit together in p urpose. Consistent transitions between adjacent steps facilitated perf ormance only when subgoal structures were relatively simple. When subg oal structures were more complex, consistent mapping of operations to serial locations produced a slight benefit. Consistency of subgoal str ucture produced a substantial benefit in both speed and accuracy, and some knowledge of subgoal structure integrated with knowledge of the s equence of operations. Apparently, a task's subgoal structure imposes demands that either facilitate or obscure benefits of sequence consist encies. The benefits are attributed to increased efficiency in using w orking memory.