FIGURE 1.

From Lemaire et al. (2017). (Upper) Simulated time course of a complex span task in which items J, N, H, and F are encoded (light gray areas). Two distractors are processed in-between each letter presentation (dark gray areas). Free time (white areas) is used to refresh items. Curves represent the total activation value of each item with respect to its position. (Lower) Connections between position units and item units. Each item is represented by a single unit. Each position is represented by several position units. Black and white squares represent position coding. For instance, position 1 is coded by units 3, 6, 8, 12, 13… Positions 1 and 2 share units 3 and 8. Examples of specific processes: (i) item J is encoded and associated to all units of position 1; (ii) item N is encoded and associated to all units of position 2; (iii) all activation values decay during distracting task; (iv) during free time, items are retrieved and refreshed for each position in turn; (v) during the free time following the second distractor after item H was presented, item H was erroneously retrieved at position 2 instead of N. Then, H was associated to all units of position 2.