FIGURE 2.

Example of the sequence of events in a trial of the Sternberg-type task. (1) First, a message appears for 1 s, alerting the subject of the imminent appearance of the information relevant to the task. (2) Once the alert message disappears, a row of 9 consonants appears for 9 s. (3) Next, there is a 5 s delay period, and lastly; (4) a single consonant appears in the center of the screen. The subject must indicate, by pressing a key, if said consonant was in the row of consonants previously presented. This consonant remains on the screen until the subject gives the answer. To answer “Yes” the subject has to press the “m” key and to answer “No” the “c” key on the computer keyboard. This figure has been adapted from the original task of Sternberg (1966).