Critical Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Research

Running head: ARTICLE CRITIQUE 1
Critical Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Research Article
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

ARTICLE CRITIQUE 2
Critical Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Research Article
Critical analysis of a peer-reviewed research article helps to conclude the reliability of
research findings, its validity and future implications in the particular field of research. The
following sections of the paper will critically analyze the peer-reviewed research article by
Zokaei et al. (2014) with the article title ‘Causal Evidence for a Privileged Working Memory
State in Early Visual Cortex’.
Background
The authors Zokaei et al. (2014) state that satisfactory evidence is present to support
the statement that the working memory does no hold all the items in the same
representational state, which leads to few items being recalled with greater accessibility and
more precision as they are more privileged than others in working memory. The researchers
aim at finding evidence to support the differential susceptibility of the items in working
memory to disruptive transcranial magnetic stimulation. The differential susceptibility of the
items in working memory is dependent on their current state and is determined by wither the
serial position of the task or its relevance.
Methods
To achieve the objective of the study, the researchers used two experiment sets with
the variable target items that were arranged on the basis of “incidental cue” and “virtue of
recency”. The common intervention applied in both of the experiment sets were an
application of transcranial magnetic stimulation to the area of MT+ (containing both middle
temporal and medial superior temporal). This intervention method is coherent to the research
objective and highly appropriate for the research question. This is due to the fact that the
researcher aims at analyzing the differential susceptibility of items in working memory
towards transcranial magnetic stimulation that is arranged with an incidental cue or was
added at last to imply the virtue of recency. The research findings from such a study will help

ARTICLE CRITIQUE 3
to present a concluding statement on the item arrangement in the representational state in the
working memory of humans.
The participants selected for the conduct of the study were unequally distributed for
the two task experiment sets. In experiment 1, a total of 13 participants took part and in
experiment 2, 17 participants took part. No information has been provided for the selection of
the sample population, which makes it difficult to analyze whether the sample size was
biased or randomized. Moreover, the unequal distribution of the sample size for the trail sets
often leads to unequal variances between the samples. According to Vanhove (2015), equal
distribution of sample size maximizes the statistical power and increases the chances by 76%
to detect systematic differences between the two groups. Thus, the selection of the
participants and unequal sample size distribution reduces the efficacy of the methodology that
will be followed in the intervention groups.
Evaluation of Neuroscience Methods
For MT+ localization in the participants, the researchers used fMRI with the help of
Random Dot Kinematograms of alternating blocks of static versus moving. For the
subsequent application of transcranial magnetic stimulation, the left MT+ location was
marked on the scalps of the participants. For transcranial magnetic stimulation, Magtism
Rapid2 delivered the stimulation. The researchers take care of non-specific effects of this
intervention, such as tactile artifacts and acoustic by keeping the trails of low-intensity with
the combination of vertex stimulation and the intervening methods that can be deemed to be
appropriate for the research.
Data Analysis Approach
The study comprises data collected from two sets of trial experiments, leading to two
sets of variables acting as factors. For statistical analysis of the data collected, researchers
employ two-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) for confounding the factors of target