Multitasking behavior and its related constructs: Executive functions, working memory capacity, relational integration, and divided attention

Cognition ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 189 ◽  
pp. 275-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samsad Afrin Himi ◽  
Markus Bühner ◽  
Matthias Schwaighofer ◽  
Anna Klapetek ◽  
Sven Hilbert
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Relational Integration

scholarly journals Fundamental Relationships of Executive Functions and Physiological Abilities with Game Intelligence, Game Time and Injuries in Elite Soccer Players

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Erik Scharfen ◽  
Daniel Memmert
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Endurance Performance ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Soccer Players ◽  
Injury Incidence ◽  
Performance Parameters

Abstract Objectives: The study’s aim was threefold: examine 1) the relation between executive functions and coach-rated evaluation of game intelligence; 2) the predictive value of cognitive and athletic performance parameters concerning playing time, and 3) injuries to analyze fundamental associations of soccer expertise across all ages.Design/Methods: A sample of 172 elite soccer players (12-34 years of age) performed tests assessing multiple-object tracking, working memory capacity, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition. Endurance-performance at the individual anaerobic threshold (IAT), ability to repeatedly perform intense exercises (RIEA) and maximal anaerobic performance parameters (squat jump, countermovement jump, drop jump, sprint) were also measured. Game intelligence game time and injury incidence were tracked.Results: Working memory capacity, cognitive flexibility, and a total cognition score showed correlations with game intelligence, and the same parameter, along with selective attention and game intelligence, were also correlated with game time. Sprint and RIEA were connected with game time, whereas contact injuries only correlated with sprint, and noncontact injuries with sprint and performance-IAT.Conclusion: Especially executive functions represent fundamental associations with game intelligence and game time across all age groups but not with injury incidences, whereas certain physiological abilities may contribute to more game time and less non-contact injuries depending on age.

scholarly journals Working Memory, its Executive Functions, and the Emergence of Modern Thinking

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick L. Coolidge ◽  
Thomas Wynn
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Genetic Mutation ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Modern Thinking

This article examines the possible origins of modern thinking by evaluating the cognitive models of working memory, executive functions and their interrelationship. We propose that a genetic mutation affected neural networks in the prefrontal cortex approximately 60,000 to 130,000 years ago. Our review of cognitive and archaeological evidence yields two possibilities: either it was non-domain specific, affecting general working memory capacity and its executive functions, or the mutation was domain-specific, affecting phonological storage capacity. We discuss the sequelae of these possibilities for modernity, including language enhancement, greater reasoning, planning, and modelling abilities, and increases in fluid/general intelligence.

scholarly journals A randomized EPIREMED protocol study on the long-term visuo spatial effects of very preterm children with a working memory deficit

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Gire ◽  
Any Beltran Anzola ◽  
Monique Kaminski ◽  
Karine Baumstarck ◽  
Pierre-Yves Ancel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Preterm Children ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Visuospatial Processing

Abstract Background Very preterm children generally perform poorly in executive functions and particularly in working memory. Adaptive training tasks encouraging these children to work continuously on their personal working memory capacity can be very useful. Above all in preschool-age children, several cognitive training programs focused on improving working memory capacity. Cogmed is a computerized visuospatial cognitive training program that improves working memory in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The main objective is to assess the long-term effects (18 months) of cognitive training (Cogmed) on visuospatial processing in preschool-age very preterm children with working memory impairment. Methods The EPIREMED study is a prospective, randomized, controlled, multicentric trial nested in a population based epidemiological survey. An intervention group (Cogmed cognitive training) and a control group (standard care management) will compare children aged 5½ to 6 years, born between 24- and 34-weeks’ gestational age, with a global intelligence quotient > 70 and a working memory index < 85. The study will include 166 children from national study EPIPAGE-2 (Epidemiological Study on Small Gestational Ages). The intervention consists of 25 sessions administered over a 5- to 8-week period. The primary endpoint will be the visuospatial processing, assessed by the score of the visuospatial index: score of the WPPSI-IV (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence). The secondary endpoints will allow to assess the executive functions, language and abilities, infant behavior, quality of life assessment, school performance and parental anxiety. Discussion This project’s primary goal is to demonstrate the necessity of early visuospatial memory assessment within the vulnerable population of very preterm children, and to prove the feasibility and efficacy of computerized cognitive training using online software programs. A better global neuropsychological development improvement (visuospatial processing and other far transfer) can be expected with an improvement in learning and decreased behavioral problems. In the long term, these improvements might also reduce those global costs linked to the consequences of extreme prematurity. Trial registration NCT02757794 (registered on 2nd May 2016 at ClinicalTrial.gov).

scholarly journals Examining the Relations among Working Memory Capacity, ADHD Symptology and Conscious Experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Beikmohamadi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Adhd Symptoms ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Children With Adhd

An operational definition of mind wandering is when one has thoughts unrelated to the current task(s) (Smallwood &amp; Schooler, 2015). Mind blanking can be thought of as a subtype of mind wandering where there is an inability to report the content of these task-unrelated thoughts. Van den Driessche et al. (2017) found that children and young adults with more Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms report more mind blanking than those with fewer ADHD symptoms and that non-medicated children with ADHD reported less mind wandering and more mind blanking than medicated children with ADHD. Van den Driessche et al. speculated that medication facilitated executive control and that executive resources support mind wandering (and on-task thought). These findings also bear on the theoretical debate on the role of executive functions in conscious experience. Some argue that executive functions support mind wandering (Levinson et al., 2012; Smallwood, 2010), while others argue and that mind wandering situationally results from a lack (or failure) of executive control (McVay &amp; Kane, 2010; Meier, 2019). In this study, with a young adult sample, I tested the association between ADHD symptomology and conscious experience and if executive resources moderate the proportion of reporting mind blanking and mind wandering. The current study found evidence for Van den Driessche et al.’s finding of a positive and significant association between mind blanking and ADHD symptomology. The current study was also broadly consistent with Van den Driessche et al.’s finding of an ADHD-related trade-off involving mind blanking, but importantly differs from Van den Driessche et al. in that mind wandering was not involved in this trade-off. The current study did not find an association between working memory capacity and mind wandering. Thus, I found no evidence for executive resources supporting mind wandering, consistent with previous studies (McVay &amp; Kane, 2009, 2012a, 2012b; Meier, 2019; Robison &amp; Unsworth, 2018; Unsworth &amp; McMillan, 2013, 2014).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document