scholarly journals Magnitude processing in populations with spina-bifida: The role of visuospatial and working memory processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 103655
Author(s):  
Lucie Attout ◽  
Marie-Pascale Noël ◽  
Laurence Rousselle
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spina Bifida ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Magnitude Processing

Inattentive Behavior in Boys with ADHD during Classroom Instruction: the Mediating Role of Working Memory Processes

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Orban ◽  
Mark D. Rapport ◽  
Lauren M. Friedman ◽  
Samuel J. Eckrich ◽  
Michael J. Kofler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Classroom Instruction ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Mediating Role

A Role for Spatial and Nonspatial Working Memory Processes in Visual Search

2008 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 301-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine J. Anderson ◽  
Sabira K. Mannan ◽  
Geraint Rees ◽  
Petroc Sumner ◽  
Christopher Kennard
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Task Conditions

Searching a cluttered visual scene for a specific item of interest can take several seconds to perform if the target item is difficult to discriminate from surrounding items. Whether working memory processes are utilized to guide the path of attentional selection during such searches remains under debate. Previous studies have found evidence to support a role for spatial working memory in inefficient search, but the role of nonspatial working memory remains unclear. Here, we directly compared the role of spatial and nonspatial working memory for both an efficient and inefficient search task. In Experiment 1, we used a dual-task paradigm to investigate the effect of performing visual search within the retention interval of a spatial working memory task. Importantly, by incorporating two working memory loads (low and high) we were able to make comparisons between dual-task conditions, rather than between dual-task and single-task conditions. This design allows any interference effects observed to be attributed to changes in memory load, rather than to nonspecific effects related to “dual-task” performance. We found that the efficiency of the inefficient search task declined as spatial memory load increased, but that the efficient search task remained efficient. These results suggest that spatial memory plays an important role in inefficient but not efficient search. In Experiment 2, participants performed the same visual search tasks within the retention interval of visually matched spatial and verbal working memory tasks. Critically, we found comparable dual-task interference between inefficient search and both the spatial and nonspatial working memory tasks, indicating that inefficient search recruits working memory processes common to both domains.

Political Ideology and Executive Functioning: The Effect of Conservatism and Liberalism on Cognitive Flexibility and Working Memory Performance

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062091318
Author(s):  
Bryan M. Buechner ◽  
Joshua J. Clarkson ◽  
Ashley S. Otto ◽  
Edward R. Hirt ◽  
M. Cony Ho
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels

Although models of political ideology traditionally focus on the motivations that separate conservatives and liberals, a growing body of research is directly exploring the cognitive factors that vary due to political ideology. Consistent with this emerging literature, the present research proposes that conservatives and liberals excel at tasks of distinct working memory processes (i.e., inhibition and updating, respectively). Consistent with this hypothesis, three studies demonstrate that conservatives are more likely to succeed at response inhibition and liberals are more likely to succeed at response updating. Moreover, this effect is rooted in different levels of cognitive flexibility and independent of respondents’ demographics, intelligence, religiosity, and motivation. Collectively, these findings offer an important perspective on the cognitive factors that delineate conservatism and liberalism, the role of cognitive flexibility in specific working memory processes, and the impact of political ideology on a multitude of behaviors linked to inhibition and updating (e.g., creativity, problem-solving, self-control).

Working memory and psychological resilience in South African emerging adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-506
Author(s):  
Nabeelah Bemath ◽  
Kate Cockcroft ◽  
Linda Theron
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
South African ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Sociocultural Environment ◽  
Mixed Method Design

The role of cognitive factors, such as working memory, in psychological resilience has not been widely investigated, although a few studies tentatively suggest a positive association. Given the contextually embedded nature of resilience, sociocultural factors may also influence any relationship between working memory and resilience, and so a concurrent triangulation, mixed method design, located in a socioecological model, was employed to explore this relationship in South African emerging adults from disadvantaged circumstances. A total of 38 participants completed biographical, working memory, and resilience measures. Around 14 of these participants were also interviewed about the perceived role of working memory processes in resilient behaviours. The results suggest that working memory processes indirectly promote resilience-enabling behaviours, while the sociocultural environment also facilitates behaviours which engage working memory and foster resilience. These findings have implications for the development of cognitive-based, resilience-promoting interventions for young adults.

The role of inhibition for working memory processes: ERP evidence from a short-term storage task

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. e13026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Getzmann ◽  
Edmund Wascher ◽  
Daniel Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Short Term Storage ◽  
Term Storage

scholarly journals Working memory capacity predicts ongoing reliance on misinformation: A latent-variable analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Brydges ◽  
Gilles Gignac ◽  
Ullrich K. H. Ecker
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Variable Model ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Latent Variable Analysis ◽  
Influence Effect

Misinformation often affects inferences and judgments even after it has been retracted and discredited. This is known as the continued influence effect. Memory processes have been theorized to contribute to the continued influence effect, and much previous research has focussed on the role of long-term memory processes at the time misinformation is retrieved during inferential reasoning and judgments. Recently, however, experimental research has focussed upon the role of working memory (WM) processes engaged in the updating and integration of information, when the retraction is encoded. From an individual differences perspective, susceptibility to continued influence effects should be predicted by a person’s WM abilities, if continued reliance on misinformation is influenced, at least in part, by insufficient integration of the initial misinformation and its subsequent retraction. Consequently, we hypothesized that WM capacity would predict susceptibility to continued influence effects uniquely and more substantially than short-term memory (STM) capacity. Participants (N = 216) completed a continued-influence task, as well as a battery of WM and STM capacity tasks. Based on a latent variable model, our hypothesis was supported (WM capacity: β = -.36, p = .013; STM capacity: β = .22, p = .187). Consequently, we suggest that low WM capacity is a measurable “risk factor” for continued reliance on misinformation.

The role of working memory capacity in analytic and multiply-constrained problem-solving in demanding situations

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 920-928
Author(s):  
Derek M Ellis ◽  
B Hunter Ball ◽  
Nicole Kimpton ◽  
Gene A Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Constrained Problem

Working memory processes are important for analytic problem-solving; however, their role in multiply-constrained problem-solving is currently debated. This study explored individual differences in working memory and successful completion of analytic and multiply-constrained problem-solving by having participants solve algebra and compound remote associate (CRAT) problems of varying difficulty under low and high memory demand conditions. Working memory was predictive of both algebra and multiply-constrained problem-solving. Specifically, participants with high working memory solved more problems than those with low working. Memory load did not differentially affect performance for low and high working memory participants. However, for multiply-constrained problem-solving the effect of item difficulty was more detrimental for high-span participants than low-span participants. Together, these findings suggest that working memory processes are important for both types of problem-solving and that participants with low working memory capacity may need to offload internal memory demands onto the environment to efficiently solve problems.

Working Memory and Number Sense as Predictors of Mathematical (Dis-)Ability

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn H. Kroesbergen ◽  
Marloes van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Number Sense ◽  
Mathematical Learning ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Mathematical Learning Disabilities ◽  
Visual Spatial Working Memory ◽  
And Mathematics

Recent research has pointed to two possible causes of mathematical (dis-)ability: working memory and number sense, although only few studies have compared the relations between working memory and mathematics and between number sense and mathematics. In this study, both constructs were studied in relation to mathematics in general, and to mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) in particular. The sample consisted of 154 children aged between 6 and 10 years, including 26 children with MLD. Children performing low on either number sense or visual-spatial working memory scored lower on math tests than children without such a weakness. Children with a double weakness scored the lowest. These results confirm the important role of both visual-spatial working memory and number sense in mathematical development.

Working Memory Capacity and a Notorious Brain Teaser

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim De Neys ◽  
Niki Verschueren
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Normative Reasoning ◽  
Monty Hall Dilemma ◽  
Monty Hall ◽  
Memory Resources

Abstract. The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) is an intriguing example of the discrepancy between people’s intuitions and normative reasoning. This study examines whether the notorious difficulty of the MHD is associated with limitations in working memory resources. Experiment 1 and 2 examined the link between MHD reasoning and working memory capacity. Experiment 3 tested the role of working memory experimentally by burdening the executive resources with a secondary task. Results showed that participants who solved the MHD correctly had a significantly higher working memory capacity than erroneous responders. Correct responding also decreased under secondary task load. Findings indicate that working memory capacity plays a key role in overcoming salient intuitions and selecting the correct switching response during MHD reasoning.

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