Variation in working memory capacity and cognitive control: Goal maintenance and microadjustments of control

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nash Unsworth ◽  
Thomas S. Redick ◽  
Gregory J. Spillers ◽  
Gene A. Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Goal Maintenance ◽  
Control Goal

Getting Over It: Working Memory Capacity and Affective Responses to Stressful Events in Daily Life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Garrison ◽  
Brandon Schmeichel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Daily Stressors ◽  
Goal Maintenance ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Term Storage

Working memory capacity (WMC) refers to the capacity to maintain information in short-term storage while processing other information. WMC has been related to higher-order cognitive functions like language comprehension and goal maintenance, and a growing body of research implicates WMC in emotion processes as well. The current research tested the preregistered hypothesis that individual differences in WMC relate to affective states following daily stressors. We measured WMC in 92 participants using both neutral and emotional WMC tasks and assessed momentary affect, the occurrence of stressful events, and responses to those events using brief experience sampling surveys 5 times per day across 6 days. Results revealed that more stressful events related to higher momentary negative affect, but less so among participants higher in WMC. This result is consistent with the view that WMC plays a role in emotion regulation. Exploratory analyses yielded suggestive clues as to why individuals higher in WMC may experience reduced negative affect following daily stressors.

EXPRESS: Working Memory Capacity and Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control: An Experimental-Correlational Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110664
Author(s):  
Kevin Rosales ◽  
Jean-Paul Snijder ◽  
Andrew Conway ◽  
Corentin Gonthier
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Effective Mechanism ◽  
Correlational Approach ◽  
And Performance

Working memory is thought to be strongly related to cognitive control. Recent studies have sought to understand this relationship under the prism of the dual mechanisms of control (DMC) framework, in which cognitive control is thought to operate in two distinct modes: proactive and reactive. Several authors have concluded that a high working memory capacity is associated with a tendency to engage the more effective mechanism of proactive control. However, the predicted pattern of proactive control use has never been observed; correlational evidence is made difficult to interpret by the overall superiority of participants with a high working memory capacity: they tend to perform better even when proactive control should be detrimental. In two experiments, we used an experimental-correlational approach to experimentally induce the use of reactive or proactive control in the AX-CPT. The relation between working memory capacity and performance was unaffected, incompatible with the hypothesis that the better performance of participants with a high working memory capacity in the task is due to their use of proactive control. It remains unclear how individual differences in working memory capacity relate to cognitive control under the DMC framework.

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