The classical backward digit span task detects changes in working memory but is unsuitable for classifying the severity of dementia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Takako Yoshimura ◽  
Mariko Osaka ◽  
Aiko Osawa ◽  
Shinichiro Maeshima
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Severity Of Dementia

scholarly journals Why expressive suppression does not pay? Cognitive costs of negative emotion suppression: The mediating role of subjective tense-arousal

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Szczygieł ◽  
Tomasz Maruszewski
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Problem Solving Task

Abstract The aim of this paper was to contribute to a broader understanding of the cognitive consequences of expressive suppression. Specifically, we examined whether the deteriorating effect of expressive suppression on cognitive functioning is caused by tense arousal enhanced by suppression. Two experiments were performed in order to test this prediction. In both studies we tested the effect of expressive suppression on working memory, as measured with a backwards digit-span task (Study 1, N = 43) and anagram problem-solving task (Study 2, N = 60). In addition, in Study 2 we tested whether expressive suppression degrades memory of the events that emerged during the period of expressive suppression. Both studies were conducted in a similar design: Participants watched a film clip which evoked negative emotions (i.e. disgust in Study 1 and a combination of sadness and anxiety in Study 2) under the instruction to suppress those negative emotions or (in the control condition) to simply watch the film. The results of these experiments lead to three conclusions. First, the results reveal that expressive suppression degrades memory of the events that emerged during the period of expressive suppression and leads to poorer performance on working memory tasks, as measured with a backwards digit-span task and anagram problem-solving task. Second, the results indicate that expressive suppression leads to a significant increase in subjective tense arousal. Third, the results support our prediction that expressive suppression decreases cognitive performance through its effects on subjective tense arousal. The results of the Study 1 show that tense arousal activated during expressive suppression of disgust fully mediates the negative effect of suppression on working memory as measured with a backwards digit-span task. The results of Study 2 reveal that subjective tense arousal elicited while suppressing sadness and anxiety mediates both the effect of suppression on working memory - as measured with the anagram task - and memory of the events that occurred during the period of suppression.

scholarly journals The Digit Span Backwards Task

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Hilbert ◽  
Tristan T. Nakagawa ◽  
Patricia Puci ◽  
Alexandra Zech ◽  
Markus Bühner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Presentation Modality ◽  
Clinical Neuropsychology ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Dual Task Condition ◽  
Complex Span Task

Abstract. The “digit span backwards” (DSB) is the most commonly used test in clinical neuropsychology to assess working memory capacity. Yet, it remains unclear how the task is solved cognitively. The present study was conducted to examine the use of visual and verbal cognitive strategies in the DSB. Further, the relationship between the DSB and a complex span task, based on the Simultaneous Storage and Processing task ( Oberauer et al., 2003 ), was investigated. Visualizers performed better than verbalizers in the dual task condition (rPB = .23) only when the relevant digits were presented optically. Performance in the DSB correlated only weakly with the complex span task in all conditions (all τ ≤ .21). The results indicate that the processing modality is determined by the preference for a cognitive strategy rather than the presentation modality and suggest that the DSB measures different working aspects than commonly used experimental working memory tasks.

scholarly journals Localization of the central executive system in working memory by fMRI: Utilization of the digit-span task

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-233
Author(s):  
Satoshi Maesawa ◽  
Miyako Futamura ◽  
Masazumi Fujii ◽  
Yasuyuki Matsui ◽  
Toshihiko Wakabayashi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Executive System

Effect of Working Memory Updating Training on Retrieving Symptoms of Children With Learning Disabilities

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoying Chen ◽  
Maolin Ye ◽  
Lei Chang ◽  
Weigang Chen ◽  
Renlai Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices ◽  
Back Task

Working memory (WM) deficiency is a primary reason for the poor academic performance of children with learning disabilities (LDs). Studies have shown that the WM of typical children could be improved through training, and WM training contributes to improving their fluid intelligence and academic achievement. However, few studies have investigated WM training for children with LDs, and results have been inconsistent. The present study examined the long-term effects of WM updating training and whether it can mitigate LD symptoms. Fifty-four children with LDs were recruited and divided randomly into a training or control group. The training group underwent adaptive running WM training for 20 days. Before and after training, the 2 groups completed a 2-back task, a digit span task (forward and backward), Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices test, and a scholastic attainment test (Chinese and math). The tests were repeated 6 months later. The results showed that, as compared with the controls, the training group exhibited significant improvements in the digit backward span task, 2-back task, and Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices. The math scores of the training group improved significantly by 6 months after the training. The results of this study suggest that WM updating training could mitigate the cognitive deficits of LDs and improve the WM capacity, fluid intelligence, and math scores of children with LDs. Moreover, the training effects could be maintained for at least 6 months.

Performance-Evaluation Threat Does Not Adversely Affect Verbal Working Memory in High Test-Anxious Persons

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Putwain ◽  
Jawad Shah ◽  
Rebecca Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Effortful Control ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Span Task ◽  
High Threat ◽  
High Test

In two studies, we set out to examine whether the verbal working memory of high and low test-anxious students differed under performance-evaluative threat. In Study 1, 84 schoolchildren completed a backward digit span task under threat or no-threat conditions. In Study 2, 71 schoolchildren completed a backward digit span task in both threat and no-threat conditions. Results showed that the verbal working memory capacity of highly test-anxious students in Study 1 did not change under low or high threat conditions. In Study 2, the verbal working memory capacity of highly test-anxious students decreased under performance-evaluative threat when this condition was taken first but increased when this condition was taken second. To account for the effects of performance-evaluative threat, it is necessary to consider how increased effortful control may compensate for anxiety-induced reduced efficiency when tasks are not timed.

Dissociation of Executive and Attentional Elements of the Digit Span Task in a Population of Older Adults: A Latent Class Analysis

Assessment ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1386-1398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise R. LaBelle ◽  
Bern G. Lee ◽  
Justin B. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Latent Class Analysis ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Class Analysis ◽  
Incoming Information ◽  
Executive Elements ◽  
Active Investigation

The prevailing model for working memory proposes the existence of a “central executive” responsible for coordinating and prioritizing incoming information from sensory and association cortices. The Digit Span task is commonly used by clinicians to parse attentional and executive components of working memory; however, the interrelatedness of these constructs in the context of advanced age and neurodegenerative disease remains an area of active investigation. The current study details a procedure and rationale for the use of latent class analysis, a data-driven, person-centered method, in the investigation of older adults and dementia. Class analysis of digit span performance in older adults ( n = 874) drawn from a specialty clinic revealed four classes with distinct performance across task subcomponents. In three of the classes, attentional and executive elements demonstrated similar performance. The fourth class and implications of class structure are discussed in the context of aging.

scholarly journals Adaptive control in interpreters: Assessing the impact of training and experience on working memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 772-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soudabeh Nour ◽  
Esli Struys ◽  
Helene Stengers
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Adaptive Control ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Control Hypothesis ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe adaptive control hypothesis predicts adaptation of control mechanisms as a response to intensive language use in bilinguals. The present study aims to investigate this hypothesis in two memory experiments with professional and student interpreters. In experiment 1, we compared a group of interpreting students to translation students using a reading span task to test working memory (WM) and a digit span task to test short-term memory (STM). In experiment 2, we added a group of professional interpreters and compared them with the participants in experiment 1. Training-related improvement was found for WM but not for STM, with no differences between both student groups. Professional interpreters with over 20 years of interpreting experience showed better performance than translation students but not than interpreting students both on WM and STM. The results are discussed in light of the framework of interpreting as a type of extreme bilingualism.

The Measurement of Verbal Working Memory Capacity and Its Relation to Reading Comprehension

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria S. Waters ◽  
David Caplan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Word Recall ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Span Tasks

Ninety-four subjects were tested on the Daneman and Carpenter (1980) reading span task, four versions of a related sentence span task in which reaction times and accuracy on sentence processing were measured along with sentence-final word recall, two number generation tasks designed to test working memory, digit span, and two shape-generation tasks designed to measure visual-spatial working memory. Forty-four subjects were retested on a subset of these measures at a 3-month interval. All subjects were tested on standard vocabulary and reading tests. Correlational analyses showed better internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the sentence span tasks than of the Daneman-Carpenter reading span task. Factor analysis showed no factor that could be related to a central verbal working memory; rotated factors suggested groupings of tests into factors that correspond to digit related tasks, spatial tasks, sentence processing in sentence span tasks, and recall in sentence span tasks. Correlational analyses and regression analyses showed that the sentence processing component of the sentence span tasks was the best predictor of performance on the reading test, with a small independent contribution of the recall component. The results suggest that sentence span tasks are unreliable unless measurements are made of both their sentence processing and recall components, and that the predictive value of these tasks for reading comprehension abilities lies in the overlap of operations rather than in limitations in verbal working memory that apply to both.

Relation of three mechanisms of working memory to children’s complex span performance

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beula Magimairaj ◽  
James Montgomery ◽  
Sally Marinellie ◽  
John McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Attentional Resource ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Attentional Allocation ◽  
Unique Variance ◽  
Relative Contribution

There is a paucity of research examining the relative contribution of the different mechanisms of working memory (short-term storage [STM], processing speed) to children’s complex memory span. This study served to replicate and extend the few extant studies that have examined the issue. In this study, the relative contribution of three mechanisms of working memory — STM storage, processing speed, attentional resource allocation — to children’s complex span was examined. Children (6—12) completed a digit span task, an auditory-visual reaction time task, a task of attentional allocation, and a complex (listening) span task. Correlation analyses revealed that, after controlling for age, storage, processing speed, and attentional allocation significantly correlated with complex span. Regression analyses showed that, after partialling out age, storage accounted for 12.1% of unique variance in complex span and processing speed accounted for another 6.6% of unique variance; allocation contributed no unique variance. Consistent with the developmental literature, storage and general processing speed play critical roles in children’s complex span performance.

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