Interference control in working memory: Evidence for discriminant validity between removal and inhibition tasks

Working memory (WM) is a system for maintenance of and access to a limited number of goal-relevant representations in the service of higher cognition. Because of its limited capacity, WM requires interference-control processes, allowing us to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information. Recent research has proposed two interference-control processes, which are conceptually similar: (1) an active, item-wise removal process assumed to remove no-longer relevant information from WM, and (2) an inhibitory process assumed to suppress the activation of distractors against competing, goal-relevant representations. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the tasks used to assess removal and inhibition measure the same interference-control construct. Results showed acceptable to good reliabilities for nearly all measures. Similar to previous studies, a structural equation modeling approach identified a reliable latent variable of removal. However, also similar to some previous studies, no latent variable of inhibition could be established. This was the case even when the correlation matrix used to compute the latent variable of inhibition was disattenuated for imperfect reliability. Critically, the individual measures of inhibition were unrelated to the latent variable of removal. These results provide tentative support for the notion that removal is not related to the interference-control processes assessed in inhibition tasks. This suggests that the removal process should be conceptualized as a process independent of the concept of inhibition, as proposed in computational WM models that implement removal as the “unbinding” of a WM item from the context in which it occurred.

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Removal of information from working memory is not related to inhibition

10.31234/osf.io/hdks9 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alodie Rey-Mermet ◽

Kris Singh ◽

Gilles E Gignac ◽

Christopher Brydges ◽

Ullrich K. H. Ecker

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Inhibitory Process ◽

Interference Control ◽

Removal Process ◽

Control Processes ◽

The Individual

Working memory (WM) is a system for maintenance of and access to a limited number of goal-relevant representations in the service of higher cognition. Because of its limited capacity, WM requires interference-control processes, allowing us to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information. Recent research has proposed two interference-control processes, which are conceptually similar: (1) an active, item-wise removal process assumed to remove no-longer relevant information from WM, and (2) an inhibitory process assumed to suppress the activation of distractors against competing, goal-relevant representations. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which removal and inhibition are the same construct. Results showed acceptable to good reliabilities for nearly all measures. Similar to previous studies, a structural equation modeling approach identified a reliable latent variable of removal. However, also similar to some previous studies, no latent variable of inhibition could be established. This was the case even when the correlation matrix used to compute the latent variable of inhibition was disattenuated for imperfect reliability. Critically, the individual measures of inhibition were unrelated to the latent variable of removal. These results provide tentative support for the notion that removal is not an inhibitory process. This suggests that the removal process should be conceptualized as a process independent of inhibition, as proposed in computational WM models that implement removal as the “unbinding” of a WM item from the context in which it occurred.

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Interference Control in Working Memory

10.31234/osf.io/fjrnq ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Kris Singh ◽

Ullrich K. H. Ecker ◽

Gilles Gignac ◽

Christopher Brydges ◽

Alodie Rey-Mermet

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Control Process ◽

Irrelevant Information ◽

Equation Model ◽

Interference Control ◽

Removal Process ◽

The Face

Working memory (WM) is a limited-capacity system requiring an interference-control process to avoid being cluttered from irrelevant information. Recently, it has been suggested that this “housekeeping” mechanism can be attributed to an item-wise removal process serving to actively remove irrelevant information from WM. It has been theorized that this active removal process serves to facilitate both WM maintenance in the face of distraction as well as the updating of outdated information. An alternate view, however, is that interference control in WM relies on an inhibitory process that suppresses the activation of distractors against competing, task-relevant representations. This study is the first to assess the extent to which removal and inhibition represent the same cognitive process. One-hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students from the University of Western Australia (M = 20.42, SD = 3.09) completed a novel removal task battery in addition to an inhibition task battery. Data were analysed using a hybrid path analytic and structural equation model. The modelling found that there was unique variance associated with the removal latent variable, and estimated that only approximately 9 % of the variance in the removal latent variable could be accounted for by the inhibition tasks, providing tentative support that removal should not be considered a process of cognitive inhibition. The findings support previous claims that removal is an independent WM updating process. The findings are also consistent with a class of computational WM models proposing that removal and inhibition operate on different levels.

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Individual Differences in Memory and Attention Processes in Prospective Remembering

10.31234/osf.io/xcqfm ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hunter Ball ◽

Elizabeth A. Wiemers ◽

Gene Brewer

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Prospective Memory ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Attention And Memory ◽

Retrospective Memory ◽

Prospective Remembering

Successful prospective memory (PM) involves not only detecting that an environmental cue requires action (i.e., prospective component), but also retrieval of what is supposed to be done at the appropriate moment (i.e., retrospective component). The current study examined the role of attention and memory during PM tasks that placed distinct demands on detection and retrieval processes. Using a large-scale individual differences design, participants completed three PM tasks that placed high demands on detection (but low demands on retrieval) and three tasks that placed high demands on retrieval (but low demands on detection). Additionally, participants completed three attention control, retrospective memory, and working memory tasks. Latent variable structural equation modeling showed that the prospective and retrospective components of PM were jointly influenced by multiple cognitive abilities. Critically, attention and retrospective memory fully mediated the relation between working memory and prospective memory. Furthermore, only attention uniquely predicted PM detection, whereas only retrospective memory uniquely predicted PM retrieval. These findings highlight the value of independently assessing different PM components and suggest that both attention and memory abilities must be considered to fully understand the dynamic processes underlying prospective remembering.

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Individual Differences in Memory and Attention Processes in Prospective Remembering

10.31234/osf.io/8dkx6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hunter Ball ◽

Elizabeth A. Wiemers ◽

Gene Arnold Brewer

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Prospective Memory ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Attention And Memory ◽

Retrospective Memory ◽

Prospective Remembering

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A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis on Practicum Satisfaction of the Vietnamese Business Students

The Journal of Social Sciences Research ◽

10.32861/jssr.51.172.182 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 172-182

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation Modeling ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Business Students ◽

Group Analysis ◽

Organizational Factors ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Individual Factors ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

The Individual

Practicum in a given host company provides an opportunity for Business students to practice and enhance their knowledge and skills that can likely promote their motivation and later marketability. In doing the practicum, students are not only considered as learners, but they are also regarded as workers in the job force. Many students might need support from their universities as well as from the supporting system in the host companies. The purpose of this research was to investigate the students’ satisfaction with their practicum programs and the individual and organizational factors that would affect it. Participants were 269 (68 males and 201 females) sophomore and junior undergraduate Business students from a university of southern Vietnam. Each completed a survey collected after they finished their practicum which consists of demographic information, questions about the organizational factors (19 items), individual factors (20 items), and overall practicum satisfaction (4 items). Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and deleted 6 items to achieve convergent and discriminant validity. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the potential mediating effects of organizational factors on the relationship between individual factors and Practicum satisfaction. Results showed the direct effect between individual factors and Practicum satisfaction. A further multi-group analysis found a similar pattern of the path on females and males. The results suggest the student’s knowledge and skills are crucial factors which related to their practicum satisfaction, organizational factors, on the other hand, are positively correlated with individual factors, however, do not affect their practicum satisfaction.

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Examining Exit: The Roles of Push and Pull in Leaving Religion

10.31234/osf.io/ax5bg ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joel Engelman ◽

Joshua B. Grubbs ◽

Glen Milstein ◽

Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Keyword(s):

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Psychological Research ◽

Item Bank ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Religious Traditions ◽

Origin Group ◽

The Individual ◽

Push And Pull ◽

Item Scale

The population of religious “nones,” those who do not affiliate with any religion, is continually growing. Many of those who identify as nones have exited from religious traditions. Sparse research has examined the psychological processes involved in religious exit. Although various theories of religious exit have been proposed, they have provided limited empirical utility for psychological research. Immigration psychology, with its empirically well-established paradigms, may provide a better theoretical basis with which to understand religious exit. More specifically, the push (from origin group) and pull (towards destination group) theory of migration may be useful in understanding what motivates individuals to leave religions, and the individual psychological experiences of the religious exit process. Further, the push and pull theory may inform the trajectories of disaffiliates and their psychological wellbeing and adjustment post religious exit. This study’s main aim was to empirically establish a measure of push-pull forces for religious exit. To accomplish this goal, Latent Variable Modeling was performed to reduce a larger push-pull item bank (38 items) to a brief 8-item scale. Hypothesis testing using correlation and Structural Equation Modeling demonstrated that push and pull are associated with mental health outcomes for those leaving religions.

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Working Memory, Mental Prospection, Time Orientation, and Cognitive Insight

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000111 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 159-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sevtap Cinan ◽

Aslı Doğan

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Factor Model ◽

Time Orientation ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Cognitive Insight ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Positive Effect ◽

Three Factor

This research is new in its attempt to take future time orientation, morningness orientation, and prospective memory as measures of mental prospection, and to examine a three-factor model that assumes working memory, mental prospection, and cognitive insight are independent but related higher-order cognitive constructs by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The three-factor model produced a good fit to the data. An alternative one-factor model was tested and rejected. The results suggest that working memory and cognitive insight are distinguishable, related constructs, and that both are distinct from, but negatively associated with, mental prospection. In addition, structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that working memory had a strong positive effect on cognitive insight and a moderate negative effect on mental prospection.

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Effect of Organizational Culture and Organizational Commitment to Employee Performance through Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) as Intervening Variables (Study on Bappeda Litbang Provinsi Bali)

International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review ◽

10.15520/ijcrr/2018/9/08/582 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (08) ◽

pp. 20997-21013

Author(s):

Anom Suwibawa ◽

Anak Agung Putu Agung ◽

I Ketut Setia Sapta

Keyword(s):

Organizational Culture ◽

Organizational Commitment ◽

Organizational Citizenship ◽

Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Employee Performance ◽

Sem Analysis ◽

Citizenship Behavior ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

The Individual

Organizational culture as the values, principles, traditions and ways of working shared by members of the organization and affect the way they act. Organizational commitment has an important role of employee performance. The commitment can be realized if the individual in the organization, running their rights and obligations according to their duties and functions and functions within the organization, because the achievement of organizational goals is the work of all members of the organization that are collective Vipraprastha, Sudja, & Yuesti (2018). Respondents in this study are Civil Servants (PNS) at least have been working for 2 years. The number of respondents in this study were 86 respondents using Nonprobability technique that is saturated samples or often called total sampling. This research uses SMARTPLS 3 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. The results of this study indicate that: 1) organizational culture has a positive and significant effect on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB); 2) Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) has positive and significant impact on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB); 3) Organizational Citizenship Behavior employee, 4) organizational culture has a positive effect on the performance of employees, either partially or through Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), 5) Organizational commitment has no effect on employee performance.

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Neuroimaging of Individual Differences: A Latent Variable Modeling Perspective

10.31234/osf.io/jryfm ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Shelly Renee Cooper ◽

Joshua James Jackson ◽

Deanna Barch ◽

Todd Samuel Braver

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Individual Difference ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Behavioral Measure ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Latent Variable Modeling ◽

Psychometric Theory ◽

Human Connectome Project ◽

Neuroimaging Data

Neuroimaging data is being increasingly utilized to address questions of individual difference. When examined with task-related fMRI (t-fMRI), individual differences are typically investigated via correlations between the BOLD activation signal at every voxel and a particular behavioral measure. This can be problematic because: 1) correlational designs require evaluation of t-fMRI psychometric properties, yet these are not well understood; and 2) bivariate correlations are severely limited in modeling the complexities of brain-behavior relationships. Analytic tools from psychometric theory such as latent variable modeling (e.g., structural equation modeling) can help simultaneously address both concerns. This review explores the advantages gained from integrating psychometric theory and methods with cognitive neuroscience for the assessment and interpretation of individual differences. The first section provides background on classic and modern psychometric theories and analytics. The second section details current approaches to t-fMRI individual difference analyses and their psychometric limitations. The last section uses data from the Human Connectome Project to provide illustrative examples of how t-fMRI individual differences research can benefit by utilizing latent variable models.

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Postpartum depression symptoms in survey-based research: a structural equation analysis

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-09999-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Che Wan Jasimah Bt Wan Mohamed Radzi ◽

Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi ◽

Nadia Samsudin

Keyword(s):

Postpartum Depression ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Postpartum Women ◽

Unhealthy Food ◽

High Level

Abstract Background Since the last decade, postpartum depression (PPD) has been recognized as a significant public health problem, and several factors have been linked to PPD. Mothers at risk are rarely undetected and underdiagnosed. Our study aims to determine the factors leading to symptoms of depression using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. In this research, we introduced a new framework for postpartum depression modeling for women. Methods We structured the model of this research to take into consideration the Malaysian culture in particular. A total of 387 postpartum women have completed the questionnaire. The symptoms of postpartum depression were examined using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and they act as a dependent variable in this research model. Results Four hundred fifty mothers were invited to participate in this research. 86% of the total distributed questionnaire received feedback. The majority of 79.6% of respondents were having depression symptoms. The highest coefficients of factor loading analysis obtained in every latent variable indicator were income (β = 0.77), screen time (β = 0.83), chips (β = 0.85), and anxiety (β = 0.88). Lifestyle, unhealthy food, and BMI variables were directly affected by the dependent variable. Based on the output, respondents with a high level of depression symptoms tended to consume more unhealthy food and had a high level of body mass indexes (BMI). The highest significant impact on depression level among postpartum women was unhealthy food consumption. Based on our model, the findings indicated that 76% of the variances stemmed from a variety of factors: socio-demographics, lifestyle, healthy food, unhealthy food, and BMI. The strength of the exogenous and endogenous variables in this research framework is strong. Conclusion The prevalence of postpartum women with depression symptoms in this study is considerably high. It is, therefore, imperative that postpartum women seek medical help to prevent postpartum depressive symptoms from worsening.

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