scholarly journals Capacity, Control, or Both – Which Aspects of Working Memory Contribute to Children’s General Fluid Intelligence?

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Nęcka ◽  
Agata Lulewicz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Capacity Control ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Raven's Progressive Matrices

Abstract Starting from the assumption that working memory capacity is an important predictor of general fluid intelligence, we asked which aspects of working memory account for this relationship. Two theoretical stances are discussed. The first one posits that the important explanatory factor is storage capacity, roughly defined as the number of chunks possible to hold in the focus of attention. The second one claims that intelligence is explained by the efficiency of executive control, for instance, by prepotent response inhibition. We investigated 96 children at the age between 10 and 13. They completed a version of the n-back task that allows assessment of both storage capacity and inhibitory control. They also completed Raven’s Progressive Matrices as the fluid intelligence test and the Test for Creative Thinking - Drawing Production, for control purposes. We found that Raven’s scores correlated negatively with the number of unnecessary responses to irrelevant stimuli but they did not correlate with the number of signal detections. We conclude that children’s fluid intelligence depends on inhibitory control, with no relationship with storage capacity.

scholarly journals Is executive control related to working memory capacity and fluid intelligence?

2019 ◽  
Vol 148 (8) ◽  
pp. 1335-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alodie Rey-Mermet ◽  
Miriam Gade ◽  
Alessandra S. Souza ◽  
Claudia C. von Bastian ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity

Differential Effects of Executive Processes on Working Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-249
Author(s):  
Xuezhu Ren ◽  
Tengfei Wang ◽  
Karl Schweizer ◽  
Jing Guo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Two Measures

Abstract. Although attention control accounts for a unique portion of the variance in working memory capacity (WMC), the way in which attention control contributes to WMC has not been thoroughly specified. The current work focused on fractionating attention control into distinctly different executive processes and examined to what extent key processes of attention control including updating, shifting, and prepotent response inhibition were related to WMC and whether these relations were different. A number of 216 university students completed experimental tasks of attention control and two measures of WMC. Latent variable analyses were employed for separating and modeling each process and their effects on WMC. The results showed that both the accuracy of updating and shifting were substantially related to WMC while the link from the accuracy of inhibition to WMC was insignificant; on the other hand, only the speed of shifting had a moderate effect on WMC while neither the speed of updating nor the speed of inhibition showed significant effect on WMC. The results suggest that these key processes of attention control exhibit differential effects on individual differences in WMC. The approach that combined experimental manipulations and statistical modeling constitutes a promising way of investigating cognitive processes.

Predictions of Actions and Their Justifications in False-Belief Tasks: The Role of Executive Function

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Putko ◽  
Agata Złotogórska
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Current Location ◽  
False Belief Tasks ◽  
Development Of Language

Abstract The main objective of this study was to examine whether children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states is related, in a similar way as the ability to predict actions, to such aspects of executive function (EF) as executive control and working memory. An additional objective was to check whether the frequency of different types of justifications made by children in false-belief tasks is associated with aforementioned aspects of EF, as well as language. The study included 59 children aged 3-4 years. The ability to predict actions and to justify these predictions was measured with false-belief tasks. Luria’s hand-game was used to assess executive control, and the Counting and Labelling dual-task was used to assess working memory capacity. Language development was controlled using an embedded syntax test. It was found that executive control was a significant predictor of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states, even when age and language were taken into account. Results also indicated a relationship between the type of justification in the false-belief task and language development. With the development of language children gradually cease to justify their action predictions in terms of current location, and they tend to construct irrelevant justifications before they begin to refer to beliefs. Data suggest that executive control, in contrast to language, is a factor which affects the development of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions only in its later phase, during a shift from irrelevant to correct justifications.

The visual arrays task…visual storage capacity or attention control?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Martin ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Christopher Draheim ◽  
Zach Shipstead ◽  
Cody Mashburn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Independent Data ◽  
Visual Storage ◽  
Design Selection ◽  
The Relationship

**The uploaded manuscript is still in preparation** In this study, we tested the relationship between visual arrays tasks and working memory capacity and attention control. Specifically, we tested whether task design (selection or non-selection demands) impacted the relationship between visual arrays measures and constructs of working memory capacity and attention control. Using analyses from 4 independent data sets we showed that the degree to which visual arrays measures rely on selection influences the degree to which they reflect domain-general attention control.

Neurocognitive Constructs Underlying Executive Control in Statistically-Determined Mild Cognitive Impairment

2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheina Emrani ◽  
Melissa Lamar ◽  
Catherine Price ◽  
Satya Baliga ◽  
Victor Wasserman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Executive Attention ◽  
Span Test ◽  
Preparatory Set

Background: The model of executive attention proposes that temporal organization, i.e., the time necessary to bring novel tasks to fruition is an important construct that modulates executive control. Subordinate to temporal organization are the constructs of working memory, preparatory set, and inhibitory control. Objective: The current research operationally-defined the constructs underlying the theory of executive attention using intra-component latencies (i.e., reaction times) from a 5-span backward digit test from patients with suspected mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: An iPad-version of the Backward Digit Span Test (BDT) was administered to memory clinic patients. Patients with (n = 22) and without (n = 36) MCI were classified. Outcome variables included intra-component latencies for all correct 5-span serial order responses. Results: Average total time did not differ. A significant 2-group by 5-serial order latency interaction revealed the existence of distinct time epochs. Non-MCI patients produced slower latencies on initial (position 2-working memory/preparatory set) and latter (position 4-inhibitory control) correct serial order responses. By contrast, patients with MCI produced a slower latency for middle serial order responses (i.e., position 3-preparatory set). No group differences were obtained for incorrect 5-span test trials. Conclusion: The analysis of 5-span BDT serial order latencies found distinct epochs regarding how time was allocated in the context of successful test performance. Intra-component latencies obtained from tests assessing mental re-ordering may constitute useful neurocognitive biomarkers for emergent neurodegenerative illness.

scholarly journals For Whom the Mind Wanders, and When, Varies Across Laboratory and Daily-Life Settings

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1271-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Kane ◽  
Georgina M. Gross ◽  
Charlotte A. Chun ◽  
Bridget A. Smeekens ◽  
Matt E. Meier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
The Mind

Undergraduates ( N = 274) participated in a weeklong daily-life experience-sampling study of mind wandering after being assessed in the lab for executive-control abilities (working memory capacity; attention-restraint ability; attention-constraint ability; and propensity for task-unrelated thoughts, or TUTs) and personality traits. Eight times a day, electronic devices prompted subjects to report on their current thoughts and context. Working memory capacity and attention abilities predicted subjects’ TUT rates in the lab, but predicted the frequency of daily-life mind wandering only as a function of subjects’ momentary attempts to concentrate. This pattern replicates prior daily-life findings but conflicts with laboratory findings. Results for personality factors also revealed different associations in the lab and daily life: Only neuroticism predicted TUT rate in the lab, but only openness predicted mind-wandering rate in daily life (both predicted the content of daily-life mind wandering). Cognitive and personality factors also predicted dimensions of everyday thought other than mind wandering, such as subjective judgments of controllability of thought. Mind wandering in people’s daily environments and TUTs during controlled and artificial laboratory tasks have different correlates (and perhaps causes). Thus, mind-wandering theories based solely on lab phenomena may be incomplete.

Understanding the Relationship Between Rationality and Intelligence: A Latent-Variable Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Cody Mashburn ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Zach Hambrick ◽  
Randall W Engle
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Variable Approach ◽  
The Relationship

A hallmark of intelligent behavior is rationality—the disposition and ability to think analytically to make decisions that maximize expected utility or follow the laws of probability, and therefore align with normative principles of decision making. However, the question remains as to whether rationality and intelligence are empirically distinct, as does the question of what cognitive mechanisms underlie individual differences in rationality. In a large sample of participants (N = 331), we used latent variable analyses to assess the relationship between rationality and intelligence. The results indicated that there was a common ability underpinning performance on some, but not all, rationality tests. Latent factors representing rationality and general intelligence were strongly correlated (r = .54), but their correlation fell well short of unity. Indeed, after accounting for variance in performance attributable to general intelligence, rationality measures still cohered on a latent factor. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that rationality correlated significantly with fluid intelligence (r = .56), working memory capacity (r = .44), and attention control (r = .49). Structural equation modeling revealed that attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and rationality, and partially accounted for the relationship between fluid intelligence and rationality. Results are interpreted in light of the executive attention framework, which holds that attention control supports information maintenance and disengagement in service of complex cognition. We conclude by speculating about factors rationality tests may tap that other cognitive ability tests miss, and outline directions for further research.

Storage capacity explains fluid intelligence but executive control does not

Intelligence ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Chuderski ◽  
Maciej Taraday ◽  
Edward Nęcka ◽  
Tomasz Smoleń
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Storage Capacity
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