scholarly journals Ultra-brief Ambulatory Assessment of Working Memory Capacity via Smart Phones

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hakun ◽  
Nelson Arley Roque ◽  
Courtney R. Gerver ◽  
Eric Scott Cerino
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Smart Phones ◽  
Testing Time ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Administration Time ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Current Psychological

The development of mobile technology with substantial computing power (i.e. smart phones) has enabled the adaptation of performance-based cognitive assessments to remote administration and novel intensive longitudinal study designs (e.g. measurement burst designs). While an “ambulatory” cognitive assessment paradigm provides new opportunities to extend current psychological theories, the adaptation of conventional measures to a mobile format conducive to intensive repeated measurement involves balancing measurement precision, administration time, and procedural consistency. Across 3 studies, we developed mobile adaptations of computerized ‘complex span’ tasks to assess working memory capacity (WMC) and examined their validity, reliability, and sufficiency. Study 1 examined the convergent and criterion validity of a single administration of 3 ultra-brief complex span tasks on smart phones in a laboratory setting (ambulatory Operation Span, Symmetry Span, and Rotation Span tasks). Study 2 adapted the ultra-brief tasks to a 4-day measurement burst design where between- and within-person reliability was assessed over 16 repeated administrations (4 assessments/day). Study 3 involved the implementation of a single ultra-brief complex span task into a 7-day measurement burst design field study involving college students (5 assessments/day). Results of these 3 studies suggest that valid and highly reliable estimates of WMC can be obtained via smart phones, in the absence of intensive onboarding/training, in 3-6 minutes of total testing time (2 ultra-brief, mobile administrations). Considerations for future mobile cognitive assessment design and parameterization are discussed.

Measuring Working Memory Capacity With Automated Complex Span Tasks

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Redick ◽  
James M. Broadway ◽  
Matt E. Meier ◽  
Princy S. Kuriakose ◽  
Nash Unsworth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Span Tasks

Individual differences in working memory capacity are related to a variety of behaviors both within and outside of the lab. Recently developed automated complex span tasks have contributed to increasing our knowledge concerning working memory capacity by making valid and reliable assessments freely available for use by researchers. Combining the samples from three testing locations yielded data from over 6,000 young adult participants who performed at least one of three such tasks (Operation, Symmetry, and Reading Span). Normative data are presented here for researchers interested in applying cutoffs for their own applications, and information on the validity and reliability of the tasks is also reported. In addition, the data were analyzed as a function of sex and college status. While automated complex span tasks are just one way to measure working memory capacity, the use of a standardized procedure for administration and scoring greatly facilitates comparison across studies.

scholarly journals A Validation Study of the German Complex-Span Tasks and Some General Considerations on Task Translation Procedures in Cognitive Psychology

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Rummel ◽  
Lena Steindorf ◽  
Ivan Marevic ◽  
Daniel Danner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Reasoning Test ◽  
Equivalence Tests ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Open Question

Abstract. Automated complex-span tasks are widely used to assess working-memory capacity and the English versions show good psychometric properties ( Unsworth, Heitz, Schrock, & Engle, 2005 ). However, it is generally an open question whether translated task versions have the same properties as the original versions and whether results obtained with translated tasks can be interpreted equivalently to those obtained with the original tasks. We translated the complex-span tasks and had a sample of German participants perform these tasks as well as a running-memory-span task and a reasoning test. We assessed the reliabilities of the German complex-span tasks and their construct and criterion-related validities. Extrapolating from cross-cultural literature, we also employed a test of measurement invariance to compare the correlational patterns as well as the construct structure between the German sample and a similar North-American sample. Results show that the German complex-span tasks are reliable and valid indicators of working-memory capacity and that they are metrically and functionally equivalent to the original versions. As measurement equivalence is an important but often neglected topic in basic cognitive psychology, we also highlight the general benefits of using equivalence tests when translating cognitive tasks.

Shortened complex span tasks can reliably measure working memory capacity

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Foster ◽  
Zach Shipstead ◽  
Tyler L. Harrison ◽  
Kenny L. Hicks ◽  
Thomas S. Redick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Span Tasks

Bilingual working memory capacity of professional Auslan / English interpreters

Interpreting ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Native Signers

This study investigated bilingual working memory capacity (WMC) of 31 professional Auslan (Australian Sign Language)/English interpreters: 14 native signers and 17 non-native signers. Participants completed an English listening span task and then an Auslan working memory (WM) span task, each task followed by a brief interview. The native signers were similar to the non-native signers not only in English WMC, but also in Auslan WMC. There was no significant difference between WMC in English and Auslan when native and non-native signers were assessed as a single group. The study also found a moderate to strong, positive correlation between the interpreters’ English WMC and Auslan WMC, suggesting that both WM span tasks tapped into similar cognitive resources. In the interviews, interpreters said that they used multiple strategies to retain the to-be-remembered words/signs. The qualitative data also indicate that WM span tasks like these involve online retention of unrelated words/signs, whereas simultaneous interpreting requires temporary storage of meaningful and coherent concepts.

The relationship between working memory capacity and simultaneous interpreting performance

Interpreting ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Native Signers ◽  
The Relationship

This experimental study investigated the relationship between signed language interpreters’ working memory capacity (WMC) and their simultaneous interpreting performance. Thirty-one professional Auslan (Australian Sign Language)/English interpreters participated: 14 native signers and 17 non-native signers. They completed simultaneous interpreting tasks from English into Auslan and vice versa, an English listening span task and an Auslan working memory span task; each interpreting task was followed by a short semi-structured interview. Quantitative results for the sample as a whole showed no significant correlations between bilingual WMC and overall simultaneous interpreting performance in either direction. The same trend was established for both the native signers and the non-native signers, considered as two separate groups. The findings thus suggest that professional signed language interpreters’ WMC as measured by complex span tasks is not closely associated with the overall quality of their simultaneous interpreting performance. Data regarding educational and professional background showed mixed patterns in relation to participants’ interpreting performance in each language direction. In the interviews, participants reported various triggers of cognitive overload in the simultaneous interpreting tasks (e.g. numbers, lists of items, a long time lag, dense information, fatigue) and mentioned their coping strategies (e.g. strategic omissions, summarization, generalization, adjusting time lag).

scholarly journals Working-memory capacity predicts the executive control of visual search among distractors: The influences of sustained and selective attention

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1430-1454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley J. Poole ◽  
Michael J. Kane
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Target Locations

Variation in working-memory capacity (WMC) predicts individual differences in only some attention-control capabilities. Whereas higher WMC subjects outperform lower WMC subjects in tasks requiring the restraint of prepotent but inappropriate responses, and the constraint of attentional focus to target stimuli against distractors, they do not differ in prototypical visual-search tasks, even those that yield steep search slopes and engender top-down control. The present three experiments tested whether WMC, as measured by complex memory span tasks, would predict search latencies when the 1–8 target locations to be searched appeared alone, versus appearing among distractor locations to be ignored, with the latter requiring selective attentional focus. Subjects viewed target-location cues and then fixated on those locations over either long (1,500–1,550 ms) or short (300 ms) delays. Higher WMC subjects identified targets faster than did lower WMC subjects only in the presence of distractors and only over long fixation delays. WMC thus appears to affect subjects’ ability to maintain a constrained attentional focus over time.

scholarly journals Mathematics students demonstrate superior visuo-spatial working memory to humanities students under conditions of low central executive processing load

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-219
Author(s):  
Paula Jane Hubber ◽  
Camilla Gilmore ◽  
Lucy Cragg
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Mathematics Achievement ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Mathematics Students ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Humanities Students

Previous research has demonstrated that working memory performance is linked to mathematics achievement. Most previous studies have involved children and arithmetic rather than more advanced forms of mathematics. This study compared the performance of groups of adult mathematics and humanities students. Experiment 1 employed verbal and visuo-spatial working memory span tasks using a novel face-matching processing element. Results showed that mathematics students had greater working memory capacity in the visuo-spatial domain only. Experiment 2 replicated this and demonstrated that neither visuo-spatial short-term memory nor endogenous spatial attention explained the visuo-spatial working memory differences. Experiment 3 used working memory span tasks with more traditional verbal or visuo-spatial processing elements to explore the effect of processing type. In this study mathematics students showed superior visuo-spatial working memory capacity only when the processing involved had a comparatively low level of central executive involvement. Both visuo-spatial working memory capacity and general visuo-spatial skills predicted mathematics achievement.

Strategy use moderates the relation between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence: A combined approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenyu Li ◽  
Xuezhu Ren ◽  
Karl Schweizer ◽  
TENGFEI WANG
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Response Elimination ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Latent Profile

This study investigated whether the strength of the link between working memory capacity (WMC) and fluid intelligence (Gf) differs as people use different strategies to solve Gf problems. A sample of 214 university students completed three complex span tasks and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM). Strategic behavior was measured by both a strategy questionnaire and eye tracking. Using latent profile analysis, three strategies described as constructive matching, response elimination, and isolate-and-eliminate were identified. Participants adopting constructive matching and response elimination exhibited substantial differences in the eye-movement measures across the APM items, confirming the validity of the strategy questionnaire in combination of latent profile analysis for determining strategy use. Furthermore, strategy use moderated the relationship between WMC and APM performance. The link between WMC and APM scores was significantly higher for participants who used isolate-and-eliminate (r = .54) and response elimination (r = .63) than that for participants who used constructive matching (r = .27). Our findings suggest that the simple dichotomy of strategy use in the APM is not tenable, and the extent to which WMC relates to performance on the APM varies as a function of strategy use.

scholarly journals Measuring the development of working memory capacity: 
Example of an adaptive complex span task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Aubry ◽  
Corentin Gonthier ◽  
Mathieu Hainselin ◽  
Béatrice Bourdin
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Complex Span Task ◽  
Cognitive Aptitude ◽  
Discriminating Power

The aim of this current article is to provide a reflection on how to estimate working memory capacity (WMC), and to investigate its developmental trajectory from eight to twenty-three years-old with a single adaptive and multimodal task. WMC is defined as both storage and manipulation of the information during a cognitive activity. This cognitive aptitude is crucial for the learning and play an important role in the intellectual functioning. WMC is strongly related to some cognitives activities such as the language comprehension, the problems solving or the mathematics. The assessment of WMC therefore seems to be essential throughout lifespan. Although WMC is domain-general, most assessments WMC are based on verbal tasks only. Furthermore, WMC measurement in the developmental studies is limited by the need to preserve discriminating power at all possible ages. The use of a short and composite complex span task adapting itself to the individual’s performance seems meet both requirements. Thus, we created a computerized task that is both multimodal (with verbal and nonverbal subtests) and adaptive to the individual’s abilities: the Adaptive Composite Complex Span (ACCES). With a sample of 724 participants aged between 8 and 23 years-old, our findings show ACCES retains high discriminating power at all chronological ages with no ceiling effect or floor effect. Theoretical and clinical implication are discussed.

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