scholarly journals Individual differences in working memory capacity and the regulation of arousal

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kyle Robison ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Differential Functioning ◽  
Attentional Lapses ◽  
Explanatory Mechanism

Previously it has been theorized that differential functioning of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system affects people's ability to regulate arousal, which has impacts on cognitive abilities. In the present study, we investigated three potential mechanisms by which the LC-NE system can fail to regulate arousal appropriately: hypoarousal, hyperarousal, and dysregulation of arousal. Each of these three could potentially account for why arousal affects cognition. To test the contributions of these three mechanisms, the present study examined individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) and the regulation of arousal using pupillometry. Participants completed multiple complex span and visual arrays change-detection measures of WMC. An eye-tracker recorded pupil diameter as participants completed the visual arrays tasks. We found rather mixed evidence for the three mechanisms. Arousal dysregulation correlated with lower visual arrays performance and more self-reported attentional lapses. However arousal regulation did not correlate with complex span performance. There was also some evidence for hypoarousal as an explanatory mechanism, as arousal correlated with attentional lapses. We discuss the implications of the results for theories regarding the role of arousal regulation in cognitive performance and individual differences in cognitive abilities.

scholarly journals Wahlheim, Alexander, & Kane (forthcoming) - Interpolated retrieval effects on list isolation: Individual differences in working memory capacity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher N. Wahlheim ◽  
Timothy Alexander ◽  
Michael J. Kane
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Free Recall ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Correct Recall ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Context Change ◽  
Generation Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Term Memory

We examined the effects of interpolated retrieval from long-term memory (LTM) and short-term memory (STM) on list isolation in dual-list free recall and whether individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) moderated those effects. Ninety-seven subjects completed study-test trials that included two study lists separated by either an exemplar generation task (LTM retrieval) or 2-back task (STM retrieval). Subjects then completed an externalized free recall task that allowed for examination of response accessibility and monitoring. Individual differences in WMC were assessed using three complex span tasks: Operation Span, Reading Span, and Rotation Span. Correct recall and intratrial intrusion summary scores showed no effect of interpolated retrieval on response accessibility or monitoring. However, serial position curves for correct recall of List 1 showed larger primacy in the 2-back than exemplar generation task for high-WMC subjects. We interpret these results from a context change perspective as showing that interpolated LTM retrieval accelerated context change for subjects who processed context more effectively. We consider the implications of these findings for models of memory.

scholarly journals Individual differences in working memory capacity, attention control, fluid intelligence, and pupillary measures of arousal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kyle Robison ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Fluid ◽  
Thought Probes

The present study examined individual differences in three cognitive abilities: attention control (AC), working memory capacity (WMC), and fluid intelligence (gF) as they relate the tendency to experience task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) and the regulation of arousal. Cognitive abilities were measured with a battery of nine laboratory tasks, TUTs were measured via thought probes inserted into two tasks, and arousal regulation was measured via pupillometry. Recent theorizing (Robison & Unsworth, 2017a) suggests that one reason why some people experience relatively frequent TUTs and relatively poor cognitive performance - especially AC and WMC - is that they exhibit dysregulated arousal. Here, we examined how arousal regulation might predict both AC and WMC, but also higher-order cognitive abilities like gF. Further, we examine direct and indirect associations with these abilities via a mediating influence of TUT. Participants who reported more TUTs also tended to exhibit poorer AC, lower WMC, and lower gF. Arousal dysregulation correlated with more TUTs and lower AC. However there was no direct correlation between arousal regulation and WMC, nor between arousal regulation and gF. Rather, the associations between arousal regulation, WMC, and gF were indirect via TUT. We discuss the implications of the results in light of the arousal regulation theory of individual differences and directions for future research.

Individual Differences in Keeping Track of Object-state Representations during Language Comprehension: Evidence from Eye Movements

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Kang ◽  
Ting Wang ◽  
Zijia Tian
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Object State

There remains limited consensus about whether individual differences in working memory capacity, influences mental representation updating during language comprehension. We argue that this question was not sufficiently examined in previous psycholinguistic studies due to methodological limitations. In the current study, we examine whether individual differences in keeping track of mental representations of objects during real-time language comprehension could be predicted by digit span, reading span, nonverbal intelligence, executive function, and visual working memory capacity. Data were collected from 26 adults who completed a battery of cognitive tests and an eye-tracking experiment using the visual world paradigm. In the eye-tracking experiment, participants listened to sentences that either indicated a substantial or a minimal change of state on the target object while viewing a visual scene depicting the target object in two conflicting states – being intact and being changed, along with two unrelated distractors. As expected, participants’ visual attention was directed to the visual depiction of the target object that matched the implied end state in the language. Importantly, we demonstrate that individual differences in cognitive abilities influence whether participants shift their attention to the language-mediated object-state representations.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in Updating are not related to Reasoning Ability and Working Memory Capacity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gidon T. Frischkorn ◽  
Claudia Christina von Bastian ◽  
Alessandra S. Souza ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Accuracy Score ◽  
Reasoning Ability ◽  
Relational Integration ◽  
Methodological Artifact

Updating is the executive function (EF) previously found to most strongly relate to higher cognitive abilities such as reasoning. However, this relationship could be a methodological artifact: Measures of other EFs (i.e., inhibition and shifting) usually isolate the contribution of EF, whereas updating is measured by overall accuracy in working memory (WM) tasks involving updating. This updating accuracy-score conflates updating-specific individual differences (e.g., removal of outdated information) with variance in WM maintenance. Re-analyzing data (N = 111) from von Bastian et al. (2016), we separated updating-specific variance from WM maintenance variance. Updating contributed only 15% to individual differences in performance in the updating tasks, and it correlated neither with reasoning nor with independent WM measures reflecting storage and processing or relational integration. In contrast, the WM maintenance component of the updating task correlated with both abilities. These findings challenge the view that updating contributes to variance in higher cognitive abilities.

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