Variation in working memory capacity and episodic memory: Examining the importance of encoding specificity

Prioritized encoding and retrieval of valuable information is an essential component of human memory due to capacity limits. Individual differences in value-directed encoding may derive from variability in stimulus valuation, memory encoding, or from strategic abilities related to maintenance in working memory. We collected multiple cognitive ability measures to test whether variation in episodic memory, working memory capacity, or both predict differences in value-directed remembering among a large sample of participants (n=205). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used to assess the contributions of episodic and working memory to value sensitivity in value-directed remembering tasks. Episodic memory ability, but not working memory capacity, was predictive of value-directed remembering. These results suggest that cognitive processes may be differentially related to value-based memory encoding.

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Variation in working memory capacity and temporal–contextual retrieval from episodic memory.

Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition ◽

10.1037/a0024852 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 1532-1539 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Gregory J. Spillers ◽

Nash Unsworth

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Contextual Retrieval

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Age-Related Decline in Verbal Learning Is Moderated by Demographic Factors, Working Memory Capacity, and Presence of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617714000678 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (8) ◽

pp. 822-835 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Fofi Constantinidou ◽

Ioannis Zaganas ◽

Emmanouil Papastefanakis ◽

Dimitrios Kasselimis ◽

Andreas Nidos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Community Sample ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Auditory Attention ◽

Age Related ◽

Verbal Episodic Memory

AbstractAge-related memory changes are highly varied and heterogeneous. The study examined the rate of decline in verbal episodic memory as a function of education level, auditory attention span and verbal working memory capacity, and diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI). Data were available on a community sample of 653 adults aged 17–86 years and 70 patients with a-MCI recruited from eight broad geographic areas in Greece and Cyprus. Measures of auditory attention span and working memory capacity (digits forward and backward) and verbal episodic memory (Auditory Verbal Learning Test [AVLT]) were used. Moderated mediation regressions on data from the community sample did not reveal significant effects of education level on the rate of age-related decline in AVLT indices. The presence of a-MCI was a significant moderator of the direct effect of Age on both immediate and delayed episodic memory indices. The rate of age-related decline in verbal episodic memory is normally mediated by working memory capacity. Moreover, in persons who display poor episodic memory capacity (a-MCI group), age-related memory decline is expected to advance more rapidly for those who also display relatively poor verbal working memory capacity. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–14)

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Haloperidol-induced impairment on working memory capacity affecting long term memory performance: the binding hypothesis

10.1101/2019.12.24.888073 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Regina V. Guarnieri ◽

Marcus Vinicius Alves ◽

Ana Maria Lemos Nogueira ◽

Ivanda de Souza Silva Tudesco ◽

José Carlos F. Galduróz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Medial Temporal Lobe ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Double Blind ◽

Term Memory

AbstractThe dopaminergic system is implicated in several cognitive processes including memory, attention and executive functions. This study was a double-blind, placebo-randomized trial designed to investigate the effect of dopamine D2 receptor blockade on episodic and working memory and particularly the relationship between executive functions, working memory capacity and long-term memory (LTM). Subjects ingested a single oral dose (4 mg) of haloperidol, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist or placebo. Multiple linear regression using generalized linear models and a generalized estimating equation were used for statistical analyses. The results demonstrated that haloperidol impaired episodic memory (free recall of words and prose recall), working memory capacity-WMC (operation span task-OSPAN) and highly demanding executive functions (random number generation - RNG). In addition, it demonstrated that despite the large impairment in the RNG task performance in the haloperidol group, it did not affect episodic memory. The OSPAN task is predictive of episodic memory impairment, suggesting that memory impairments produced by haloperidol could be due in part to the impairment of WMC. As WMC partly relies on the appropriate functioning of the medial temporal lobe, probably the haloperidol-induced impairment on episodic memory through the decrease in the performance of WMC may depend on the activation of this area of the brain. The present study is relevant because it provides data on dopaminergic modulation of memory systems; suggesting that the major cause of deficits in episodic memory may be due to hippocampal function and WMC impairments, the latter more specifically with regard to controlled search and binding.

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Differential Effects of Executive Processes on Working Memory

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000211 ◽

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.

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Working Memory Capacity and a Notorious Brain Teaser

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.53.1.123 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 123-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Wim De Neys ◽

Niki Verschueren

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Task Load ◽

Normative Reasoning ◽

Monty Hall Dilemma ◽

Monty Hall ◽

Memory Resources

Abstract. The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) is an intriguing example of the discrepancy between people’s intuitions and normative reasoning. This study examines whether the notorious difficulty of the MHD is associated with limitations in working memory resources. Experiment 1 and 2 examined the link between MHD reasoning and working memory capacity. Experiment 3 tested the role of working memory experimentally by burdening the executive resources with a secondary task. Results showed that participants who solved the MHD correctly had a significantly higher working memory capacity than erroneous responders. Correct responding also decreased under secondary task load. Findings indicate that working memory capacity plays a key role in overcoming salient intuitions and selecting the correct switching response during MHD reasoning.

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