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.

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 Visual-spatial working memory span of Indonesian children with deafness in oral, total, and sign language communication methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Johana Aprilia ◽  
Frieda Maryam Mangunsong
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Language Communication ◽  
Visual Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Communication Methods

Children with hearing impairment or deafness experience cognitive function delays but not limited visual-spatial working memory, which is commonly used to solve mathematical problems. Previous studies have discovered that visual or spatial working memory in such children is different because of the communication methods that rely on vision. This study explores the visual-spatial working memory in children with deafness by measuring the memory of 70 elementary school children with deafness and identifying their communication methods through questionnaires. The questionnaires were completed by the children’s parents. The visual-spatial working memory measurement utilized the Lion Game through Zoom meetings. Consequently, it was found that there was no significant difference in visual-spatial working memory capacity in children with hearing impairment using oral, total communication, and sign language. It can be argued that in children with deafness, their visual-spatial working memory span with oral, total, and sign language communication methods have still not reached the maximum point. The use of hearing aids, popular among such children also did not significantly enhance visual-spatial working memory capacity. This research recommends parents be more attentive not only toward the communication methods of children with deafness but also to their cognitive function development. 

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.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in Cognitive Constructs: A Comparison Between American and Chinese Culture Groups

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaojie Fan ◽  
Krista D. Carlson ◽  
Robin D. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
American Students ◽  
Span Tasks

Previous studies on human cognition show that people with different cultural backgrounds may differ in various ways. However, there are other unexplored possibilities for cultural differences including degree of handedness thought to reflect hemispheric coordination, reliance on verbal versus visual representation in problem solving, and working memory capacity both spatial and operational. We assessed each of these using the Edinburgh scale, a validated scale of style of processing, and two automatic working memory span tasks. Participants were either native Chinese students (who spoke Mandarin) or American students. Data showed that culture impacted the set of measures but gender did not and these factors did not interact. Chinese and American students showed the largest difference in their operational working memory. We also examined the pattern of correlations among the measures across the two groups and found differences due to cultural group as well.

Individual Differences in Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity and Distractor Inhibition

2009 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Lecerf ◽  
Jean-Luc Roulin
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Distractor Inhibition ◽  
Inhibitory Mechanisms ◽  
Intrusion Errors ◽  
Span Tasks

Studies examining individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) show differences between individuals with low-WMC and individuals with high-WMC. This extreme-group design was used to address relationships between individual differences in visuospatial WMC and distractor inhibition. We examined the patterns of errors made on two visuospatial working-memory span tasks (selective matrix task, visual matrix task). We recorded intrusion errors as indicators of inefficient inhibitory mechanisms, and spatial errors as indicators of degraded memory traces. Results indicate that on both tasks, low-span participants make more intrusion errors and spatial errors than high-span participants. Results are discussed in terms of the ability to inhibit distractors, to control the focus of attention, and to guide search from memory.

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.

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