This article focuses on the ef skills of attention and working memory. What is working memory capacity, and how can we measure it. The role of prefrontal cortex in workingmemory capacity. The working memory model is used in this book as the theoretical under. Working memory wm was proposed as a dynamic system that enabled active maintenance of taskrelevant information in support of the simultaneous execution of complex cognitive tasks.
Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a two. A combined experimental correlational study tested the attention control demands of verbal 2 and 3back tasks by presenting n 1 lure foils. Working memory capacity as a determinant of proactive. It does so by asking each contributor to address the same comprehensive set of important theoretical questions on working memory. Working memory is a limited capacity part of the human memory system that combines the temporary storage and manipulation of information in the service of cognition. Working memory, its executive functions, and the emergence of. Working memory capacity as executive attention randall w. However, more research is needed to examine this proposal. In this followup to my 2002 article on working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and executive. Working memory capacity and attention network test. Individual differences in working memory capacity predict action monitoring and the errorrelated negativity a.
Engle this paper discusses the psychometric properties important to the measurement of working memory. Thus, it is assumed that in intelligent, welleducated adults, coding and rehearsal in a digit span task would be less attention demanding than in 4 yearold children. Role of working memory capacity in cognitive control by randall w. Controlled attention and aiming working memory capacity. Tuholski courtroom sciences, incorporated randall w. A recent study observed a working memory wm stroop effect with a magnitude equivalent to that of the classic stroop effect, indicating that wm operates over the same representations as attention. By executive attention, we mean a capability whereby memory representations are maintained in a highly ac.
A controlledattention view of workingmemory capacity. The relationship between working memory capacity and executive functioning. Dualprocess theories of the mind are ubiquitous in psychology. In this article, we discuss working memory capacity wmc, a construct related to the ability to focus attention, and its differential effects on analytic and creative problem solving. Working memory span tasks measure executive attention processes. One unanswered question is whether the wm stroop effect occurs when the wm item and the perceptual task do not have an overlapping response. The influence of lapses of attention on working memory capacity.
Working memory capacity an overview sciencedirect topics. Aug 07, 2012 association for psychological science. The relationship between working memory capacity and. Differences in processes important to working memory may contribute to this emotional memory enhancement. Variation in working memory capacity as variation in executive attention and. It is appropriate that they should do so because working memory is limited when dealing with.
Executive control, working memory, and action planning. The relationship between attention and working memory. The relationship between attention and working memory 3 schwarzbach, and yantis, 2003, and noise reduction dosher and lu, 2000. More concretely, we will argue that working memory capacity wmc, a construct that has received widespread attention in the cognitive literature e. Evidence for a common executive attention construct. Working memory, attention, and executive function in. Thus, wm capacity is just as important in retention of a single representation, such as the representation of a goal or of the status of a changing variable, as it is in determining how many representations can be maintained. Choking under pressure and working memory capacity. Performance failures on standard tests of attention and executive function reinforce this interpretation.
Working memory capacity and attention network test performance. Variation in working memory capacity as variation in. Some researchers have argued that working memory capacity reflects the efficiency of executive functions, most notably the ability to maintain multiple taskrelevant representations in the face of distracting irrelevant information. Pdf the relationship between working memory capacity and. Working memory capacity and the topdown control of visual. We examined the relationship between these constructs using a factor analytic approach in an adult life span sample. Working memory, attention control, and the n back task. The executive attention network acts on postsensory representations, and is needed when there is competition for access to a central, limited capacity system. Attentional focus is important for many cognitive processes, including problem solving. Executive attention, working memory capacity, and cognitive control 149 executive attention in particular, is especially important fo r maintaining access to stimulus, context, and goal information in the face of interference or other sources of conflict. Baddeley and hitch 1974 highlighted a key theoretical construct, working memory wm, which can be described generally as the set of mechanisms capable of retaining a small amount of information in an active state for use in ongoing cognitive tasks though it now means different things to different investigators. The relationship between working memory capacity and executive. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The correlation between working memory capacity and executive functioning constructs was very strong r.
Working memory capacity, intelligence, and prefrontal cortex 645 performance, the dorsolateralpfc appearsto be special in its role of maintaining the activationof memory rep resentations in the presence of interference,when shifts of attentionaway from targetsmay lead toa lossof their rapid accessibility. Pdf this chapter shows how immediate memory represents a distinct system or set of processes from long memory. Cognitive psychology chapter 4 working memory quizlet. Working memory and working attention what could possibly evolve. Workingmemory capacity and the control of attention.
Engle3 1university of illinois at chicago, department of psychology mc 285, 1007 w harrison street, chicago, il 60607, usa. Philip beaman the concept of working memory is traceable back to nineteenthcentury theorists, but the term itself was not used until the midtwentieth century. Controlling for working memory capacity or executive function eliminated age effects on episodic memory, and working memory capacity or executive function accounted for variance in episodic memory. Engle if, as many psychologists seem to believe, im mediate memory represents a distinct system or set of processes from longterm memory l tm, then what might it be for. Attentional control has been conceptualized as executive functioning by neuropsychologists and as working memory capacity by experimental psychologists.
The primary goal of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mindwandering experiences in the association between wmc and normal individual differences in reading comprehension, as predicted by the executive attention theory of wmc e. Early investigations of working memory capacity wmc and reasoning ability suggested that wmc might be the basis of spearmans g. And many kids with languagebased learning differences may struggle in these areas too. While attention and working memory are different, both are important for learning. Role of workingmemory capacity in cognitive control. A variety of different explanatory constructs have since evolved that all make use of the workingmemory label. Greater working memory capacity benefits analytic, but not. Nov 07, 2017 we are continuing our series on executive functioning ef skills. Attention, distraction, and cognitive control under load. As described above, wmc and ef have been conceptualized very differently by researchers in neuropsychology and experimental psychology, though there appear to be commonalities with respect to the neuroanatomical substrates of wmc and ef, and agerelated differences associated with them. Poole university of north carolina at greensboro stephen w. Working memory capacity and the scope and control of attention. Executive abilities, which are widely accepted to be a central component of human cognition, reflect a capacity to engage in goaloriented behavior.
Cybele raver and clancy blair summary in this article, cybele raver and clancy blair explore a group of cognitive processes called executive function efincluding the flexible control of attention, the ability to hold information through working memory, and the. By executive attention, we mean a capability whereby memory representations are maintained in a highly active. The function of working memory whereby we strategically. A limited capacity working memory is a central concept in cognitive psychology. Pdf variation in working memory capacity as variation in.
Why does working memory capacity predict variation in. Thus, removing the common variance would eliminate the memory processes, and the residual variance in wm would constitute executive attention. Institute of cognitive neuroscience, university college london. Working memory capacity and the topdown control of. Working memory working memory, its executive functions, and the emergence of modern thinking that an enhancement of workingmemory capacity occurred in the relatively recent human past, most likely after the. Working memory capacity as executive attention request pdf.
Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a twofactor theory of cognitive control article in psychology of learning and motivation 44. Working memory and executive attention 191 lowspan individuals even in the first minute, and this discrepancy was unlikely to be due to differences in the number of animal names known to the two groups. The interaction between central executive resources and working memory capacity the recent revision of baddeleys wm model highlighted the role of central executive resources in strategic processing of information held in the temporary stores baddeley, 2001. Our view is that these tasks measure primarily working memory capacity wmc, which we argue is the ability to control attention. Individual differences in working memory wm capacity predicted performance on the stroop task in 5 experiments, indicating the importance of executive control and goal maintenance to selective attention. Introduction the capacity to perform some complex tasks depends critically on the ability to retain taskrelevant information in an accessible state over time working memory and to. Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control, eds miyake a. Reiman a thesis presented to the graduate and research committee of lehigh university in candidacy for the degree of master of sciences in psychology lehigh university may 2012. The executive attention view of working memory is empirically based on working memory capacity differences across a range of distraction tasks. Individual differences in working memory capacity predict. Exploring the boundaries of executive attention michael j.
Studies of attention, memory, and executive function continue to provide a greater understanding of the human learning process and the nature of specific cognitive disabilities. Effect of negative emotional content on working memory and. It allows you to select and focus on what is important at a. Individual differences in working memory capacity and. Kensinger and suzanne corkin massachusetts institute of technology in longterm memory, negative information is better remembered than neutral information. Although nback has become a standard executive working memory wm measure in cognitive neuroscience, it has been subjected to few behavioral tests of construct validity. Working memory working memory, its executive functions, and the emergence of modern thinking that an enhancement of working memory capacity occurred in the relatively recent human past, most likely after the. The relationship between working memory capacity and executive function. Effect of negative emotional content on working memory and longterm memory elizabeth a. Working memory capacity and the topdown control of visual search. The role of prefrontal cortex in working memory capacity, executive attention and general fluid intelligence. Individual differences in working memory capacity and what they tell us about controlled attention, general fluid intelligence, and functions of the prefrontal cortex, in models of working memory.
The development of the attention network test ant provided the opportunity to study the relationship between wmc and specific types of attention. A central principle of these theories is that behavior is determined by the interplay of automatic and controlled processing. Engle georgia institute of technology, atlanta, usa summary complex span tasks are predictive of many aspects of behavior, in both experimental and applied areas of cognitive psychology. Although measures of wm capacity such as operation and reading span are certainly not pure, these.
Kids with adhd and executive functioning issues struggle with attention and working memory. Thus, when we use the term wm capacity, which we do for historical reasons, we are really referring to the capability of the executive attention component of the wm system. A sample of 202 young adults completed a battery of efs shifting, updating, and inhibition, three working memory capacity wmc tests, three relational integration tests, two divided attention. Wm capacity is not directly about memoryit is about using attention to maintain or suppress information. Working memory capacity as executive attention semantic. The role of prefrontal cortex in workingmemory capacity, executive.
Previous examination of this distinction measuring the scope of focal attention shipstead, redick et al. Working memory capacity and selfregulatory behavior. Experimental psychologists assigned the executive control to working memory capacity baddeley, 1986, and investigated the role of working memory capacity in controlling attention. Working memory operates over the same representations as. Uniquely, our paradigms allowed comparison of the ability to exert executive control when the stimu lus was either part of the currently rehearsed memory set or an unrelated distractor item. Exploring the boundaries of executive attention by. Attention, working memory, and inhibitory control c. Start studying cognitive psychology chapter 4 working memory. The inclusion of tests of working memory, attention and executive functions in the same study is potentially illuminating because it allows examination of the relationship between performance across tasks in both disease groups.
We provide an executive attention framework for organizing the cognitive neuroscience research on the constructs of working memory capacity wmc, general fluid intelligence, and prefrontal cortex pfc function. In tasks of visual selective attention, individuals with high wmc are typically more effective at selectively attending to relevant, and overcoming the influence of irrelevant information, compared to. When the stroop task encouraged goal neglect by including large numbers of congruent trials red presented in red. However, recent work has uncovered details about the basic processes involved in working memory tasks, which has resulted in a more principled approach to task development. Several tests of working memory capacity and executive function were administered to more than 200 subjects between 18 and 90 years of age, along with tests of processing speed and episodic memory. Since miller 1956 and atkinson and shiffrin 1968, most discussions of human cognitive architecture have incorporated a limited capacity shortterm or working memory. In this article, the authors examine individual differences in the capacity to control attention as a major contributor to differences in working memory. In this standard perspective, executive processes manipulate the contents of the working memory buffers. Working memory, its executive functions, and the emergence. Wm capacity, or executive attention, is most important under conditions in which interference leads to retrieval of response tendencies that conflict with the current task. Working memory capacity as a unitary attentional construct.
Strayer university of utah neuroscience suggests that the anterior cingulate cortex acc is responsible for conflict monitoring and. But progress has been impeded by the absence of consensual, crossdisciplinary theories, definitions, and methodologies. Individual differences in working memory capacity and dual. Attention, distraction, and cognitive control under load show all authors. This volume offers a muchneeded forum for systematically comparing and contrasting existing models of working memory. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the psychonomic society, kansas city, mo. Working memory deficits are a recognised feature of alzheimers disease ad. Therefore, if you have a high working memory capacity, you might be able to do multitasking without substantially hurting your performance.
Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence. The executive attention network acts on postsensory representations, and is needed when there is competition for access to a central, limitedcapacity system. Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence andrew r. Working memory capacity, attentional focus, and problem. To evaluate executive abilities, clinicians have tended to emphasize constructs like fluency, working memory, concept formation, set shifting, and inhibition, using a range of cognitive measures. Research has also shown that individuals with a high working memory capacity are more resistant to the negative effects of multitasking especially if the secondary task is not too demanding. As noted previously, we did not include any measures of shortterm memory simple span tasks, the capacity of primary memory, or the scope of attention and so future work should be aimed at examining all of these constructs wmc, attention control, scope of attention, and secondary memory in the same study. Working memory, attention, and executive function in alzheimers disease and frontotemporal dementia. Performance on measures of working memory wm capacity predicts performance on a wide range of realworld cognitive tasks. Working memory capacity and attention network test performance thomas s. The role of prefrontal cortex in workingmemory capacity, executive attention, and general fluid intelligence. This suggests that performance pressure hinders those who are the most qualified to succeed, because it consumes the wmc they usually rely on to achieve.
Cognitive load reduced the number of animals recalled by the highspan individuals but had negligible effect on the lowspan individuals. The controlled attention theory of working memory suggests that individuals with greater working memory capacity wmc are better able to control or focus their attention than individuals with lesser wmc. The effect of an executive functioning training program on working memory capacity and intrusive thoughts jessica bomyea nader amir published online. They are commonly ascribed to central executive impairment and assumed to relate to frontal lobe dysfunction. Our view is that these tasks measure primarily working memory. Rather than provide a novel theory of pfc function, we synthesize a wealth of singlecell, brainimaging, and neuropsychological research through the. Over the last two decades, research findings demonstrating an association between working memory capacity wmc and executive attention capabilities have accumulated. Greater working memory capacity benefits analytic, but not creative, problemsolving. Variation in working memory capacity as variation in executive attention and control michael j. Working memory, its executive functions, and the emergence of modern thinking frederick l.
Attention is, in vaguest terms, the act or state of applying your mind to something. Switching attention between tasks planning subtasks to achieve a goal selective attention and inhibition updating and checking contents of working. The effect of an executive functioning training program on. Shortterm memory refers to informationstorage without manipulation and is therefore a component of working memory.
1474 1415 1244 379 504 1179 1018 735 73 53 71 397 1060 1440 1362 891 553 997 816 1206 23 501 776 382 311 686 1084 575 106 1267 1438 385 281 818 1009 1268 1423 599 560 105 240 1195 881 203 559 78 138 669