Negative Affect Impairs the Working Memory Capacity of Biological Motion

Working memory capacity (WMC) refers to the capacity to maintain information in short-term storage while processing other information. WMC has been related to higher-order cognitive functions like language comprehension and goal maintenance, and a growing body of research implicates WMC in emotion processes as well. The current research tested the preregistered hypothesis that individual differences in WMC relate to affective states following daily stressors. We measured WMC in 92 participants using both neutral and emotional WMC tasks and assessed momentary affect, the occurrence of stressful events, and responses to those events using brief experience sampling surveys 5 times per day across 6 days. Results revealed that more stressful events related to higher momentary negative affect, but less so among participants higher in WMC. This result is consistent with the view that WMC plays a role in emotion regulation. Exploratory analyses yielded suggestive clues as to why individuals higher in WMC may experience reduced negative affect following daily stressors.

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Alcohol-related memory associations in positive and negative affect situations: Drinking motives, working memory capacity, and prospective drinking.

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1037/a0032806 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 105-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Elske Salemink ◽

Reinout W. Wiers

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Drinking Motives ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Memory Associations

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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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