scholarly journals Differences in Working-Memory Capacity Modulate Top-down Control of Social Attention

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Momen ◽  
Eva Wiese
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Gaze Following ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Positive Effects

Gaze following, or our ability to attend to where others are looking can be top-down controlled by context information about the social relevance of the gaze signal. In particular, it has been shown that gaze signals are followed more strongly when the gazer is believed to have a mind with the ability to show intentional behavior (i.e., human) compared to being pre-programmed (i.e., robot). Perceiving human traits in nonhuman agents (i.e., anthropomorphism) occurs naturally in human-robot interaction, where it has positive effects on performance. It can also attenuate performance, if the robot is designed in a way that makes it hard to categorize as human or nonhuman (e.g., humanoid appearance), and inflicts additional working memory load due to categorical ambiguity. Here, we examine if gaze signals of ambiguous humanoid agents are followed differently than those of unambiguous human or robot agents, and to what extent gaze following is affected by individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC). We assume participants with high versus low WMC to be more capable of suppressing reflexive gaze following behaviors to the cued location in a counter-predictive paradigm (where targets appear with high likelihoods at uncued locations), particularly when being cued by humanoid gazers (top-down control, which requires cognitive resources). While the analysis showed no effect of categorical ambiguity on top-down control abilities overall, it revealed that participants with low WMC had weaker top-down control than participants with high WMC for the most ambiguous humanoid agent. The results are discussed with regard to the design of social agents and human-robot interaction

scholarly journals Working memory capacity influences the top-down factors in visual search

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 130-130
Author(s):  
K. Sobel ◽  
M. Gerrie ◽  
M. Kane ◽  
B. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Top Down

Working Memory Load Selectively Influences Response Inhibition in a Stop Signal Task

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412092827
Author(s):  
Leanne Boucher ◽  
Brandi Viparina ◽  
W. Matthew Collins
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Stop Signal ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Stop Signal Reaction Time ◽  
Load Conditions

Inhibitory control is a key executive function and has been studied extensively using the stop signal task. By applying a simple race model that posits an independent race between a GO process responsible for initiation of responses and a STOP process responsible for inhibition of responses, one can estimate how long it takes an individual to inhibit an ongoing response, the stop signal reaction time. Here, we examined how stop signal reaction time can be affected by working memory. Participants engaged in a dual task; they completed a stop signal task under low and high working memory load conditions. Working memory capacity was also measured. We found that the STOP process was lengthened in the high, compared to the low, working memory load condition, as evidenced by differences in stop signal reaction time. The GO process was unaffected and working memory capacity could not account for differences across the load conditions. These results indicate that inhibitory control can be influenced by placing demands on working memory.

scholarly journals Working Memory Capacity and Visual–Verbal Cognitive Load Modulate Auditory–Sensory Gating in the Brainstem: Toward a Unified View of Attention

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2147-2154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrik Sörqvist ◽  
Stefan Stenfelt ◽  
Jerker Rönnberg
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Central Domain ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Unified View

Two fundamental research questions have driven attention research in the past: One concerns whether selection of relevant information among competing, irrelevant, information takes place at an early or at a late processing stage; the other concerns whether the capacity of attention is limited by a central, domain-general pool of resources or by independent, modality-specific pools. In this article, we contribute to these debates by showing that the auditory-evoked brainstem response (an early stage of auditory processing) to task-irrelevant sound decreases as a function of central working memory load (manipulated with a visual–verbal version of the n-back task). Furthermore, individual differences in central/domain-general working memory capacity modulated the magnitude of the auditory-evoked brainstem response, but only in the high working memory load condition. The results support a unified view of attention whereby the capacity of a late/central mechanism (working memory) modulates early precortical sensory processing.

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