With 10% of the population being infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), South Africa has the highest number of infections in the world (StatsSA, 2013). HIV results in cognitive and motor deficits in children as the severe compromise of the immune system leads to neurodevelopmental dysfunction peri-natally (Ruel, Boivin, Boal, Bangirana, Charlebois, & Havlir, 2011). Neurocognitive deficits affect overall general intellectual abilities and include difficulties with attention and speed of information processing, verbal language, executive –abstraction, complex-perceptual motor function, memory and motor and sensory function (Dawes & Grant, 2007). Developmentally, it is evident that working memory provides a crucial interface between perception, attention, memory and action (Baddeley, 1996; Baddeley 2003). Therefore the purpose of the study was to investigate the working memory profiles of both an HIV positive children and a control sample, on cognitive tasks (Automated Working Memory Assessment), general intellect tasks (Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices) and language competence tasks (Sentence Repetition Test). The current study compared 26 HIV positive children (mean age = 6.58 years) to 26 matched controls (mean age = 6.73 years). It was found that both non-verbal IQ and language proficiency were correlated to HIV status and thus were used as covariates in the study. MANCOVA’s were conducted on the data and produced findings that showed that there were only significant differences in visuo-spatial short-term memory between the two groups. Furthermore, it was also found that there were significant differences between the groups on nonverbal IQ and language proficiency. Therefore, the results showed that HIV may have an overall effect on non-verbal ability and language proficiency and a few aspects of working memory such as visuo-spatial short-term memory. Together with future studies focused on larger sample sizes and children who are not currently on HAART, early developmental interventions can be formulated to assist South African HIV-infected children so that the neurocognitive effects are lessened and their overall lifestyle is improved.

Research is vital in Psychology, as well as the social sciences, as it is a tool for creating knowledge through the interpretation and manipulation of empirical data, and thus furthering understanding in a field (Barak, 1998; Bridges, Gillmore, Pershing, & Bates, 1998; VanderStoep & Shaughnessy, 1997). Self-efficacy, metacognitive awareness, and working memory are essential to explore in relation to academic performance in research methods courses such as RDA IIA, as these skills are needed in the different components of these types of courses and are likely to play a role in predicting academic performance (Alloway, 2006; Bandura, 1993; Payne & Israel, 2010; Zulkiply, Kabit, & Ghani, 2008). Self-efficacy, metacognitive awareness, and working memory are also all potentially susceptible to intervention, and therefore exploring and establishing relationships between these variables could improve ways to teach and help students achieve academically. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationships between academic self-efficacy, metacognitive awareness, working memory, and academic performance on the RDA IIA module overall and for different components. The sample consisted of 95 students who had completed RDA IIA at the University of the Witwatersrand. The instrumentation used consisted of a brief demographic questionnaire, an adapted Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, and three working memory tasks assessing verbal, spatial, and numerical working memory. Academic self-efficacy related to and predicted performance in the research component of the course, and also predicted final RDA IIA mark. Metacognitive awareness did not relate to or predict any aspect of RDA IIA performance, except for a significant positive correlation between declarative knowledge and research mark. The working memory total and mental counters task related to and predicted all aspects of RDA IIA performance; the verbal task related to research mark but had no predictive role in RDA IIA performance; and lastly, the spatial task did not relate to or predict any aspects of RDA IIA performance. The results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the factors relating to and predicting RDA IIA performance; and these findings may lead to the development of more effective intervention programmes to assist students in improving their research methodology marks.

With the rapid growth and maturity of Question-Answering (QA) domain, non-factoid Question-Answering tasks are in high demand. However, existing Question-Answering systems are either fact-based, or highly keyword related and hard-coded. Moreover, if QA is to become more personable, sentiment of the question and answer should be taken into account. However, there is not much research done in the field of non-factoid Question-Answering systems based on sentiment analysis, that would enable a system to retrieve answers in a more emotionally intelligent way. This study investigates to what extent could prediction of the best answer be improved by adding an extended representation of sentiment information into non-factoid Question-Answering.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether exposure to a 6-week piano class would have an impact on specific cognitive functions (attention, short-term memory, and planning) in senior adults. In addition, I aimed to determine whether the cognitive function of participants who studied piano as children would differ from those who did not. Twelve 30-minute sessions were offered to residents of a rural, southern Missouri county using the Yamaha Music in Education (MIE) piano laboratory in a local elementary school. The on-line version of the Cambridge Neurological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) was used to measure attention, short-term memory and planning. Thirty-six (N = 36) older adults completed the study. Four groups of 8 to 10 participants were randomly assigned. One treatment (Group A) and one control (Group C) received the CANTAB pretest, and posttest, and one treatment (Group B) and one control (Group D) received only the CANTAB posttest. I performed an ANCOVA and discovered no significant difference between CANTAB posttest scores for treatment groups and control groups. Additionally, no significant difference was found between CANTAB scores for those who had piano lessons as a child and those who did not. Evidence from the CANTAB scores support the null hypothesis that there was no evidence of a relationship between twelve 30-minute piano lessons and improved cognitive function in senior adult students. There was also no evidence of a relationship between studying piano before the age of 18 and improved cognitive function as measured by CANTAB.

Mackey教授和她的研究夥伴於二零零二年进行的探索性研究，首次探討了二語學習者的工作記憶容量和他們在互動反饋中對於第二語言語法的重述 (recasts) 的注意力以及第二語言發展的內在關係。在这项研究中，研究人员提出，作为一个小规模的研究，研究结果僅具有啟發意義，而不是决定性的。所以未来的进一步探索將會非常有意義。 / 為了响应这项研究的呼吁，本研究將进一步探讨二語學習者的個體差異在互動型任務中對於學習者對語法的注意力以及語言發展的影響。學習者的工作記憶容量以及他們的第二語言能力水平在本研究中均視為獨立變量，以探究它們與學習者對英語的問句形式和過去式的重述的注意力之間的聯繫。立即刺激回憶法 (immediate stimulated recall)，作為本項研究中採用的一種新方法，將和傳統的刺激回憶法 (stimulated recall) 一起用來收集有關學習者注意力的數據。實驗包括兩個實驗組和一個對照組，並採用了前測-培訓-後測三個主要階段。對照組僅需與來自英語母語國家的對話者完成每項互動交流任務，對話者不提供任何語法的重述。而兩個實驗組都會接受他們的對話者提供的對於英語問句及過去式的重述。這兩個實驗組的唯一區別是收集學習者注意力數據的研究方法不同：其中一組將使用立即刺激回憶法，而另一組則採用傳統的刺激回憶法。 / 本研究旨在進一步發現二語學習者的工作記憶容量、第二語言能力水平與之注意力之間的關係。工作記憶對於二語發展的影響也作為研究問題之一。同時，重述式反饋的有效性以及立即刺激回憶法的反應特性 (reactivity) 也是本研究中的兩個重心。 / 研究結果發現二語學習者的工作記憶容量和他們對於語法的重述的注意力存在着統計學的顯著聯繫，然而這種聯繫只存在於對注意英語過去式的重述而非英語問句的重述之中。統計結果未能顯示學習者的第二語言能力水平對於注意力的顯著效果，也未能發現他們的工作記憶容量對於二語發展的顯著效果。研究結果還發現重述式反饋的延遲效應，然而這一效應也可能是由於刺激回憶法的使用與重述式反饋共同產生的效應。此外，立即刺激回憶法在本項研究中未產生任何反應特性。 / The exploratory study conducted by Mackey, Philp, Egi, Fujii and Tatsumi (2002) first probed into the internal relationship among learners’ working memory capacity, noticing of recasts of English question formation in interactional feedback and their L2 development. The researchers in that study proposed that as a small-scale study, research findings were suggestive rather than conclusive and that further exploration would be helpful. / Responding to that research call, the present study further investigated the influence of individual variables on learners’ awareness and performance in interactional tasks. Learners’ working memory capacity and their L2 proficiency level were both regarded as independent variables in the present study to link with their noticing of recasts of two different target forms: English question formation and English past tense. Immediate stimulated recall, as a newly developed method in the present study, was used to collect noticing data as well as the use of traditional stimulated recall. The pretest-treatment-posttests design was adopted with two experimental groups and one control group involved in the experiment. The control group was asked to complete interactional tasks with interlocutors without any recasts provided. Two experimental groups were recasts groups with one of them attending stimulated recall interview after the immediate posttest and the other attending immediate stimulated recall interview every day immediately after the treatment and before the immediate posttest. / To find whether there was a relationship between WM and noticing of recasts of L2 forms was the first research goal in the present study. The effect of L2 proficiency level on noticing of L2 forms was another goal. While only a limited number of studies have investigated the role of WM in L2 implicit learning conditions, this issue will also be addressed. Finally, the effectiveness of recasts in instruction and the reactivity issue of immediate stimulated recall as a new method to detect noticing are two other focuses in the present study. / Research results found that there was a significant relationship between WM and noticing of English past tense but not English questions, which indicates that the relationship between WM and noticing of L2 forms may be target-specific. No significant effect of L2 proficiency on noticing was found. However, descriptive data showed a possible trend that the low-proficiency group reported more noticing of L2 forms than the high-proficiency group. The effect of WM capacity on L2 development under all those three implicit learning conditions was found insignificant. There may be a delayed effect of recasts in learners’ L2 development; however, due to the limitation in research design, this delayed effect may result from both recasts and stimulated recall interviews. Immediate stimulated recall was found non-reactive in the present study. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Dai, Binbin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-192). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in also in Chinese; appendix F includes Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.x / List of Figures --- p.xiii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Research Background and Rationale of the Present Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Research Questions --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1 --- The Interaction Approach to Second Language Acquisition --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- The Interaction Hypothesis --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3 --- Feedback in Interaction --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Explicit and implicit feedback --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Recasts and L2 learning --- p.17 / Chapter 2.4 --- Noticing in interaction --- p.21 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Attention and awareness: Two theoretical positions --- p.21 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Recasts, noticing and L2 development --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Measurement of learner awareness in SLA --- p.25 / Chapter 2.4.3.1 --- Methodological innovation in the present study --- p.26 / Chapter 2.4.3.2 --- Reactivity: Do recasts with post-task activity trigger more L2 development? --- p.32 / Chapter 2.5 --- Working Memory and SLA --- p.35 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- The role of working memory in SLA --- p.36 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Working memory in interaction-driven learning --- p.39 / Chapter 2.5.2.1 --- Working memory and L2 development in interaction-driven learning --- p.39 / Chapter 2.5.2.2 --- Working memory and noticing of L2 forms in interactional feedback --- p.43 / Chapter 2.6 --- Research Questions --- p.46 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Methodology --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1 --- Participants --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Learner participants --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Native speaker interlocutor --- p.50 / Chapter 3.2 --- Procedure --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3 --- Operationalizations --- p.57 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Recasts in interactional feedbacks --- p.58 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Working memory capacity --- p.59 / Chapter 3.4 --- Linguistic Targets --- p.60 / Chapter 3.5 --- Materials --- p.61 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Interaction materials for treatment and assessment tasks --- p.62 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Proficiency test: The application of the C-test --- p.63 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Working memory tests: Non-word span test & L2 listening span test --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5.3.1 --- English nonword span test --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5.3.2 --- English listening span test --- p.67 / Chapter 3.5.4 --- Stimulated recall --- p.69 / Chapter 3.5.5 --- Exit debriefing questionnaire --- p.71 / Chapter 3.6 --- Data Coding and Scoring --- p.73 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- The C-test --- p.74 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- The WM tests --- p.75 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Stimulated recall comments: The noticing data --- p.77 / Chapter 3.6.4 --- Task performance data --- p.80 / Chapter 3.6.4.1 --- Developmental levels in English question formation --- p.80 / Chapter 3.6.4.2 --- Error-free ratios in English past tense --- p.83 / Chapter 3.6.5 --- Intrarater reliability --- p.86 / Chapter 3.6.6 --- Interrater reliability --- p.86 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results --- p.88 / Chapter 4.1 --- Research Question 1: WM Capacity and Noticing of L2 Forms --- p.88 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Composite WM capacity and noticing of L2 forms --- p.88 / Chapter 4.1.1.1 --- For two experimental groups as a whole --- p.89 / Chapter 4.1.1.2 --- For each experimental group as an individual condition --- p.91 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Two sub-capacities of WM and noticing of L2 forms --- p.93 / Chapter 4.1.2.1 --- PSTM capacity and noticing of L2 forms --- p.94 / Chapter 4.1.2.2 --- Verbal WM capacity and noticing of L2 forms --- p.95 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Summary of Research Question 1 --- p.96 / Chapter 4.2 --- Research Question 2: Proficiency Level and Noticing of L2 Forms --- p.97 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Proficiency level and noticing of both targets --- p.98 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Summary of Research Question 2 --- p.101 / Chapter 4.3 --- Research Question 3: WM Capacity and L2 Development --- p.101 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- WM capacity and L2 development in the control group --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.1.1 --- English question formation --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.1.2 --- English past tense --- p.104 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- WM capacity and L2 development in Experimental Group A --- p.107 / Chapter 4.3.2.1 --- English question formation --- p.107 / Chapter 4.3.2.2 --- English past tense --- p.108 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- WM capacity and L2 development in Experimental Group B --- p.111 / Chapter 4.3.3.1 --- English question formation --- p.111 / Chapter 4.3.3.2 --- English past tense --- p.113 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Summary of Research Question 3 --- p.116 / Chapter 4.4 --- Research Question 4: Experimental Conditions and L2 development --- p.116 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- English question formation --- p.116 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- English past tense --- p.117 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Summary of Research Question 4 --- p.125 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussion --- p.127 / Chapter 5.1 --- Working Memory and Noticing of L2 Forms --- p.127 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Different L2 forms --- p.129 / Chapter 5.1.1.1 --- Developmental levels of L2 grammatical structures --- p.130 / Chapter 5.1.1.2 --- Explicitness of L2 forms --- p.132 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Different measures of WM --- p.136 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Different methods to collect noticing data --- p.138 / Chapter 5.2 --- Proficiency Level and Noticing --- p.140 / Chapter 5.3 --- Working Memory and L2 Development --- p.145 / Chapter 5.4 --- Recasts, the Immediate Stimulated Recall and L2 Development --- p.149 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Recasts, target structures and L2 development --- p.151 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Methodological implications: The immediate stimulated recall --- p.159 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Pedagogical implications --- p.161 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.164 / Chapter 6.1 --- Summary of Research Findings --- p.164 / Chapter 6.2 --- Limitations --- p.166 / Chapter 6.3 --- Future Directions --- p.169 / Chapter 6.4 --- Conclusion --- p.172 / References --- p.174 / Appendices --- p.193 / Chapter Appendix A --- Research Participation Consent Form --- p.193 / Chapter Appendix B --- Background Questionnaire --- p.194 / Chapter Appendix C --- Instructions for the Interlocutors: Procedures and Tasks --- p.196 / Chapter Appendix D --- The C-test Adopted from Dörnyei and Katona (1992) --- p.198 / Chapter Appendix E --- Working Memory Tests --- p.200 / Chapter Appendix F --- Exit Questionnaire Adapted from Sachs and Suh (2007) --- p.205

Literature review abstract Background: Domain-general processes, such as working memory (WM), short-term memory (STM), and attention, have been found to be related to mathematical performance in children. The relationship between these abilities, however, is not well understood. Objective: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the literature investigating the relationship between mathematical performance and WM, STM, and attention in typically developing primary school aged children. Methods: Three databases were searched for studies published between January 1974 and February 2015 reporting associations between mathematics performance and at least one measure of WM, STM, and attention. Study selection was undertaken by applying inclusion and exclusion criteria and 43 studies were selected for inclusion. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using a validated checklist. Results: WM, STM, and attention were all significantly related to mathematics performance. Visuospatial STM and WM were strongly related to mathematics performance in younger children, while verbal STM and WM were more strongly related in older children; although some studies found the opposite pattern. The relationship between attention and mathematics performance increased in strength with age. Conclusions: There are many factors relevant to the relationship between mathematical performance and WM, STM, and attention which can affect the strength of the association, including the types of tasks used to measure the constructs, the confounding variables considered, and the age of the participants. Future research needs to focus on the construction of an integrated model of mathematical development.   Empirical paper abstract Background: Moderate to late preterm children (MLPT; born between 32 weeks and 36 weeks and 6 days) are at increased risk of developing cognitive difficulties compared to term children (born between 37 weeks and 41 weeks and 6 days). Mathematical attainment is an important area of academic development. Domain-general cognitive abilities, which constrain all learning, and domain-specific mathematical precursors are both important for mathematical development. Objectives: The current study had two aims: 1) to investigate the relationship between gestational age (GA), mathematical attainment, working memory (WM), short-term memory (STM), and attentional control; and 2) to investigate WM, STM, and attentional control as domain-general predictors of mathematical attainment. It was hypothesised that WM would predict additional variance in mathematical attainment after attentional control, STM, and demographic variables (intellectual ability (IQ) and socioeconomic status) were accounted for. Methods: A cross-sectional and correlational design was used to investigate the study aims. Participants were 34 MLPT children and 25 term children who were between 72 and 107 months at the time of the study. Children who weighed less than 1500 grams at birth, had cerebral palsy, epilepsy, severe hearing or vision loss, or had a diagnosed learning disability were excluded. Each participant completed a cognitive assessment which measured their mathematical attainment and components of WM, STM, and attentional control. Results: GA was only significantly correlated with IQ. In the model of mathematical attainment, GA also significantly moderated the relationship between attentional switching and mathematical attainment. The hypothesis regarding the role of WM in predicting mathematical attainment was partially supported as only verbal WM predicted significant additional variance in mathematical attainment. Attention behaviour and IQ also predicted significant additional variance in mathematical attainment. Conclusion: These findings suggest that birth weight greater than 1500g, higher socioeconomic status, and lower levels of co-morbid medical conditions may serve as protective factors against the potential negative consequences of MLPT birth. Findings regarding the domain-general predictors of mathematical attainment supported some previous findings and highlighted the need for a variety of tasks to be used to measure each domain-general ability. Longitudinal studies in MLPT children would be helpful for further understanding the role of GA and domain-general abilities in the development of mathematical attainment.

Auditory recognition memory in non-human primates is not well understood. Monkeys have difficulty acquiring auditory memory tasks, and limited capability maintaining auditory information over memory delays, relative to studies of visual memory. Neural substrates of auditory discrimination and recognition memory depend on superior temporal gyrus (STG), instead of rhinal cortex necessary for visual memory (Fritz et al., 2005). The current project assessed behavioral and neural correlates of auditory processing and memory function in monkeys, particularly focusing on the dorsal temporal pole (dTP), the rostral portion of STG. Chapter 2 examined recognition memory of monkeys under influences of various sound types. In a delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) task, rhesus monkeys were trained to determine if two sounds, separated by a 5-second delay, were same (match trials) or different (nonmatch trials). Results demonstrated monkey vocalizations served as better cues than other sound types for auditory memory performance. Memory improvements may be due to familiarity and biological significance of con-specific sounds, analogous to using facial stimuli during visual tasks. Chapter 3 examined neuronal activity of dTP, when two monkeys performed an auditory DTMS task and listened to sound stimuli. Population encoding of sample stimuli in dTP was closely associated with memory accuracy. Moreover, a suppression effect on identical sounds was present, similar to processing in the ventral visual processing stream, inferior temporal cortex (ITC) and ventral temporal pole (vTP). Delay-related activity of dTP was weak, limited and short-lived, in contrast to visual studies reporting sustained activity over memory delays in ITC, vTP and prefrontal cortex. The findings provide preliminary evidence on why monkeys show limited memory capability, compared to visual memory, for auditory information. Neurons of dTP were sound-selective, and mainly evoked by one to four discrete stimuli only. Sound types and simple acoustic properties of sound stimuli cannot completely account for response profiles of dTP neurons. The findings suggest dTP is a higher order auditory area, and receives information from various auditory areas along STG. Dorsal temporal pole fits into proposals of neural networks for auditory processing, in which a hierarchical organization of information flow exists within the primate auditory nervous system.

A challenge to research on auditory and speech perception has been a lack of correlation between measures of each ability, despite their shared acoustical basis. The hypothesis presented here is that stimuli in the auditory domain stimuli generally have a static quality whereas stimuli in the speech domain generally have a dynamic quality, but attempts to correlate the two assume that static and dynamic stimuli are processed similarly by auditory short-term memory (ASTM). This thesis utilizes a change-detection task, which is popular for investigating the function of visual short-term memory, to more closely examine the function of ASTM for the purpose of evaluating the plausibility of this hypothesis. Across three experiments the temporal dynamics of ASTM are explored by manipulating the interstimulus interval (ISI), the stimulus duration, and the type of feature change in a change-detection task. This final manipulation (Experiment 3) also involves change-detection in a sequence of stimuli rather than just pairs of stimuli (as in Experiments 1 & 2). Individual differences in ASTM function are also evaluated in order to ensure that any differences found are present for all listeners and to further understand the function of ASTM. It is found that ASTM for static stimuli is consistently better than dynamic stimuli, even for listeners with high ASTM performance. Longer ISIs lead to poorer performance only for dynamic stimuli and only for participants who show poor ASTM function at long ISIs. Longer durations lead to better performance for all stimuli to a point, but performance for dynamic stimuli plateaus, and even decreases, at the longest durations, while the static stimuli continue to show gains. This result generally holds for all listeners. Lastly, changes in temporal order and changes to stimuli at the end of the sequence are detected more often than changes in frequency and large changes are detected more often than small changes. These first two effects hold for all stimuli while the second effect is more true of static stimuli. These results are discussed within the context of ASTM and the impact of each manipulation on the encoding, maintenance, and comparison processes is considered.

Anxiety is of importance within the field of cognition because it is often associated with adverse effects on attention, information processing, learning and memory (Eysenck, 1992, 2007). In existing literature, it has been reported that trait anxiety hinders cognitive performance (i.e., working memory capacity WMC). However, the relationship between trait anxiety and cognitive performance might be moderated by working memory capacity (WMC). For example, Owens (2014) reported that trait anxiety was negatively correlated with cognitive performance in the low WMC group and positively correlated to cognitive performance in the high WMC group. Although, past research on the working memory system has focused on the impairments that are triggered by trait anxiety, there may be an exception to these existing findings. Recently, Moriya & Sugiura (2012, 2018) reported that high trait anxiety paradoxically enhances visual-short term memory capacity (VSTMC). In this present study, we sought to identify if WMC modulates the relationship between trait anxiety and VSTM performance. Our first hypothesis stated that there would be a positive correlation between trait anxiety and VSTM capacity. Our second hypothesis stated that the correlation between trait anxiety and VSTM capacity would be modulated by WMC. In this current study, working memory, visual-short term memory and self‐report levels of trait anxiety, were evaluated. The results of the current study did not provide strong support for neither of our hypotheses. For hypothesis 1, we were not able to replicate Moriya and Sugiura’s findings; trait anxiety did not enhance VSTM performance. For hypothesis 2, VSTM performance was not influenced by the interaction term of WMC x trait anxiety; in such WMC and trait anxiety combined were unrelated to VSTM performance. Despite this work, we are still somewhat unclear whether trait anxiety enhances VSTM performance. Although, our data did not provide definitive support for enhanced VSTMC in high trait anxious individuals it did provide three unique findings. First, our results suggest that the level of WMC does in fact modulate the relationship between trait anxiety and VSTMC. Second, only the somatic component of trait anxiety was negatively correlated to VSTM performance for LWMC individuals. Third, WMC and VSTMC were significantly associated with one another. In closing, our three core findings may provide important insights towards improving future research when assessing the relationship between trait anxiety and VSTM performance.

This investigation compared the auditory memory span and sequence of language/learning disabled children with that of normal children to determine if there was a difference between the two groups on short-term auditory memory, ordering of stimulus type difficulty and performance on subtests using various stimulus types. Fifteen LD subjects were matched with fifteen normal subjects for mental age as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The Auditory Memory Test Battery (AMTB) was administered to each subject. The AMTB consists of five tape recorded subtests of recall for sentences, digits, related words, unrelated words, and nonsense words. Each subject responded verbally to the randomly presented subtests. This resulted in ten scores for each subject: a span score and sequence score for each of the five subtests, with a possible twenty-eight points for each subtest for both span and sequence.