Individual differences on complex memory spans predict a variety of higher-order cognitive tasks (e.g. reading comprehension, reasoning, following direction) as well as low-level attention tasks (e.g. Stroop, dichotic listening, antisaccade). The current study attempted to better determine the role of individual differences in complex memory span and episodic retrieval. Specifically, two experiments explored the possibility that individual differences in complex memory span reflect differences in the ability to successfully retrieve items from secondary memory via a cue-dependent search process. High and low complex span participants were tested in delayed (Experiment 1) and continuous distractor (Experiment 2) free recall with varying list-lengths. Across both experiments low spans recalled fewer items than high spans, recalled more previous list intrusions than high spans, and recalled at a slower rate than high spans. It is argued that low spans search through a larger set of items than high spans and, thus low spans episodic retrieval deficits are associated with an inability to use cues to guide a search and retrieval process of secondary memory. Implications for dual-component models of memory are discussed.

ABSTRACT THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE LOAD IN LEARNING FROM GOAL BASED SCENARIO DESIGNED MULTIMEDIA LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNERS HAVING DIFFERENT WORKING MEMORY CAPACITIES Kili&ccedil / , Eylem Ph.D., Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zahide Yildirim December 2009, 201 pages The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of principles aiming to reduce extraneous cognitive load in learning from goal based scenario designed multimedia learning environment for learners having different working memory capacities. In addition, the effects of goal based scenario and the principles of cognitive load theory on students&rsquo / perception, motivation and satisfaction has been explored. Two versions of the multimedia were developed for this study. In the first version (+CLT), the principles such as split attention, multimedia, modality, redundancy, coherence and signaling was applied. In the second version (-CLT), these principles were violated. Mixed method was used and two studies were conducted for this study. The first study was conducted with 82 ninth grade students from one of the Anatolian High School in Ankara. However, the participants&rsquo / working memory capacities were found very close to each other. Therefore, the second study was conducted with 54 11th grade students having different working memory capacity from the same school. The result of the first study showed that the cognitive load principles aim at reducing extraneous cognitive load increased learning gains, decreased invested mental effort and affected students&rsquo / motivation and satisfaction in positive ways. On the other hand, when cognitive load principles were not considered, this decreased learning gains, increased invested mental effort and affected students&rsquo / motivation and satisfaction in negative ways. The result of the second study showed that the only difference between high and low WMC students found on the number of errors made in sequencing meiosis sub phases in favor of the first version (+CLT). This might be explained by the task characteristics in that the difference between high and low WMC individuals can be observed when task demanded attention. It can be concluded that students benefited from the cognitive load principles reducing extraneous cognitive based on the findings of both studies.

Dėmesio mirksėjimo efektas – tai plačiai žinomas reiškinys dėmesio tyrimuose. Jis atspindi dėmesingo informacijos apdorojimo ribas, kadangi greitai (10 stimulų per sekundę dažniu) toje pačioje regos lauko vietoje pateikus stimulų seką dažniausiai žmonės nepastebi ir/ arba neatsimena antrojo reikšminio stimulo. Tai įvyksta tuo atveju, kai šis pasirodo 200-500 ms intervale nuo pirmojo reikšminio stimulo pateikimo. Neseniai Martens ir kolegos (2006) nustatė, jog kai kuriems žmonėms dėmesio mirksėjimo efektas nepasireiškia, jie buvo pavadinti „nemirksinčiais“. Manoma, kad individualius skirtumus lemia nevienodai efektyvus gebėjimas iš nereikšmingos informacijos srauto išsirinkti reikšmingą. Šiame darbe siekta patikrinti, ar individuali darbinės atminties talpa, tiriamojo emocinė būsena ir tiriamojo asmenybės bruožai turi įtakos dėmesio efekto išreikštumui. Naudojant parametrizuotą dėmesio mirksėjimo efekto analizės būdą, nustatyta, kad didesnė darbinės atminties talpa sąlygoja mažesnį dėmesio mirksėjimo efektą. Šie rezultatai patvirtina nuomonę, kad dėmesio mirksėjimo efektas yra darbinės atminties talpos ribotumo pasekmė. Taip pat nustatyta, kad tiriamojo emocinio sužadinamumo būsena yra susijusi su dėmesio mirksėjimo efekto stiprumu, o asmenybės bruožai – su trukme. / The attentional blink is a well-known phenomenon in the study of attention. It reflects the impaired ability to identify the second of two targets presented in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of events if it appears between 200 and 500 ms after the first target. Recently Martens et al. (2006) reported that about 5% of the population (referred to as “non-blinkers”) shows little or no attentional blink under conditions in which most people (“blinkers”) do show. It is proposed that aforementioned differences are determined by individual differences in efficiency of ignoring irrelevant information. Thus, the aims of this master’s thesis were to investigate the impact of working memory capacity, emotional state and personality traits on attentional blink effect. Using parameterized attentional blink analysis method, based on curve fitting, the negative correlation between the size of attentional blink and working memory capacity was revealed. These findings support the idea that individual processing limitations and working memory play a key role in attentional blink. Also it was demonstrated that emotional arousal has impact on the strength of attentional blink and personality traits have effect on the span of attentional blink.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], iv, 35 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 32-35).

Individuals with high working memory capacity (WMC) appear to be particularly good at focusing their attention (McCabe, Roediger, McDaniel, Balota, & Hambrick, 2010). Therefore, we studied the correlation between WMC and the ability to suppress neurological activity from a task-irrelevant stimulus. The research question tests the foundations of Lavie’s perceptual load theory; that early selection occurs, by testing if higher WMC enhances people’s ability to inhibit processing of task-irrelevant stimuli from low versus high load (i.e. the difference from low to high load should be smaller for high WMC than for low WMC). This was operationalised by measuring the correlation of WMC and auditory processing under low versus high visual load. Auditory processing was measured with auditory steady state responses (ASSR), and WMC was measured with an operation-letter span task. The results showed no significant correlation between WMC and ability to suppress task-irrelevant stimuli. Based on the data, it is not possible to conclude with certainty that effects of load on auditory processing are unaffected by WMC, because confidence intervals were large.

abstract: Retrieving an item from memory can cause subsequent suppression of related items. This phenomenon, involving a procedure where participants retrieve category-exemplar pairs (e.g. FRUIT-orange), is known as Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF). Individuals who demonstrate greater amounts of RIF also exhibit greater working memory capacity (WMC). Reasoning ability is highly related to WMC, which may suggest that a similar relation exists between RIF and Reasoning ability. The goal of the present investigation was to examine this possibility. Rotation Span and a Letter Number task were used as indicators of WMC and a Cognitive Reflection Test was used to measure Reasoning ability. A significant RIF effect was found, but it did not significantly correlate with WMC or Reasoning ability. These results demonstrate the importance of designing a RIF task appropriately, selecting measures of Reasoning ability, and the theoretical accounts of the RIF effect. One possibility is that by not controlling for output interference, the obtained RIF effect cannot be reasoned to come from the executive control process as suggested by the inhibition account. Although this account is the chief explanation of the RIF effect, it has been challenged by alternative accounts and it remains unclear how the underlying mechanism of RIF is related to higher cognitive abilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2016

abstract: Multimodal presentations have been found to facilitate learning, however, may be a disadvantage for low spatial ability students if they require spatial visualization. This disadvantage stems from their limited capacity to spatially visualize and retain information from both text and diagrams for integration. Similarly, working memory capacity (WMC) likely plays a key role in a learner's ability to retain information presented to them via both modalities. The present study investigated whether or not the act of self-explaining helps resolve deficits in learning caused by individual differences in spatial ability, working memory capacity, and prior knowledge when learning with text, or text and diagrams. No interactions were found, but prior knowledge consistently predicted performance on like posttests. The author presents methodological and theoretical explanations as to the null results of the present study. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Applied Psychology 2014

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / James C. Shanteau / A training protocol was developed to teach an implicit reasoning strategy to encourage the consideration of alternatives, specifically in behavioral trap decision environments. Engaging the strategy would thereby decrease the effect of focusing on traps, resulting in more rational behavior. In two studies, training was delivered in an instructor-less environment using paper-pencil and multimedia examples. The main training components consisted of analogical problem solving and counterfactual thinking. The potential moderators between training and performance outcomes consisted of an information processing disposition Need for Cognitive Closure, an individualized approach to decisions, Decision-Making Style, and a capacity to process information Working Memory Capacity. Arousal and mood were also measured before, during, and after the training as both have been linked with learning. In Study 1, participants engaged in analogical problem solving, additive counterfactual thinking, subtractive counterfactual thinking, or none of these (i.e., control group). Results revealed that the training was minimally effective, although some comparisons revealed a large shift from pre- to post-training in commitment score away from trap options. Likewise, the Need for Cognitive Closure was the best predictor of decision behavior revealing that a predisposition for amount of information processed during decision making is indicative of behavioral outcomes in this decision environment. Based on results from Study 1, the training was reformatted in Study 2 to obtain the maximum potential benefit. Analogical problem solving was coupled with each form of counterfactual thinking so participants engaged in both critical thinking processes. When training was effective, the two forms were differentially effective as related to behavioral trap problem type. Forward-looking training assisted problem types that force explicit cost recognition and immediate decision outcomes. Past-looking training assisted problem types that force little cost recognition and delayed decision outcomes. Results of this project could be used to enhance the acquisition of critical thinking as well as improve educational practices. Both information processing disposition and decision approach style predicted learning whereas capacity to process information and training manipulations did not. Future projects will examine how long the training effects last and if critical thinking training can be successfully applied to other decision environments.

The aim of the study was to investigate the association between working memory capacity and golf performance in a dual-task paradigm. Twenty-eight golfers with ages varying from 19-58 participated in the study. The participants were instructed to, after assessing their working memory capacity with digit span tests, hit ten golf putts from varying distances in two different conditions, one single-task condition (just performing the golf putts) and one dual-task condition (golf putts plus a working memory task). In the dual-task condition the participants were given an address (including street name, postal code and city) to remember while hitting all ten putts. After hitting the putts in each condition the participants reported their perceived mental effort. Results from the study showed that participants with higher working memory capacity performed better than participants with lower working memory capacity in general, but especially in the distracted condition. Results also showed that participants with higher working memory capacity perceived less mental effort compared to participants with lower working memory capacity, especially in the distracted condition. The findings from this study indicate that working memory capacity is related to performance and mental effort exerted during performance, especially in a distracted condition.

Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) are variants of Neural Networks that are able to learn temporal relationships between sequences presented to the neural network. RNNs are often employed to learn underlying relationships in time series and sequential data. This dissertation examines the extent of RNN’s memory retention and how it is influenced by different activation functions, network structures and recurrent network types. To investigate memory retention, three approaches (and variants thereof) are used. First the number of patterns each network is able to retain is measured. Thereafter the length of retention is investigated. Lastly the previous experiments are combined to measure the retention of patterns over time. During each investigation, the effect of using different activation functions and network structures are considered to determine the configurations’ effect on memory retention. The dissertation concludes that memory retention of a network is not necessarily improved when adding more parameters to a network. Activation functions have a large effect on the performance of RNNs when retaining patterns, especially temporal patterns. Deeper network structures have the trade-off of less memory retention per parameter in favour of the ability to model more complex relationships. / Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Computer Science / MSc (Computer Science) / Unrestricted