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132
The generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning
- Journal of Experimental PsychologyGeneral
, 2004
"... A latent-variable study examined whether verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) capacity measures reflect a primarily domain-general construct by testing 236 participants in 3 span tests each of verbal WM, visuospatial WM, verbal short-term memory (STM), and visuospatial STM, as well as in test ..."
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Cited by 130 (10 self)
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A latent-variable study examined whether verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) capacity measures reflect a primarily domain-general construct by testing 236 participants in 3 span tests each of verbal WM, visuospatial WM, verbal short-term memory (STM), and visuospatial STM, as well as in tests of verbal and spatial reasoning and general fluid intelligence (Gf). Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models indicated that the WM tasks largely reflected a domain-general factor, whereas STM tasks, based on the same stimuli as the WM tasks, were much more domain specific. The WM construct was a strong predictor of Gf and a weaker predictor of domain-specific reasoning, and the reverse was true for the STM construct. The findings support a domain-general view of WM capacity, in which executive-attention processes drive the broad predictive utility of WM span measures, and domain-specific storage and rehearsal processes relate more strongly to domain-specific aspects of complex cognition. The generality versus specificity of cognitive abilities, mecha-nisms, and structures has triggered lively debate throughout psy-chology’s history, for example, it surrounds questions of general versus multiple intelligences (e.g., Guilford, 1967; Jensen, 1998;
The correlative triad among aging, dopamine, and cognition: current status and future prospects.
- Neurosci. & Biobehav. Rev.
, 2006
"... Abstract The brain neuronal systems defined by the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) have since long a recognized role in the regulation of motor functions. More recently, converging evidence from patient studies, animal research, pharmacological intervention, and molecular genetics indicates that DA ..."
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Cited by 63 (17 self)
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Abstract The brain neuronal systems defined by the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) have since long a recognized role in the regulation of motor functions. More recently, converging evidence from patient studies, animal research, pharmacological intervention, and molecular genetics indicates that DA is critically implicated also in higher-order cognitive functioning. Many cognitive functions and multiple markers of striatal and extrastriatal DA systems decline across adulthood and aging. Research examining the correlative triad among adult age, DA, and cognition has found strong support for the view that age-related DA losses are associated with age-related cognitive deficits. Future research strategies for examining the DA-cognitive aging link include assessing (a) the generality/specificity of the effects; (b) the relationship between neuromodulation and functional brain activation; and (c) the release of DA during actual task performance. r
Verbal and visuo-spatial short-term and working memory in children: Are they seperable? Child Development
, 2006
"... This study explored the structure of verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children be-tween ages 4 and 11 years. Multiple tasks measuring 4 different memory components were used to capture the cognitive processes underlying working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated t ..."
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Cited by 49 (9 self)
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This study explored the structure of verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children be-tween ages 4 and 11 years. Multiple tasks measuring 4 different memory components were used to capture the cognitive processes underlying working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the processing component of working memory tasks was supported by a common resource pool, while storage aspects depend on domain-specific verbal and visuospatial resources. This model is largely stable across this developmental period, although some evidence exists that the links between the domain-specific visuospatial construct and the domain-general processing construct were higher in the 4- to- 6-year age group. The data also suggest that all working memory components are in place by 4 years of age. The term working memory refers to the capacity to store and manipulate information over brief periods of time (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974; Just & Carpenter, 1992). Extensive research over the past three decades has established that working memory is not a single store, but a memory system comprised of separable interacting components. Functioning in concert,
Cognitive impairment in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: a metaanalysis
- Neuropsychology
, 2005
"... To determine the size of the impairment across different cognitive domains in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a meta-analysis based on 47 studies involving 9,097 controls and 1,207 preclinical AD cases was conducted. There were marked preclinical deficits in global cognitive ability, episodic ..."
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Cited by 36 (0 self)
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To determine the size of the impairment across different cognitive domains in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a meta-analysis based on 47 studies involving 9,097 controls and 1,207 preclinical AD cases was conducted. There were marked preclinical deficits in global cognitive ability, episodic memory, perceptual speed, and executive functioning; somewhat smaller deficits in verbal ability, visuospatial skill, and attention; and no preclinical impairment in primary memory. Younger age ( 75 years) and shorter follow-up intervals ( 3 years) were associated with larger effect sizes for both global cognitive ability and episodic memory. For global cognitive ability, studies that used population-based sampling yielded larger effect sizes; for episodic memory, larger differences were seen in studies that preidentified groups in terms of baseline cognitive impairment. Within episodic memory, delayed testing and recall-based assessment resulted in the largest effect sizes. The authors conclude that deficits in multiple cognitive domains are characteristic of AD several years before clinical diagnosis. The generalized nature of the deficit is consistent with recent observations that multiple brain structures and functions are affected long before the AD diagnosis.
Cognitive aging and increased distractibility: costs and potential benefits. Prog. Brain Res
, 2008
"... Abstract: Older adults show a characteristic pattern of impaired and spared functioning relative to younger adults. Elsewhere we have argued that many age-related changes in cognitive function are rooted in an impaired ability to inhibit irrelevant information and inappropriate responses. In this ch ..."
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Cited by 32 (5 self)
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Abstract: Older adults show a characteristic pattern of impaired and spared functioning relative to younger adults. Elsewhere we have argued that many age-related changes in cognitive function are rooted in an impaired ability to inhibit irrelevant information and inappropriate responses. In this chapter we review evidence that as a direct result of impaired inhibitory processes, older adults tend to be highly susceptible to distraction. We suggest that because the distinction between relevant and irrelevant is seldom either clear or static, distractibility can manifest as either a cost or a benefit depending on the situation. We review evidence that in situations in which it interferes with the current task, distraction is disproportionately detrimental to older adults compared to university aged adults, but that when previously distracting information becomes relevant, older adults show a benefit whereas younger adults do not.
Divergent trajectories in the aging mind: Changes in working memory for aVective versus visual information with age
- Psychology and Aging
, 2005
"... Working memory mediates the short-term maintenance of information. Virtually all empirical research on working memory involves investigations of working memory for verbal and visual information. Whereas aging is typically associated with a deficit in working memory for these types of information, re ..."
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Cited by 29 (9 self)
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Working memory mediates the short-term maintenance of information. Virtually all empirical research on working memory involves investigations of working memory for verbal and visual information. Whereas aging is typically associated with a deficit in working memory for these types of information, recent findings suggestive of relatively well-preserved long-term memory for emotional information in older adults raise questions about working memory for emotional material. This study examined age differences in working memory for emotional versus visual information. Findings demonstrate that, despite an age-related deficit for the latter, working memory for emotion was unimpaired. Further, older adults exhibited superior performance on positive relative to negative emotion trials, whereas their younger counterparts exhibited the opposite pattern.
Functional plasticity in cognitive aging: review and hypothesis
- Neuropsychology
, 2007
"... Cognitive aging reflects not only loss but also adaptation to loss. The adult brain is capable of plastic change, including change in cortical representation. This has been seen in association not only with frank lesions but also in healthy individuals as a function of experience and training. This ..."
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Cited by 24 (1 self)
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Cognitive aging reflects not only loss but also adaptation to loss. The adult brain is capable of plastic change, including change in cortical representation. This has been seen in association not only with frank lesions but also in healthy individuals as a function of experience and training. This review considers the potential for adult plasticity together with evidence of a relation in old age between regional cortical atrophy/shrinkage and increased activation in neuroimaging. Those cortical regions shown most consis-tently to shrink in adulthood—prefrontal and parietal cortices—are the same regions showing increased regional activation in aging. Combining several strands of behavioral and neuroimaging evidence, the author argues that functional plasticity alters the course of cognitive aging. The author advances the hypothesis that losses in regional brain integrity drive functional reorganization through changes in processing strategy and makes specific predictions from that hypothesis.
The cognitive and behavioral characteristics of children with low working memory
- Child Development
, 2009
"... This study explored the cognitive and behavioral profiles of children with working memory impairments. In an initial screening of 3,189 5–11-year-olds, 308 were identified as having very low working memory scores. Cognitive skills (IQ, vocabulary, reading, and math), classroom behavior, and self-est ..."
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Cited by 21 (1 self)
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This study explored the cognitive and behavioral profiles of children with working memory impairments. In an initial screening of 3,189 5–11-year-olds, 308 were identified as having very low working memory scores. Cognitive skills (IQ, vocabulary, reading, and math), classroom behavior, and self-esteem were assessed. The majority of the children struggled in the learning measures and verbal ability. They also obtained atypically high ratings of cognitive problems ⁄ inattentive symptoms, and were judged to have short attention spans, high levels of distractibility, problems in monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulties in generating new solutions to problems. These data provide rich new information on the cognitive and behavioral profiles that characterize children with low working memory. Working memory is a multicomponent system pro-viding temporary storage of information for brief periods of time that can be used to support ongoing cognitive activities (Baddeley, 1986; Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). The limited capacity of working mem-ory varies widely between individuals and is clo-sely associated with learning abilities during childhood (see Cowan & Alloway, in press; for a review). A large body of research has focused on working memory deficits in individuals with learn-ing difficulties in reading (e.g., Gathercole, Allo-
Young and old adults‘ concerns about morality and competence
- Motivation & Emotion
, 2001
"... Two experiments were conducted to examine people’s sensitivity to person information from the morality domain (relation-oriented) and the competence domain (task & achievement-oriented). In a lexical decision paradigm, the findings from Experiment 1 showed that younger adults were faster to iden ..."
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Cited by 18 (4 self)
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Two experiments were conducted to examine people’s sensitivity to person information from the morality domain (relation-oriented) and the competence domain (task & achievement-oriented). In a lexical decision paradigm, the findings from Experiment 1 showed that younger adults were faster to identify person cues (trait words) from the morality than from the competence domain, especially cues that were related to immorality. Experiment 2 compared the responses of younger and older adults. Despite the slower responses of the older adults, the findings indicated that all participants were faster at identifying cues from the morality domain than from the competence domain, with no age interactions. The results from Experiment 2 also suggested that disparate findings in the literature regarding reaction times to morality/competence cues and valence (positive or negative) were a function of word frequency effects. The findings are discussed in terms of people’s chronic concern with the moral aspects of others as invariant across the lifespan, given that the morality domain is where interpersonal costs and threats are most likely to be signaled. To act in the social field requires a knowledge of social facts—of persons and groups. To take our place with others we must perceive each other’s existence and reach a measure of comprehension of one another’s needs, emotions, and thoughts. (Asch, 1952, p. 139) As Asch noted, a basic, if not the central, mechanism underlying interpersonal interaction is that people must come to some conclusion regarding each others ’ intentions,
The adaptive and strategic use of memory by older adults: Evaluative processing and value-directed remembering
- In
, 2007
"... Why do we remember some events and not others, and how does this change in old age? Although there are a variety of ways to address this question, the present perspective emphasizes how value can have a profound eVect on how we use our memory to remember certain information. The ability to select an ..."
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Cited by 16 (8 self)
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Why do we remember some events and not others, and how does this change in old age? Although there are a variety of ways to address this question, the present perspective emphasizes how value can have a profound eVect on how we use our memory to remember certain information. The ability to select and prioritize what information is important to remember, relative to less salient or peripheral information, is an essential skill for the eYcient use of memory. For example, university students seek to memorize information they think is important for a later test, while grandparents may focus on being able to remember information about children and grandchildren, as well as important life events. In both cases, value is used to direct resources toward information that is deemed to be important to remember. The role that value plays in memory performance is critical to develop a comprehensive understanding of how memory is used across the adult life span. The present summary focuses on how older adults use evaluative processing (a critical process that will be defined and discussed throughout this chapter) to guide encoding and retrieval operations, and how older adults then use value to make decisions about what information is important to remember. In light of the many memory impairments that typically
