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Unsworth N, Miller AL, Strayer DL. Individual differences in attention control: A meta-analysis and re-analysis of latent variable studies. Psychon Bull Rev 2024:10.3758/s13423-024-02516-1. [PMID: 38769271 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02516-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
A meta-analysis and re-analysis of prior latent variable studies was conducted in order to assess whether there is evidence for individual differences in broad attention control abilities. Data from 90 independent samples and over 23,000 participants suggested that most (84.4%) prior studies find evidence for a coherent attention control factor with average factor loadings of .51. This latent attention control factor was related to other cognitive ability factors including working memory, shifting, fluid intelligence, long-term memory, reading comprehension, and processing speed, as well as to self-reports of task-unrelated thoughts and task specific motivation. Further re-analyses and meta-analyses suggest that the results remained largely unchanged when considering various possible measurement issues. Examining the factor structure of attention control suggested evidence for sub-components of attention control (restraining, constraining and sustaining attention) which could be accounted for a by a higher-order factor. Additional re-analyses suggested that attention control represents a broad ability within models of cognitive abilities. Overall, these results provide evidence for attention control abilities as an important individual differences construct.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nash Unsworth
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA.
| | - Ashley L Miller
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Deanna L Strayer
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA
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Schubert AL, Löffler C, Sadus K, Göttmann J, Hein J, Schröer P, Teuber A, Hagemann D. Working memory load affects intelligence test performance by reducing the strength of relational item bindings and impairing the filtering of irrelevant information. Cognition 2023; 236:105438. [PMID: 37058828 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
There is a broad consensus that individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) are strongly related to individual differences in intelligence. However, correlational studies do not allow conclusions about the causal nature of the relationship between WMC and fluid intelligence. While research on the cognitive basis of intelligence typically assumes that simpler lower-level cognitive processes contribute to individual differences in higher-order reasoning processes, a reversed causality or a third variable giving rise to two intrinsically uncorrelated variables may exist. In two studies (n1 = 65, n2 = 113), we investigated the causal nature of the relationship between WMC and intelligence by assessing the experimental effect of working memory load on intelligence test performance. Moreover, we tested if the effect of working memory load on intelligence test performance increased under time constraints, as previous studies have shown that the association between the two constructs increases if intelligence tests are administered with a strict time limit. We show that working memory load impaired intelligence test performance, but that this experimental effect was not affected by time constraints, which suggests that the experimental manipulations of working memory capacity and processing time did not affect the same underlying cognitive process. Using a computational modeling approach, we demonstrated that external memory load affected both the building and maintenance of relational item bindings and the filtering of irrelevant information in working memory. Our results confirm that WMC causally contributes to higher-order reasoning processes. Moreover, they support the hypothesis that working memory capacity in general and the abilities to maintain arbitrary bindings and to disengage from irrelevant information in particular are intrinsically related to intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christoph Löffler
- Department of Psychology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany; Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kathrin Sadus
- Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jan Göttmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany; Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Johanna Hein
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Pauline Schröer
- Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Antonia Teuber
- Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dirk Hagemann
- Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Hagemann D, Ihmels M, Bast N, Neubauer AB, Schankin A, Schubert AL. Fluid Intelligence Is (Much) More than Working Memory Capacity: An Experimental Analysis. J Intell 2023; 11:jintelligence11040070. [PMID: 37103255 PMCID: PMC10141465 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence11040070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Empirical evidence suggests a great positive association between measures of fluid intelligence and working memory capacity, which implied to some researchers that fluid intelligence is little more than working memory. Because this conclusion is mostly based on correlation analysis, a causal relationship between fluid intelligence and working memory has not yet been established. The aim of the present study was therefore to provide an experimental analysis of this relationship. In a first study, 60 participants worked on items of the Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) while simultaneously engaging in one of four secondary tasks to load specific components of the working memory system. There was a diminishing effect of loading the central executive on the APM performance, which could explain 15% of the variance in the APM score. In a second study, we used the same experimental manipulations but replaced the dependent variable with complex working memory span tasks from three different domains. There was also a diminishing effect of the experimental manipulation on span task performance, which could now explain 40% of the variance. These findings suggest a causal effect of working memory functioning on fluid intelligence test performance, but they also imply that factors other than working memory functioning must contribute to fluid intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Hagemann
- Institute of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Max Ihmels
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nico Bast
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe-University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Andreas B. Neubauer
- Department of Education and Human Development, DIPF Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Andrea Schankin
- Institute of Business Psychology, FOM University of Applied Sciences, 45127 Essen, Germany
- TECO/Pervasive Computing Systems, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76185 Karlsruhe, Germany
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Rey-Mermet A, Singh KA, Gignac GE, Brydges CR, Ecker UKH. Interference control in working memory: Evidence for discriminant validity between removal and inhibition tasks. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243053. [PMID: 33264336 PMCID: PMC7710115 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 11/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is a system for maintenance of and access to a limited number of goal-relevant representations in the service of higher cognition. Because of its limited capacity, WM requires interference-control processes, allowing us to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information. Recent research has proposed two interference-control processes, which are conceptually similar: (1) an active, item-wise removal process assumed to remove no-longer relevant information from WM, and (2) an inhibitory process assumed to suppress the activation of distractors against competing, goal-relevant representations. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the tasks used to assess removal and inhibition measure the same interference-control construct. Results showed acceptable to good reliabilities for nearly all measures. Similar to previous studies, a structural equation modeling approach identified a reliable latent variable of removal. However, also similar to some previous studies, no latent variable of inhibition could be established. This was the case even when the correlation matrix used to compute the latent variable of inhibition was disattenuated for imperfect reliability. Critically, the individual measures of inhibition were unrelated to the latent variable of removal. These results provide tentative support for the notion that removal is not related to the interference-control processes assessed in inhibition tasks. This suggests that the removal process should be conceptualized as a process independent of the concept of inhibition, as proposed in computational WM models that implement removal as the "unbinding" of a WM item from the context in which it occurred.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alodie Rey-Mermet
- Faculty of Psychology, Swiss Distance University Institute, Brig, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Krishneil A. Singh
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Gilles E. Gignac
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Christopher R. Brydges
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California, Davis, United States of America
| | - Ullrich K. H. Ecker
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
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Kovacs K, Conway ARA. Process overlap theory, executive functions, and the interpretation of cognitive test scores: Reply to commentaries. JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN MEMORY AND COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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