Emotional intelligence and hot and cool working memory capacity

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, use, understand and manage our emotions and the emotions of others. EI, measured through performance-based ability models, seems to favour performance on hot tasks. The aim of the present study is to analyse the relationship between EI, measured through its three main models, and performance on a hot (emotional) and cool (non-emotional) working memory task. 203 undergraduate students of psychology took part in the experiment. They completed an EI test for each of its three main models (performance-based ability model, self-report ability model and self-report mixed model) and a hot and cool working memory task. We found a better performance for higher EI participants, measured through the performance-based ability model instrument (but not with self-report instruments), in the hot working memory task. This result was obtained for the managing branch of the EI instrument. Similar evidence was not found when using the cool working memory task. Our study takes a step forward in the conceptualization of the EI construct within the domain of cognitive processes. They show that, at least when using hot stimuli, the managing branch of the performance-based ability model of EI is a better determinant measure for the working memory capacity than the self-report models.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Training Working Memory in Adolescents Using Serious Game Elements: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Working memory capacity has been found to be impaired in adolescents with various psychological problems, such as addictive behaviors. Training of working memory capacity can lead to significant behavioral improvements, but it is usually long and tedious, taxing participants' motivation to train. This study aimed to evaluate whether adding game elements to the training could help improve adolescents' motivation to train while improving cognition. A total of 84 high school students were allocated to a working memory capacity training, a gamified working memory capacity training, or a placebo condition. Working memory capacity, motivation to train, and drinking habits were assessed before and after training. Self-reported evaluations did not show a self-reported preference for the game, but participants in the gamified working memory capacity training condition did train significantly longer. The game successfully increased motivation to train, but this effect faded over time. Working memory capacity increased equally in all conditions but did not lead to significantly lower drinking, which may be due to low drinking levels at baseline. We recommend that future studies attempt to prolong this motivational effect, as it appeared to fade over time. [Abstract copyright: ©Wouter J Boendermaker, Thomas E Gladwin, Margot Peeters, Pier JM Prins, Reinout W Wiers. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (http://games.jmir.org), 23.05.2018.

High Visual Working Memory Capacity in Trait Social Anxiety

Working memory capacity is one of the most important cognitive functions influencing individual traits, such as attentional control, fluid intelligence, and also psychopathological traits. Previous research suggests that anxiety is associated with impaired cognitive function, and studies have shown low verbal working memory capacity in individuals with high trait anxiety. However, the relationship between trait anxiety and visual working memory capacity is still unclear. Considering that people allocate visual attention more widely to detect danger under threat, visual working memory capacity might be higher in anxious people. In the present study, we show that visual working memory capacity increases as trait social anxiety increases by using a change detection task. When the demand to inhibit distractors increased, however, high visual working memory capacity diminished in individuals with social anxiety, and instead, impaired filtering of distractors was predicted by trait social anxiety. State anxiety was not correlated with visual working memory capacity. These results indicate that socially anxious people could potentially hold a large amount of information in working memory. However, because of an impaired cognitive function, they could not inhibit goal-irrelevant distractors and their performance decreased under highly demanding conditions

Working memory capacity in L2 processing

In this paper, we review the current state of the second language (L2) processing literature and report data suggesting that this subfield should now turn its attention to working memory capacity as an important factor modulating the possibility of (near)-native-like L2 processing. We first review three major overarching accounts of L2 processing (Clahsen et al. 2006a, Grammatical processing in language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics 27. 3–42; Ullman 2001, The declarative/procedural model of lexicon and grammar. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 30. 37–69; McDonald 2006, Beyond the critical period: Processing-based explanations for poor grammaticality judgment performance by late second language learners. Journal of Memory and Language 55. 381–401; Hopp 2006, Syntactic features and reanalysis in near-native processing. Second Language Research 22. 369–397, and Hopp 2010, Ultimate attainment in L2 inflection: Performance similarities between non-native and native speakers. Lingua 120. 901–931) and frame their predictions in terms of the qualitative and quantitative differences in processing expected between native speakers and L2 learners. We next review event-related potential (ERP) research on L2 processing and argue that the field’s current understanding of qualitative and quantitative differences in ERPs warrants an additional focus on variables other than L2 proficiency that can also predict individual differences in L2 processing. Recent L2 research (relying on ERPs, self-paced reading, and other online measures) suggests that the most promising such variable is working memory (WM) capacity. We summarize results from our recent L2 WM studies – and report new ERP findings – that point to the possibility of a modulatory effect of WM capacity on the nativelikeness of L2 processing. We conclude that the study of WM capacity is the logical next step for this L2 processing subfield

Factors Affecting Working Memory Capacity: a Meta-Analysis Study

Working memory capacity (WMC) is a brain memory system that has a limited ability to process and store temporary information. The purpose of this study was to find out in more detail the factors affecting working memory capacity. The research method uses Meta-analysis quantitatively by combining several research results using Jeffreys's Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) software. The size of the effect used is the odds ratio. Research search using Prisma strategy by searching journal articles from various databases including Scopus, Proquest, Science Direct, CINAHL, and Google Scholar in the last five years from 2019 to 2023. Results Variation between variables is heterogeneous, so this meta-analysis uses a random-effect model, obtained results there is an influence between age on working memory capacity with a combined effect of OR= 3.15 (95% CI 2.10; 4.20), there is an effect of sleep quality on working memory capacity with a combined effect of OR= 6.45 (95% CI 3.51; 9.39), there is an effect of physical activity on working memory capacity with a combined effect of OR=2.84 (1.98; 3.11),  there was an effect of listening to music on working memory capacity with a combined effect of OR=3.24 (2.65; 5.13). In conclusion, age, sleep quality, physical activity, and music are factors that affect working memory capacity

Repeated Testing of Working Memory Capacity

Working memory capacity is measured by a variety of memory span tasks and can account for about 40% of inter-individual variation in fluid intelligence (Broadway &Engle, in preparation). In the present study, ten participants performed a widely accepted valid test of WMC, the Running Memory Span task (Pollack, Johnson, &Knaff, 1959), twenty-five times over five sessions to assess test-retest reliability and the extent of practice effects. Results confirmed expectations that memory performance would improve but that the rank ordering of individuals on performance would remain consistent over repeated testing.Committee Member/Second Reader: Schumacher, Eric; Faculty Mentor: Engle, Randal

A psychometric measure of working memory capacity for configured body movement.

Working memory (WM) models have traditionally assumed at least two domain-specific storage systems for verbal and visuo-spatial information. We review data that suggest the existence of an additional slave system devoted to the temporary storage of body movements, and present a novel instrument for its assessment: the movement span task. The movement span task assesses individuals' ability to remember and reproduce meaningless configurations of the body. During the encoding phase of a trial, participants watch short videos of meaningless movements presented in sets varying in size from one to five items. Immediately after encoding, they are prompted to reenact as many items as possible. The movement span task was administered to 90 participants along with standard tests of verbal WM, visuo-spatial WM, and a gesture classification test in which participants judged whether a speaker's gestures were congruent or incongruent with his accompanying speech. Performance on the gesture classification task was not related to standard measures of verbal or visuo-spatial working memory capacity, but was predicted by scores on the movement span task. Results suggest the movement span task can serve as an assessment of individual differences in WM capacity for body-centric information

Effects of Shadowing on Listening Comprehension of Japanese Texts in Advanced Chinese Learners of Japanese: Manipulating Working Memory Capacity

We performed an experiment to examine the effects of shadowing on listening comprehension of texts. We explored whether the effects differ depending on individual differences in working memory capacity compared with listening for advanced Chinese students learning Japanese. The results showed that the shadowing effects on comprehension and memory of texts vary depending on the learner’s working memory capacity. On the one hand, shadowing facilitated memorization of meaning for learners with a large working memory capacity and understanding the situation model was comparable to listening. On the other hand, learners with a small working memory capacity did not experience the effect of promoting semantic memory and shadowing was less likely for comprehension of the situation model than listening. The results of this study suggest that listening comprehension and memory in a second language differ depending on the combination of listening method and working memory capacity