A controlled-attention view of working-memory capacity

J Exp Psychol Gen. 2001 Jun;130(2):169-83. doi: 10.1037//0096-3445.130.2.169.

Abstract

In 2 experiments the authors examined whether individual differences in working-memory (WM) capacity are related to attentional control. Experiment 1 tested high- and low-WM-span (high-span and low-span) participants in a prosaccade task, in which a visual cue appeared in the same location as a subsequent to-be-identified target letter, and in an antisaccade task, in which a target appeared opposite the cued location. Span groups identified targets equally well in the prosaccade task, reflecting equivalence in automatic orienting. However, low-span participants were slower and less accurate than high-span participants in the antisaccade task, reflecting differences in attentional control. Experiment 2 measured eye movements across a long antisaccade session. Low-span participants made slower and more erroneous saccades than did high-span participants. In both experiments, low-span participants performed poorly when task switching from antisaccade to prosaccade blocks. The findings support a controlled-attention view of WM capacity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Individuality*
  • Male
  • Mental Recall*
  • Orientation
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Reaction Time
  • Retention, Psychology*
  • Saccades
  • Verbal Learning