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Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) have long been known to relate to performance in domains outside of WM, including attentional control, long-term memory, problem-solving, and fluid intelligence to name a few. Complex span WM tasks, composed of a processing component and a storage component, are often used to index WMC in these types of investigations. Capacity estimates are derived from performance on the storage component only, while processing performance is often largely ignored. Here, we explore the relationship between processing performance and WMC in a large dataset for each of three complex span tasks to better characterize how the components of these tasks might be related. We provide evidence that enforcing an 85% or better accuracy criterion for the processing portion of the task results in the removal of a disproportionate number of individuals exhibiting lower WMC estimates. We also find broad support for differences in processing task performance, characterized according to both accuracy and reaction time metrics, as a function of WMC. We suggest that researchers may want to include processing task performance measures, in addition to capacity estimates, in studies using complex span tasks to index WMC. This approach may better characterize the relationships between complex span task performance and performance in disparate domains of cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive offloading refers to the act of reducing the mental processing requirements of a task through physical actions like writing down information or storing information on a cell phone or computer. Offloading can lead to improved performance on ongoing tasks with high cognitive demand, such as tasks where multiple pieces of information must be simultaneously maintained. However, less is known about why some individuals choose to engage in offloading and under what conditions they might choose to do so. In the present study, offloading behavior is investigated in a short-term memory task requiring memory for letters. The present study is a replication and extension of a previous study conducted by Risko and Dunn, and tests the new prediction that individuals with lower working memory capacity will be more likely to offload. Here, we find that offloading information confers a performance advantage over relying on internal memory stores, particularly at higher memory loads. However, we fail to observe that those with poorer memory abilities have a greater propensity for offloading or benefit more from it. Instead, our findings suggest that cognitive offloading may be a valid compensatory strategy to improve performance of memory-based tasks for individuals with a wide range of memory ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The online version of the original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01645-y B Correction to: Behav Res b https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01645-y In the discussion section of the paper, we suggest that researchers might address the issue of a processing-based performance criterion by setting the criterion higher than 50% (chance criterion). For a task with 75 processing steps (RSpan, OSpan), the criterion for being above guessing probability with 95% confidence should read as 60% (rather than 69%). [Extracted from the article]

The dual mechanisms of control framework postulates that cognitive control can operate in 2 distinct modes: a "proactive" preparatory mode and a "reactive" wait-and-see mode. Importantly, the 2 modes are associated with both costs and benefits in cognitive performance. Here we explore this framework, in terms of its relationship with working memory capacity (WMC). We hypothesize that high-WMC individuals are more likely to utilize proactive control yielding not only benefits, but also specific costs to performance. Across 2 separate, large-sample experiments, healthy young adults performed different variants of the AX-Continuous Performance Test context processing task, a well-established probe of proactive and reactive cognitive control. In 2 experiments, WMC predicted both improvements and relative impairments in task performance in a manner that was consistent with usage of proactive control. These findings suggest that individuals differ in the degree to which they utilize proactive control based on WMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies attempting to increase working memory (WM) capacity show promise in enhancing related cognitive functions but have also raised criticism in the broader scientific community given the inconsistent findings produced by these studies. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to enhance WM performance in a single session [Fregni, F., Boggio, P., Nitsche, M., Bermpohl, F., Anatal, A., Feredoes, E., et al. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of prefrontal cortex enhances working memory. Experimental Brain Research, 166, 23-30, 2005]; however, the extent to which tDCS might enhance learning on a WM training regime and the extent to which learning gains might transfer outside the training task remains largely unknown. To this end, participants engaged in an adaptive WM training task [previously utilized in Richmond, L., Morrison, A., Chein, J., & Olson, I. Working memory training and transfer in older adults. Psychology & Aging, 26, 813-822, 2011; Chein, J., & Morrison, A. Expanding the mind's workspace: Training and transfer effects with a complex working memory span task. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17, 193-199, 2010] for 10 sessions over 2 weeks, concurrent with either active or sham stimulation of dorsolateral pFC. Before and after training, a battery of tests tapping domains known to relate to WM abilities was administered. Results show that tDCS enhanced learning on the verbal portion of the training task by 3.65 items. Furthermore, tDCS was shown to enhance near transfer to other untrained WM tasks in comparison with a no-contact control group. These results lend support to the idea that tDCS might bolster training and transfer gains in populations with compromised WM abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies have reported instances of both intact and impaired working memory (WM) performance in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In order to investigate the relation between autistic traits that extend into the normal population and WM, 104 normal college-aged students who varied in their levels of autistic traits were tested. The loading of ASD-associated traits in the normal population leads to differing predictions about WM performance. ASD traits related to a local processing style (or “attention to detail”) might enhance WM while ASD-associated traits related to difficulty switching attention and reorienting focus (or “social interaction”) might impair WM performance. To assess these predictions, participants filled out the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and performed a working memory task with both visual and verbal variants. AQ scores were then broken into “attention to detail” and “social interaction” factors, as proposed by Hoekstra and colleagues. The results showed that AQ scores did not predict verbal WM performance but they did predict visual WM performance. Thesocial interactionandattention to detailfactors of the AQ had opposing relationships with visual WM performance: A higher level of social difficulty was associated with significantly poorer visual WM performance while a higher level of attention to detail was associated with enhanced visual WM performance. Further investigation of the relation between AQ and WM using the original five-factor model proposed by Baron-Cohen and colleagues (2001) revealed an association between impoverished imagination and visual WM overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that visual working memory (VWM) performance is modulated by attentional cues presented during encoding. Interestingly, retrospective cues presented after encoding, but prior to the test phase also improve performance. This improvement in performance is termed the retro-cue benefit. We investigated whether the retro-cue benefit is sensitive to cue type, whether participants were aware of their improvement in performance due to the retro-cue, and whether the effect was under strategic control. Experiment 1 compared the potential cueing benefits of abrupt onset retro-cues relying on bottom-up attention, number retro-cues relying on top-down attention, and arrow retro-cues, relying on a mixture of both. We found a significant retro-cue effect only for arrow retro-cues. In Experiment 2, we tested participants' awareness of their use of the informative retro-cue and found that they were aware of their improved performance. In Experiment 3, we asked whether participants have strategic control over the retro-cue. The retro-cue was difficult to ignore, suggesting that strategic control is low. The retro-cue effect appears to be within conscious awareness but not under full strategic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a great deal of interest, both privately and commercially, in using working memory training exercises to improve general cognitive function. However, many of the laboratory findings for older adults, a group in which this training is of utmost interest, are discouraging due to the lack of transfer to other tasks and skills. Importantly, improvements in everyday functioning remain largely unexamined in relation to WM training. We trained working memory in older adults using a task that encourages transfer in young adults (Chein & Morrison, 2010). We tested transfer to measures of working memory (e.g., Reading Span), everyday cognitive functioning [the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)], and other tasks of interest. Relative to controls, trained participants showed transfer improvements in Reading Span and the number of repetitions on the CVLT. Training group participants were also significantly more likely to self-report improvements in everyday attention. Our findings support the use of ecological tasks as a measure of transfer in an older adult population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]