工作记忆、加工速度与流体智力的发展

近几年有关认知发展心理机制的研究成为一个认知发展领域一个颇引人注目的内容．这些研究探讨了年龄、工作记忆、加工速度与流体智力之间的关系。研究发现．在流体智力的发展过程中,工作记忆可能比加工速度发挥着更直接、更一般的作用,而加工速度则对工作记忆的发展起直接调节作用。     

工作记忆、加工速度和推理能力对小学儿童策略适应性的影响

研究选取89名小学三~五年级学生,探讨工作记忆、加工速度、推理能力以及年龄对小学儿童策略适应性的影响。通过路径分析发现:(1)工作记忆和推理能力对策略适应性有直接效应;工作记忆通过推理能力对策略适应性产生间接效应;加工速度通过"加工速度→工作记忆→策略适应性"和"加工速度→工作记忆→推理能力→策略适应性"两条路径对策略适应性起间接作用;在三个因素中,工作记忆对策略适应性的总效应最大,而推理能力对策略适应性的直接效应最大。(2)年龄对加工速度和推理能力有直接效应,但对工作记忆的效应不显著;年龄对策略适应性不产生直接效应,年龄通过"年龄→加工速度→工作记忆→策略适应性"、"年龄→加工速度→工作记忆→推理能力→策略适应性"和"年龄→推理能力→策略适应性"三条路径对策略适应性产生间接影响。     

加工速度和工作记忆在认知年老化过程中的作用

研究加工速度和工作记忆在认知能力年老化过程中的作用。被试为20-90岁的健康成人1350名,完成加工速度、工作记忆及一组认知能力测验,应用分层回归分析方法考查在年老化过程中加工速度和工作记忆对多项认知变量的作用量。结果表明,在年老化过程中,加工速度和工作记忆对认知变量的作用量分别约为87% 和76%;二者的综合作用量约为94%。说明加工速度和工作记忆在认知能力年老化过程中起决定作用     

注意、工作记忆与推理能力发展的关系

该研究以113名7、10、13岁的儿童青少年为被试,考察了注意、工作记忆与推理能力发展的关系。研究结果表明,7～13岁期间,注意与工作记忆在推理能力的发展中起十分重要的作用,然而注意与工作记忆的作用在不同年龄组之间略有差异;在儿童7岁时,注意对推理的影响显著,工作记忆对推理的影响不显著;到儿童10岁时,注意和工作记忆对推理的影响均显著,但工作记忆开始在注意与推理之间起部分中介的作用;13岁时,工作记忆对推理的影响显著,并在注意与推理之间起完全中介的作用。     

工作记忆容量和加工速度在归纳推理能力老化中的作用

利用结构方程模型考察了工作记忆容量和加工速度在归纳推理老化中的作用。样本为217名社区老人。结果发现：(1)工作记忆容量在归纳推理老化中具有重要作用．语音环路和视空问初步加工系统在推理过程巾参与程度相当。(2)在年龄和归纳推理能力之问存在年龄——加工速度——工作记忆容量——归纳推理这样一条层级关系。年龄、加工速度和工作记忆容量共同解释归纳推理中57％的变异。     

语文学习困难儿童的工作记忆与加工速度

加工速度和工作记忆反应了不同的认知加工过程,在认知发展研究中,加工速度和工作记忆所起的作用仍存在较大的分歧.采用多因素混合实验设计,在严格控制条件下,比较了语文学习困难和控制组儿童的工作记忆和加工速度.结果发现,与控制组相比,语文学习困难儿童在工作记忆和加工速度方面均存在明显的不足,但加工速度不能解释不同能力组之间的差异,语文学习困难儿童的缺陷在于工作记忆能力的下降.工作记忆的缺陷在于言语工作记忆和中央执行功能的不足,与视空间工作记忆能力无关.语文学习困难既存在一般的工作记忆缺陷(中央执行功能)也存在特定的工作记忆(言语工作记忆)能力的不足.     

加工速度、工作记忆与液态智力发展的关系

有关儿童液态智力 (fluid intelligence) 发展的年龄特征早已有了较明确的一致性结论。然而,儿童液态智力发展的机制问题到现在仍知之甚少。早期零星的研究观察到,随着儿童年龄的增长,其信息加工速度变快,工作记忆能力和液态智力亦提高。由此可推测,对儿童液态智力与加工速度、工作记忆能力关系的考察有助于阐明儿童液态智力发展的机制问题。 近10多年已有不少研究分别探讨了液态智力与加工速度、液态智力与工作记忆的关系,并已开始同时探讨液态智力与加工速度和工作记忆的关系。但令人惊讶的是,有关儿童液态智力发展与加工速度、工作记忆关系问题的综合探讨几成空白,到目前为止,仅有极少量的研究 (Fry 和Hale, 1996; Miller和Vernon, 1996) 探讨了这一问题,其中Fry 和Hale (1996) 还提出了一个模型 (the developmental cascade model) 试图解释儿童液态智力发展的机制,随后Fry 和Hale (2000)进一步阐明并坚持了这一观点。Fry 和Hale的观点是,儿童液态智力的发展取决于儿童工作记忆能力的发展,而工作记忆能力的发展又进一步取决于儿童信息加工速度能力的发展。这就是说,加工速度和工作记忆是儿童液态智力发展的两个关键因素,其中加工速度又是第一作用因素。Fry 和Hale (1996, 2000) 提出了她们的观点后,后续研究在国际上仍十分少见。但来自于发展领域之外的研究似乎不支持Fry 和Hale (1996, 2000)的观点。研究发现(Conway et al., 2002),仅工作记忆能很好预测液态智力的变化,而加工速度不能很好预测液态智力的变化。 该研究从南京市中小学随机选取了243名10到18岁的健康儿童（男生127名,女生116名）。所有被试共完成7项任务,包括2项液态智力任务测试（瑞文标准推理测验和卡特尔文化公平智力测验,以原始分作为数据分析指标）、3项加工速度任务测试（数字抄写、字母串比较和符号串比较）、2项工作记忆任务（数字工作记忆和视空间工作记忆）。验证性因素分析发现这7项任务所测量的正是液态智力、加工速度和工作记忆这3个因子,且这3个因子间存在显著的相关。但随后的结构方程模型分析表明,从工作记忆到液态智力间存在显著路径,但从加工速度到液态智力并不存在显著路径,工作记忆几乎可完全解释儿童液态智力的发展变化（85.4%）,且可以解释81.6%的加工速度的发展变化量。仅当不考虑工作记忆这一因素时,加工速度才能解释50%的液态智力的发展变化。这表明,工作记忆是儿童液态智力发展的基础,而加工速度则不是。这一结果在以三个变量的平均标准分数为基础所进行的层级回归分析 (hierarchical regression analyses)中亦得到了证实。 总体上,该研究并不支持Fry 和Hale (1996, 2000)的观点。工作记忆是儿童液态智力发展的关键因素,而加工速度则不是。加工速度与液态智力存在显著相关,其原因可能在于,加工速度反映的是儿童液态智力的同一年龄内个体差异而不是年龄间差异（即发展性变化）。本研究同时对工作记忆之所以是儿童液态智力发展的基础的可能原因进行了讨论。     

工作记忆成分在传递性推理中的作用

采用双任务(dual-task)实验范式,探讨工作记忆成分在五项系列问题(five-term task)这种传递性推理中的作用。被试为80名大学生,实验材料为32个空间和时间内容的传递性推理题目。结果发现:(1)空间位置和时间关系的推理结果都支持心理模型理论,而不支持形式规则理论。(2)在推理前提的加工阶段,中央执行系统和视空间模板发挥着关键作用,语音环路没有参与;而在结论的推理阶段,工作记忆的三个成分均发挥了作用。(3)传递性推理在工作记忆系统中采用视空间编码进行表征。     

数学学习困难儿童的加工速度与工作记忆

以数学学习困难儿童为研究对象,系统考察了数学学习困难儿童与控制组的加工速度和工作记忆,比较了工作记忆和加工速度对数学学习困难影响的相对贡献.结果发现,与控制组相比,数学学习困难儿童在工作记忆和加工速度方面均存在明显的不足,但加工速度不能解释不同能力组之间的差异,数学学习困难儿童的缺陷在于工作记忆能力的下降.工作记忆缺陷在于数字工作记忆、视空间工作记忆和中央执行功能的整体不足,中央执行功能对数学学习困难儿童影响的解释量最大.     

文本阅读中预期推理生成的容量制约性

本研究通过操纵读者信息加工的时间量考察了工作记忆容量对预期推理生成的影响性质。结果表明,如果没有信息加工时间的限制,则工作记忆容量低的读者也能表现出在阅读中生成预期推理的证据,而如果读者的阅读加工时间受一定限制,则工作记忆容量低者建构预期推理的证据随着被允许的加工时间的缩短而逐渐消失。结果支持“工作记忆容量只影响阅读中预期推理建构速度”的观点。     

Longitudinal evidence linking processing speed to the development of reasoning

Age‐related change in processing speed has been linked directly to increases in reasoning as well as indirectly via increases in the capacity of working memory (WM). Most of the evidence linking change in speed to reasoning has come from cross‐sectional research; in this article we present the findings from a 2½‐year longitudinal study of 277 6‐ to‐13‐year‐olds. On three occasions, speed of information processing was assessed with Visual Matching and Cross Out; WM was assessed with reading, listening, backward digit, alphabet, and operation span tasks; and nonverbal reasoning was assessed with Raven's progressive matrices. The results provided consistent evidence of direct links from processing speed to reasoning but inconsistent evidence for indirect links from speed to WM to reasoning. These findings suggest that variations in processing speed may constrain the development of reasoning, directly and perhaps indirectly. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/nc0VlFdi468     

European and American WAIS IV norms: Cross‐national differences in perceptual reasoning,processing speed and working memory subtest scores

International comparisons of IQ test norms show differences between nations. In the present study, nonverbal reasoning, processing speed and working memory subtest scores of the US, German, French, Finnish, and Scandinavian (combined Swedish‐Norwegian‐Danish sample) WAIS IV standardization samples were compared. The European samples had higher scores on the reasoning subtests compared to the American sample, corroborating earlier studies. The Finnish and Scandinavian samples had lower processing speed and working memory scores than the American, German, and French samples. Mechanisms that may underlie the observed national IQ profiles include: (1) test‐taking attitudes—in tests that require balancing speed and accuracy of performance Americans may prioritize fast performance while Europeans avoid mistakes; (2) differences between languages in digit articulation times; and (3) educational factors—the European advantage on reasoning subtests may be based on there being better educational systems in Europe as compared to the US.     

PROCESSING SPEED, WORKING MEMORY, AND FLUID INTELLIGENCE:

Abstract— Processing speed, working memory capacity, and fluid intelligence were assessed in a large sample ( N = 214) of children, adolescents, and young adults (ages 7 to 19 years) Results of path analyses revealed that almost half of the age-related increase in fluid intelligence was mediated by developmental changes in processing speed and marking memory and nearly three fourths of the improvement in working memory was mediated by developmental changes in processing speed Moreover, even when age-related differences in speed, working memory and fluid intelligence were statistically controlled, individual differences in speed had a direct effect on working memory capacity which, in turn was a direct determinant of individual differences in fluid intelligence     

类比推理的影响因素及脑生理基础研究

类比推理是不同于演绎,也不同于归纳的一种独立的推理形式。作为人类认知发展的中心能力之一,类比推理已逐渐成为当代认知研究的一个活跃领域。研究表明类比推理不仅受顺序、因果结构、上下文连贯性等项目特征的影响,并且与加工速度、工作记忆等其它认知能力有密切关系。有关类比推理的神经影像研究则主要发现大脑左半球前部和后部区域的参与,似可进一步从脑生理水平表明类比推理与工作记忆存在密切关系。     

Working memory capacity and a notorious brain teaser: the case of the Monty Hall Dilemma

The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) is an intriguing example of the discrepancy between people's intuitions and normative reasoning. This study examines whether the notorious difficulty of the MHD is associated with limitations in working memory resources. Experiment 1 and 2 examined the link between MHD reasoning and working memory capacity. Experiment 3 tested the role of working memory experimentally by burdening the executive resources with a secondary task. Results showed that participants who solved the MHD correctly had a significantly higher working memory capacity than erroneous responders. Correct responding also decreased under secondary task load. Findings indicate that working memory capacity plays a key role in overcoming salient intuitions and selecting the correct switching response during MHD reasoning.     

Susceptibility of spatial and verbal working memory to demands of the central executive

We used a dual-task paradigm to examine the degree to which domain-specific spatial and verbal subsystems depend on the domain-general central executive. Forty participants were asked to retain spatial or verbal information while performing a concurrent secondary task related to simple arithmetic. The secondary tasks consisted of three cognitive processes: single-digit addition, a digit-carrying operation, and digit reading. The single-digit addition and carry operation include central executive functioning, while digit reading relies solely on the phonological loop. The single-digit addition caused a performance decrement on the spatial working memory task, while the digit reading impaired performance on the verbal working memory task. The carry operation interfered with recall accuracy on both working memory tasks. The spatial working memory task was significantly correlated with the verbal working memory task only when the secondary task was more demanding on the central executive. Our results suggest that spatial working memory rather than verbal working memory is susceptible to failure of central executive functioning and that the central executive plays an important role in regulating the cognitive demands of different domains.     

Executive control is shared between sentence processing and digit maintenance: Evidence from a strictly timed dual-task paradigm

We investigated whether the comprehension of syntactically difficult sentences taxes the executive control component of working memory more than the comprehension of their easier counterparts. To that end, we tested the effect of sharing executive control between sentence comprehension and the maintenance of a digit load in two dual-task experiments with strictly controlled timing (Barrouillet, Bernardin, & Camos, 2004). Recall was worse after participants had processed one (Experiment 2) or two (Experiment 1) difficult sentences than after they had processed one or two easy sentences, respectively. This finding suggests that sentence processing and the maintenance of a digit load share executive control. Processing syntactically difficult sentences seems to occupy executive control for a longer time than processing their easy counterparts, thereby blocking refreshments of the memory traces of the digits so that these traces decay more and recall is worse. There was no effect of the size of the digit load on sentence-processing performance (Experiment 2), suggesting that sentence processing completely occupied executive control until processing was complete.