Trait anxiety,visuospatial processing,and working memory

This experiment assessed the components of Baddeley's working memory system impaired by anxiety during performance of the Corsi Blocks Test. The Corsi task was performed concurrently with different secondary tasks (i.e., articulatory suppression; counting backwards; spatial tapping; simple tapping). Results showed Corsi performance depended mainly on the central executive and visuospatial sketchpad components of working memory. Adverse effects of trait anxiety on the Corsi task were observed on the central executive but not on the phonological loop or the visuospatial sketchpad. These effects were not mediated by state anxiety. The findings indicate for the first time that trait anxiety impairs central executive functioning on a nonverbal task, and that anxiety does not impair functioning of the “slave” systems (i.e., phonological loop; visuospatial sketchpad). Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Attentional networks and visuospatial working memory capacity in social anxiety

Social anxiety is associated with attentional bias and working memory for emotional stimuli; however, the ways in which social anxiety affects cognitive functions involving non-emotional stimuli remains unclear. The present study focused on the role of attentional networks (i.e. alerting, orienting, and executive control networks) and visuospatial working memory capacity (WMC) for non-emotional stimuli in the context of social anxiety. One hundred and seventeen undergraduates completed questionnaires on social anxiety. They then performed an attentional network test and a change detection task to measure visuospatial WMC. Orienting network and visuospatial WMC were positively correlated with social anxiety. A multiple regression analysis showed significant positive associations of alerting, orienting, and visuospatial WMC with social anxiety. Alerting, orienting networks, and high visuospatial WMC for non-emotional stimuli may predict degree of social anxiety.     

Threat-relevance impairs executive functions: negative impact on working memory and response inhibition

The effects of emotional stimulus content on attention are well-known. In contrast, the impact of emotional information on higher executive control functions is undetermined. To elucidate the role of negative emotion in cognitive control, 56 adult female participants performed a combined working memory and response inhibition task, with threat-relevant (spider and snake) and neutral (flower and mushroom) stimuli. Threat-relevant stimuli impaired performance, by causing prolonged response times to working memory items and increased response inhibition error rate relative to neutral stimuli. The impaired response inhibition was only evident when threat-relevant stimuli co-occurred with working memory matches, in line with a common resource pool view of executive functions and emotion processing. Individual differences in reported fear of spiders were associated with differences of inhibitory control, while fear of snakes was associated with impaired overall accuracy on working memory trials. The results are discussed in relation to the dual-competition framework for interaction between executive functions and emotion (Pessoa, 2009).     

The effect of cognitive reappraisal on the emotional memory trade-off

Emotional information is often remembered better than neutral information, but this enhancement can come at the cost of memory for non-emotional stimuli presented alongside emotionally salient items. Two encoding-related factors have been proposed to influence the magnitude of this trade-off: The intensity of the affective response to the scenes (which increases the trade-off) and the cognitive control exerted to process the scenes (which decreases the trade-off). The present study examined the relative importance of these two factors by assessing the effect of cognitive reappraisal on the magnitude of the trade-off effect. Cognitive reappraisal refers to the implementation of cognitive strategies to assist a person in changing the intensity of their response to an experience. Thus, reappraisal provides a way to assess both of the factors that are important for the elicitation of the trade-off. The results revealed that when participants were asked to view the scenes, without cognitive reappraisal, a robust memory trade-off occurred. But, when participants were asked to either heighten or decrease their emotional reactions via reappraisal, there was a reduction in the magnitude of the trade-off. These results suggest that the cognitive process of reappraising the scenes is sufficient to reduce the trade-off effect, even when such processing leads to an intensified affective response.     

The effect of cognitive reappraisal on the emotional memory trade-off

Emotional information is often remembered better than neutral information, but this enhancement can come at the cost of memory for non-emotional stimuli presented alongside emotionally salient items. Two encoding-related factors have been proposed to influence the magnitude of this trade-off: The intensity of the affective response to the scenes (which increases the trade-off) and the cognitive control exerted to process the scenes (which decreases the trade-off). The present study examined the relative importance of these two factors by assessing the effect of cognitive reappraisal on the magnitude of the trade-off effect. Cognitive reappraisal refers to the implementation of cognitive strategies to assist a person in changing the intensity of their response to an experience. Thus, reappraisal provides a way to assess both of the factors that are important for the elicitation of the trade-off. The results revealed that when participants were asked to view the scenes, without cognitive reappraisal, a robust memory trade-off occurred. But, when participants were asked to either heighten or decrease their emotional reactions via reappraisal, there was a reduction in the magnitude of the trade-off. These results suggest that the cognitive process of reappraising the scenes is sufficient to reduce the trade-off effect, even when such processing leads to an intensified affective response.     

Culture impacts the magnitude of the emotion-induced memory trade-off effect

The present study assessed the extent to which culture impacts the emotion-induced memory trade-off effect. This trade-off effect occurs because emotional items are better remembered than neutral ones, but this advantage comes at the expense of memory for backgrounds such that neutral backgrounds are remembered worse when they occurred with an emotional item than with a neutral one. Cultures differ in their prioritisation of focal object versus contextual background information, with Westerners focusing more on objects and Easterners focusing more on backgrounds. Americans, a Western culture, and Turks, an Eastern-influenced culture, incidentally encoded positive, negative, and neutral items placed against neutral backgrounds, and then completed a surprise memory test with the items and backgrounds tested separately. Results revealed a reduced trade-off for Turks compared to Americans. Although both groups exhibited an emotional enhancement in item memory, Turks did not show a decrement in memory for backgrounds that had been paired with emotional items. These findings complement prior ones showing reductions in trade-off effects as a result of task instructions. Here, we suggest that a contextual-focus at the level of culture can mitigate trade-off effects in emotional memory.     

Working memory capacity in generalized social phobia

Research suggests that understanding complex social cues depends on the availability of cognitive resources (e.g., Phillips, Channon, Tunstall, Hedenstrom, & Lyons, 2008). In spite of evidence suggesting that executive control functioning may impact anxiety (e.g., Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007), relatively few studies have examined working memory in individuals with generalized social phobia. Moreover, few studies have examined the role of threat-relevant content in working memory performance in clinically anxious populations. To this end, the present study assessed working memory capacity (WMC) in individuals with generalized social phobia and nonanxious controls using an operation span task with threat-relevant and neutral stimuli. Results revealed that nonanxious individuals demonstrated better WMC than individuals with generalized social phobia for neutral words but not for social threat words. Individuals with generalized social phobia demonstrated better WMC performance for threat words relative to neutral words. These results suggest that individuals with generalized social phobia may have relatively enhanced working memory performance for salient, socially relevant information. This enhanced working memory capacity for threat-relevant information may be the result of practice with this information in generalized social phobia.     

Processing efficiency theory in children: working memory as a mediator between trait anxiety and academic performance

Working memory skills are positively associated with academic performance. In contrast, high levels of trait anxiety are linked with educational underachievement. Based on Eysenck and Calvo's (1992) processing efficiency theory (PET), the present study investigated whether associations between anxiety and educational achievement were mediated via poor working memory performance. Fifty children aged 11-12 years completed verbal (backwards digit span; tapping the phonological store/central executive) and spatial (Corsi blocks; tapping the visuospatial sketchpad/central executive) working memory tasks. Trait anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Academic performance was assessed using school administered tests of reasoning (Cognitive Abilities Test) and attainment (Standard Assessment Tests). The results showed that the association between trait anxiety and academic performance was significantly mediated by verbal working memory for three of the six academic performance measures (math, quantitative and non-verbal reasoning). Spatial working memory did not significantly mediate the relationship between trait anxiety and academic performance. On average verbal working memory accounted for 51% of the association between trait anxiety and academic performance, while spatial working memory only accounted for 9%. The findings indicate that PET is a useful framework to assess the impact of children's anxiety on educational achievement.     

Working memory deficits in boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): An examination of orthographic coding and episodic buffer processes

The episodic buffer component of working memory was examined in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typically developing peers (TD). Thirty-two children (ADHD = 16, TD = 16) completed three versions of a phonological working memory task that varied with regard to stimulus presentation modality (auditory, visual, or dual auditory and visual), as well as a visuospatial task. Children with ADHD experienced the largest magnitude working memory deficits when phonological stimuli were presented via a unimodal, auditory format. Their performance improved during visual and dual modality conditions but remained significantly below the performance of children in the TD group. In contrast, the TD group did not exhibit performance differences between the auditory- and visual-phonological conditions but recalled significantly more stimuli during the dual-phonological condition. Furthermore, relative to TD children, children with ADHD recalled disproportionately fewer phonological stimuli as set sizes increased, regardless of presentation modality. Finally, an examination of working memory components indicated that the largest magnitude between-group difference was associated with the central executive. Collectively, these findings suggest that ADHD-related working memory deficits reflect a combination of impaired central executive and phonological storage/rehearsal processes, as well as an impaired ability to benefit from bound multimodal information processed by the episodic buffer.     

Investigating the relationship between working memory and emotion regulation in mothers

Recent work suggests that executive functions, specifically working memory, may facilitate emotion regulation (ER). Here we examined whether measures of visuospatial working memory and verbal working memory relate to ER in a group of recent mothers. We found that while visuospatial working memory was associated with, and predictive of, self-reported measures of ER and emotion dysregulation—verbal working memory was correlated to only one dimension of emotion dysregulation. These findings suggest that working memory may play a unique role in everyday regulatory functioning. We frame our results in terms of the broader implications they may have for the potential role of executive functioning in parenting.     

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

The role of executive and phonological working memory resources in simple arithmetic was investigated in two experiments. Participants had to solve simple multiplication problems (e.g., 4 x 8; Experiment 1) or simple division problems (e.g., 42 / 7; Experiment 2) under no-load, phonological-load, and executive-load conditions. The choice/no-choice method was used to investigate strategy execution and strategy selection independently. Results for strategy execution showed that executive working memory resources were involved in direct memory retrieval of both multiplication and division facts. Executive working memory resources were also involved in the use of nonretrieval strategies. Phonological working memory resources, on the other hand, tended to be involved in nonretrieval strategies only. Results for strategy selection showed no effects of working memory load. Finally, correlation analyses showed that both strategy execution and strategy selection correlated with individual-difference variables, such as gender, math anxiety, associative strength, calculator use, arithmetic skill, and math experience.     

Attachment and emotional memory: investigating the source and extent of avoidant memory impairments

Attachment avoidance has been associated with impairments in memory for material with emotional, attachment-related themes (e.g., loss). In the present study the author investigated the source and extent of these memory deficits by examining working memory capacity for attachment-related and nonattachment-related material. Avoidance was associated with deficits in working memory for positive and negative attachment-related stimuli. However, avoidance was unrelated to working memory capacity for nonattachment-related stimuli, both emotional and nonemotional. These findings are consistent with the proposal that avoidant individuals defensively limit the processing of potentially distressing information. Attachment anxiety was unrelated to working memory capacity across word type. Implications of the findings for defensive strategies and emotional memory are discussed.     

Emotion processing effects on interference resolution in working memory

The interaction between emotion and working memory maintenance, load, and performance has been investigated with mixed results. The effect of emotion on specific executive processes such as interference resolution, however, remains relatively unexplored. In this series of studies, we examine how emotion affects interference resolution processes within working memory by modifying the Recency-probes paradigm (Monsel, 1978) to include emotional and neutral stimuli. Reaction time differences were compared between interference and non-interference trials for neutral and emotional words (Studies 1 & 3) and pictures (Study 2). Our results indicate that trials using emotional stimuli show a relative decrease in interference compared with trials using neutral stimuli, suggesting facilitation of interference resolution in the former. Furthermore, both valence and arousal seem to interact to produce this facilitation effect. These findings suggest that emotion facilitates response selection amid interference in working memory.     

Spatial and visuospatial working memory tests predict performance in classic multiple-object tracking in young adults, but nonspatial measures of the executive do not

An individual-differences approach was used to investigate the roles of visuospatial working memory and the executive in multiple-object tracking. The Corsi Blocks and Visual Patterns Tests were used to assess visuospatial working memory. Two relatively nonspatial measures of the executive were used: operation span (OSPAN) and reading span (RSPAN). For purposes of comparison, the digit span test was also included (a measure not expected to correlate with tracking). The tests predicted substantial amounts of variance (R (2) = .33), and the visuospatial measures accounted for the majority (R (2) = .30), with each making a significant contribution. Although the executive measures correlated with each other, the RSPAN did not correlate with tracking. The correlation between OSPAN and tracking was similar in magnitude to that between digit span and tracking (p < .05 for both), and when regression was used to partial out shared variance between the two tests, the remaining variance predicted by the OSPAN was minimal (sr ( 2 ) = .029). When measures of spatial memory were included in the regression, the unique variance predicted by the OSPAN became negligible (sr ( 2 ) = .000004). This suggests that the executive, as measured by tests such as the OSPAN, plays little role in explaining individual differences in multiple-object tracking.     

Effects of emotional content on working memory capacity

Emotional events tend to be remembered better than neutral events, but emotional states and stimuli may also interfere with cognitive processes that underlie memory performance. The current study investigated the effects of emotional content on working memory capacity (WMC), which involves both short term storage and executive attention control. We tested competing hypotheses in a preregistered experiment (N?=?297). The emotional enhancement hypothesis predicts that emotional stimuli attract attention and additional processing resources relative to neutral stimuli, thereby making it easier to encode and store emotional information in WMC. The emotional impairment hypothesis, by contrast, predicts that emotional stimuli interfere with attention control and the active maintenance of information in working memory. Participants completed a common measure of WMC (the operation span task; Turner, M. L., &; Engle, R. W. [1989]. Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154) that included either emotional or neutral words. Results revealed that WMC was reduced for emotional words relative to neutral words, consistent with the emotional impairment hypothesis.     

Threat facilitates subsequent executive control during anxious mood

Dual competition framework (DCF) posits that low-level threat may facilitate behavioral performance by influencing executive control functions. Anxiety is thought to strengthen this effect by enhancing threat's affective significance. To test these ideas directly, we examined the effects of low-level threat and experimentally induced anxiety on one executive control function, the efficiency of response inhibition. In Study 1, briefly presented stimuli that were mildly threatening (i.e., fearful faces) relative to nonthreatening (i.e., neutral faces) led to facilitated executive control efficiency during experimentally induced anxiety. No such effect was observed during an equally arousing, experimentally induced happy mood state. In Study 2, we assessed the effects of low-level threat, experimentally induced anxiety, and individual differences in trait anxiety on executive control efficiency. Consistent with Study 1, fearful relative to neutral faces led to facilitated executive control efficiency during experimentally induced anxiety. No such effect was observed during an experimentally induced neutral mood state. Moreover, individual differences in trait anxiety did not moderate the effects of threat and anxiety on executive control efficiency. The findings are partially consistent with the predictions of DCF in that low-level threat improved executive control, at least during a state of anxiety.     

Emotion processing facilitates working memory performance

The effect of emotional stimulus content on working memory performance has been investigated with conflicting results, as both emotion-dependent facilitation and impairments are reported in the literature. To clarify this issue, 52 adult participants performed a modified visual 2-back task with highly arousing positive stimuli (sexual scenes), highly arousing negative stimuli (violent death) and low-arousal neutral stimuli. Emotional stimulus processing was found to facilitate task performance relative to that of neutral stimuli, both in regards to response accuracy and reaction times. No emotion-dependent differences in false-alarm rates were found. These results indicate that emotional information can have a facilitating effect on working memory maintenance and processing of information.     

Emotion processing facilitates working memory performance

The effect of emotional stimulus content on working memory performance has been investigated with conflicting results, as both emotion-dependent facilitation and impairments are reported in the literature. To clarify this issue, 52 adult participants performed a modified visual 2-back task with highly arousing positive stimuli (sexual scenes), highly arousing negative stimuli (violent death) and low-arousal neutral stimuli. Emotional stimulus processing was found to facilitate task performance relative to that of neutral stimuli, both in regards to response accuracy and reaction times. No emotion-dependent differences in false-alarm rates were found. These results indicate that emotional information can have a facilitating effect on working memory maintenance and processing of information.     

Spatial and visual working memory ability in children with difficulties in arithmetic word problem solving

Although various studies support the multicomponent nature of visuospatial working memory, to date there is no general consensus on the distinction of its components. A difference is usually proposed between visual and spatial components of working memory, but the individual roles of these components in mathematical learning disabilities remains unclear. The present study aimed to examine the involvement of visual and spatial working memory in poor problem-solvers compared with children with normal level of achievement. Fourth-grade participants were presented with tasks measuring phonological loop, central executive, and visual versus spatial memory. In two separate experiments, both designed to distinguish visual and spatial component involvement, poor problem-solvers specifically failed on spatial—but not visual or phonological—working memory tasks. Results are discussed in the light of possible working memory models, and specifically demonstrate that problem-solving ability can benefit from analysis of spatial processes, which involves ability to manipulate and transform relevant information; instead, no benefit is gained from the analysis of visual pictorial detail.     

Cross-cultural differences in item and background memory: examining the influence of emotional intensity and scene congruency

After viewing a scene, individuals differ in what they prioritise and remember. Culture may be one factor that influences scene memory, as Westerners have been shown to be more item-focused than Easterners (see Masuda, T., & Nisbett, R. E. (2001). Attending holistically versus analytically: Comparing the context sensitivity of Japanese and Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 922–934). However, cultures may differ in their sensitivity to scene incongruences and emotion processing, which may account for cross-cultural differences in scene memory. The current study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine scene memory while controlling for scene congruency and the perceived emotional intensity of the images. American and East Asian participants encoded pictures that included a positive, negative, or neutral item placed on a neutral background. After a 20-min delay, participants were shown the item and background separately along with similar and new items and backgrounds to assess memory specificity. Results indicated that even when congruency and emotional intensity were controlled, there was evidence that Americans had better item memory than East Asians. Incongruent scenes were better remembered than congruent scenes. However, this effect did not differ by culture. This suggests that Americans’ item focus may result in memory changes that are robust despite variations in scene congruency and perceived emotion.