Cognitive predictors of parent-rated inattention in very preterm children: The role of working memory and processing speed

Inattention is one of the most common neurobehavioral problems following very preterm birth. Attention problems can persist into adulthood and are associated with negative socio-emotional and educational outcomes. This study aimed to determine whether the cognitive processes associated with inattention differ between term-born and very preterm children. Sixty-five children born very preterm (<33+0 weeks’ gestation) aged 8–11 years were recruited alongside 48 term-born controls (?37 20 +0 weeks’ gestation). Both groups included children with a wide spectrum of parent-rated inattention (above average attention to severe inattention) measured as a continuous dimension using the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal-Behavior (SWAN) scale. The children completed tests to assess basic cognitive processes and executive function. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was implemented to assess which neurocognitive processes explained variance in parent-rated inattention and whether these differed between preterm and term-born children. In both groups, poorer verbal and visuospatial short-term memory and poorer visuospatial working memory independently explained variance in parent-rated inattention. Slower motor processing speed explained variance in inattention among very preterm children only. The cognitive mechanisms associated with parent-rated inattention were predominantly overlapping between groups, but relationships between motor processing speed and inattention were unique to very preterm children. These associations may reflect risk factors for inattention in term and very preterm children. Future research should assess the efficacy of these cognitive processes as potential targets for intervention     

Visuospatial working memory,auditory discrimination,and attention

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the degree to which tests of visuospatial storage capacity tap into domain-general storage and attention processes. This was done by comparing performance of visuospatial memory tasks with performance on sound-based sensory discrimination tasks. We found that memory task- and discrimination task performance both tapped into a cross-modality factor (visual and auditory). We further examined the degree to which this common variance could be explained by attention control and sustained attention. These attention factors accounted for roughly 60% of the variance in memory. This indicates that tests of visuospatial memory capacity reflect more than modality-specific memory.     

言语工作记忆内容在语义水平的注意捕获

采用工作记忆−视觉搜索双任务范式, 探讨不同呈现方式下与言语工作记忆内容语义水平匹配的刺激的注意捕获效应。结果发现：(1)视觉呈现下, 与言语工作记忆内容知觉和语义匹配的刺激均能捕获注意, 且在视觉搜索快速反应的阶段仍能捕获注意; (2)听觉呈现下, 与言语工作记忆内容语义匹配的刺激不能捕获注意, 反而被抑制, 但在视觉搜索快速反应的早期阶段却能捕获注意。研究表明, 基于视听呈现的言语工作记忆内容在语义水平对注意的引导作用可发生在注意搜索过程快速反应的早期阶段。而晚期阶段由于受到跨通道注意选择的抑制, 听觉呈现下的语义表征不能捕获注意, 而视觉呈现下的语义表征仍能捕获注意。     

工作记忆负荷对无意注意的影响

通过探讨工作记忆负荷对无意注意的影响,考察工作记忆的认知控制功能对选择性注意的作用机制。为了避免工作记忆和选择注意的目标或者干扰子之间的知觉注意资源的竞争,采用言语工作记忆任务和视觉空间位置辨别任务,同时视觉干扰刺激采用被试无法识别的韩语。结果发现,在高负荷条件下,干扰效应显著;而在低和中负荷条件下,没有观察到干扰效应。说明在高负荷条件下,被试没有额外的资源来抑制干扰加工,从而出现了显著的干扰效应。由此,本研究支持负荷理论的观点：工作记忆在选择性注意中执行认知控制功能。     

Spatial attention and feature-based attention are differentially sensitive to individual working memory capacity and perceptual load

ABSTRACT

A central and long-standing topic of interest to both psychologists and neuroscientists has been the capacity limited nature of perception, cognition and action. Most often, attention is the term invoked to label the mechanism by which a limited cognitive system can prioritize and select a subset of task-relevant sensory inputs and actions amongst a seemingly unbounded set of possible representations and behaviour. This selective mechanism is often modelled as a unitary and domain-general capacity-limited resource that is dynamically shifted to meet the processing demands invoked by the context. The present work offers a test of the unitary attention hypothesis using a variant of a classic validity manipulation [(Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 32, 3–25)] and the inferential logic of Sternberg (2001. Separate modifiability, mental modules, and the use of pure and composite measures to reveal them. Acta Psychologica, 106, 147–246). The results stand as evidence for at least two modular visual attention systems split according to a spatial and feature-based reference.     

Working memory – not processing speed – mediates fluid intelligence deficits associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a psychological condition characterized by inattention and hyperactivity. Cognitive deficits are commonly observed in ADHD patients, including impaired working memory, processing speed, and fluid intelligence, the three of which are theorized to be closely associated with one another. In this study, we aimed to determine if decreased fluid intelligence was associated with ADHD, and was mediated by deficits in working memory and processing speed. This study tested 142 young adults from the general population on a range of working memory, processing speed, and fluid intelligence tasks, and an ADHD self‐report symptoms questionnaire. Results showed that total and hyperactive ADHD symptoms correlated significantly and negatively with fluid intelligence, but this association was fully mediated by working memory. However, inattentive symptoms were not associated with fluid intelligence. Additionally, processing speed was not associated with ADHD symptoms at all, and was not uniquely predictive of fluid intelligence. The results provide implications for working memory training programs for ADHD patients, and highlight potential differences between the neuropsychological profiles of ADHD subtypes.     

A male advantage for spatial and object but not verbal working memory using the n-back task

Sex-related differences have been reported for performance and neural substrates on some working memory measures that carry a high cognitive load, including the popular n-back neuroimaging paradigm. Despite some evidence of a sex effect on the task, the influence of sex on performance represents a potential confound in neuroimaging research. The present study investigated sex-related differences in verbal, spatial, and common object versions of the high cognitive load "n-back" working memory task. Eighteen male and 18 female undergraduates completed all 3 versions of the task. A mixed ANOVA, with Sex (male and female) as the between-subjects factor and Condition (verbal, spatial, and object) as the within-subjects repeated measure revealed that males were significantly more accurate than females on the spatial and object versions of the n-back task and performed equivalently to females on the verbal version of the task. Although the expected female advantage for verbal working memory was not found using this effortful n-back task, these results support a male advantage for high cognitive load spatial and object working memory. Future research should take into account the influence of sex on performance of the n-back task, and examine sex-related differences in working memory using other paradigms.     

Positive affect improves working memory: Implications for controlled cognitive processing

This study examined the effects of positive affect on working memory (WM) and short-term memory (STM). Given that WM involves both storage and controlled processing and that STM primarily involves storage processing, we hypothesised that if positive affect facilitates controlled processing, it should improve WM more than STM. The results demonstrated that positive affect, compared with neutral affect, significantly enhanced WM, as measured by the operation span task. The influence of positive affect on STM, however, was weaker. These results suggest that positive affect enhances WM, a task that involves controlled processing, not just storage processing. Additional analyses of recall and processing times and accuracy further suggest that improved WM under positive affect is not attributable to motivational differences, but results instead from improved controlled cognitive processing.     

Making working memory work: The effects of extended practice on focus capacity and the processes of updating,forward access,and random access

We investigated the effects of 10 h of practice on variations of the N-Back task to investigate the processes underlying possible expansion of the focus of attention within working memory. Using subtractive logic, we showed that random access (i.e., Sternberg-like search) yielded a modest effect (a 50% increase in speed) whereas the processes of forward access (i.e., retrieval in order, as in a standard N-Back task) and updating (i.e., changing the contents of working memory) were executed about 5 times faster after extended practice. We additionally found that extended practice increased working memory capacity as measured by the size of the focus of attention for the forward-access task, but not for variations where probing was in random order. This suggests that working memory capacity may depend on the type of search process engaged, and that certain working-memory-related cognitive processes are more amenable to practice than others.     

Spatial attention based on 2D location and relative depth order modulates visual working memory in a 3D environment

The attentional effect on visual working memory (VWM) has been a heated research topic in the past two decades. Studies show that VWM performance for an attended memory item can be improved by cueing its two-dimensional (2D) spatial location during retention. However, few studies have investigated the effect of attentional selection on VWM in a three-dimensional setting, and it remains unknown whether depth information can produce beneficial attentional effects on 2D visual representations similar to 2D spatial information. Here we conducted four experiments, displaying memory items at various stereoscopic depth planes, and examined the retro-cue effects of four types of cues – a cue would either indicate the 2D or depth location of a memory item, and either in the form of physical (directly pointing to a location) or symbolic (numerically mapping onto a location) cues. We found that retro-cue benefits were only observed for cues directly pointing to a 2D location, whereas a null effect was observed for cues directly pointing to a depth location. However, there was a retro-cue effect when cueing the relative depth order, though the effect was weaker than that for cueing the 2D location. The selective effect on VWM based on 2D spatial attention is different from depth-based attention, and the divergence suggests that an object representation is primarily bound with its 2D spatial location, weakly bound with its depth order but not with its metric depth location. This indicates that attentional selection based on memory for depth, particularly metric depth, is ineffective.     

The role of working memory and visual processing in prototype category learning

To investigate whether working memory and visual processing have the same role or different roles in A/B and A/not A prototype category learning, the present study adopted an A/B or A/not A category learning task in control and dual conditions. The results of Experiment 1 showed that an additional dual visual working memory task rather than a dual verbal working memory task reduced accuracy of the A/B task, whereas no dual tasks influenced accuracy of the A/not A task. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that an additional dual visual processing task impaired accuracy of the A/B task, whereas the dual visual processing task did not influence accuracy of the A/not A task. These results indicate that visual working memory and visual processing play different roles in A/B and A/not A prototype category learning, and support that these two types of prototype category learning are mediated by different memory systems.     

The effects of autobiographical memory and visual perspective on working memory

The present research aims to explore whether recalling and writing about autobiographical memory from different perspectives (first-person perspective vs. third-person perspective) could affect cognitive function. The participants first performed a working memory task to evaluate their working memory capacity as a baseline and then were instructed to recall (Study 1) or write about (Study 2) personal events (failures vs. successes) from the first-person perspective or the third-person perspective. Finally, they performed the working memory task again. The results suggested that autobiographical memory and perspective influence working memory interactively. When recalling a success, the participants who recalled from the third-person perspective performed better than those who recalled from the first-person perspective on the working memory capacity task; when recalling a failure, the opposite was true.     

Component analysis of verbal versus spatial working memory training in adolescents with ADHD: A randomized,controlled trial

Adaptive training of working memory (WM) using the Cogmed-RM intervention has recently shown some efficacy as an alternative treatment for ADHD, but this intervention may not be optimally designed. A recent component analysis of WM has suggested that maintenance in primary memory (PM) appears to be largely intact whereas recall from secondary memory (SM) appears to be deficient in ADHD relative to age-matched controls. However, extrapolating from basic research, there is reason to believe that Cogmed-RM may target the PM component more than the SM component; though training with spatial exercises may target the SM component more than training with verbal exercises. To investigate, participants diagnosed with ADHD were randomly assigned to either a verbal training condition (n?=?24) or a spatial training condition (n?=?23) using a randomized, controlled design, and both groups were instructed to complete at least 20 days of training. The PM and SM components of WM were assessed immediately before and after training using both verbal and spatial free recall tasks. The main findings showed that both versions of the intervention enhanced the maintenance of information in PM regardless of test modality, but not the recall of information from SM. Therefore, the component of WM that is improved by Cogmed-RM is not the same component of WM that is deficient in ADHD.     

工作记忆的存储时间及目标时距对时间知觉的影响

本研究操作记忆信息与计时开始之间的时间间隔（ISI）和目标时距,探讨工作记忆影响时间判断的灵活性。被试首先记忆一个客体,然后在每个trial的最后判断测试刺激是否与记忆项相同;在延迟阶段,被试完成时间判断任务,即判断相继出现的两个刺激的时距哪个更长（或更短）。时间任务中的一个刺激与记忆内容完全相同,相应的另一个刺激与记忆内容在形状和颜色上都不同。重复条件下,被试忽略第一个刺激,仅完成时间判断任务。结果发现,时间间隔（ISI）短时,记忆匹配条件下的准确率更高,匹配刺激延长了知觉的时间;但随着时间间隔的增加,工作记忆匹配对时间判断的影响降低甚至消失。并且,长或短ISI,记忆任务或重复条件下,目标时距长时,记忆匹配反而缩短了知觉的时间。研究说明工作记忆对时间判断的影响是灵活的,受到注意或工作记忆等高级认知系统的调控。     

Motor creativity: the roles of attention breadth and working memory in a divergent doing task

We evaluated the dual-pathway model to creativity in a motor context. The model describes separate flexibility and persistence pathways that are affected differently by breadth of attention and working memory. Motor creativity was tested using a divergent doing task. In Experiment 1 participants performed the divergent doing task after attention was broadened, narrowed or not manipulated. In Experiment 2, the divergent doing task was performed with a low or high working memory load. We found that a broad attention increased flexibility but not persistence. Also originality was unaffected. Taxing working memory did not affect persistence, flexibility or originality. The results provide partial support for the dual-pathway model in motor creativity. Discusion focusses on increased demands for the appropriatness of a solution in divergent doing relative to divergent thinking and to degree to which this implies a more general shortcoming of the dual-pathway model.     

Impact of auditory selective attention on verbal short-term memory and vocabulary development

This study investigated the role of auditory selective attention capacities as a possible mediator of the well-established association between verbal short-term memory (STM) and vocabulary development. A total of 47 6- and 7-year-olds were administered verbal immediate serial recall and auditory attention tasks. Both task types probed processing of item and serial order information because recent studies have shown this distinction to be critical when exploring relations between STM and lexical development. Multiple regression and variance partitioning analyses highlighted two variables as determinants of vocabulary development: (a) a serial order processing variable shared by STM order recall and a selective attention task for sequence information and (b) an attentional variable shared by selective attention measures targeting item or sequence information. The current study highlights the need for integrative STM models, accounting for conjoined influences of attentional capacities and serial order processing capacities on STM performance and the establishment of the lexical language network.     

Relations between vocabulary development and verbal short-term memory: The relative importance of short-term memory for serial order and item information

Although many studies have shown an association between verbal short-term memory (STM) and vocabulary development, the precise nature of this association is not yet clear. The current study reexamined this relation in 4- to 6-year-olds by designing verbal STM tasks that maximized memory for either item or serial order information. Although empirical data suggest that distinct STM processes determine item and serial order recall, these were generally confounded in previous developmental studies. We observed that item and order memory tasks were independently related to vocabulary development. Furthermore, vocabulary development was more strongly associated with STM for order information in 4- and 6-year-olds and with STM for item information in 5-year-olds. These data highlight the specificity of verbal STM for serial order and item information and suggest a causal association between order STM processes and vocabulary development, at least in 4- and 6-year-olds.     

The extent of working memory deficits associated with Williams syndrome: exploration of verbal and spatial domains and executively controlled processes

The present study investigated verbal and spatial working memory (WM) functioning in individuals with the neuro-developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) using WM component tasks. While there is strong evidence of WM impairments in WS, previous research has focused on short-term memory and has neglected assessment of executive components of WM. There is a particular lack of consensus concerning the profile of verbal WM functioning in WS. Here, WS participants were compared to typically developing participants matched for (1) verbal ability and (2) spatial ability (N = 14 in each of the 3 groups). Individuals with WS were impaired on verbal WM tasks, both those involving short-term maintenance of information and executive manipulation, in comparison to verbal-matched controls. Surprisingly, individuals with WS were not impaired on a spatial task assessing short-term maintenance of information in memory (remembering spatial locations) compared to spatial-matched controls. They were, however, impaired on a spatial executive WM task requiring the manipulation of spatial information in memory. The present study suggests that individuals with WS show WM impairments that extend to both verbal and spatial domains, although spatial deficits are selective to executive aspects of WM function.