TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bartek, Brian
A1  - Lewis, Richard L.
A1  - Vasishth, Shravan
A1  - Smith, Mason R.
T1  - In Search of on-line locality effects in sentence comprehension
JF  - Journal of experimental psychology : Learning, memory, and cognition
N2  - Many comprehension theories assert that increasing the distance between elements participating in a linguistic relation (e.g., a verb and a noun phrase argument) increases the difficulty of establishing that relation during on-line comprehension. Such locality effects are expected to increase reading times and are thought to reveal properties and limitations of the short-term memory system that supports comprehension. Despite their theoretical importance and putative ubiquity, however, evidence for on-line locality effects is quite narrow linguistically and methodologically: It is restricted almost exclusively to self-paced reading of complex structures involving a particular class of syntactic relation. We present 4 experiments (2 self-paced reading and 2 eyetracking experiments) that demonstrate locality effects in the course of establishing subject-verb dependencies; locality effects are seen even in materials that can be read quickly and easily. These locality effects are observable in the earliest possible eye-movement measures and are of much shorter duration than previously reported effects. To account for the observed empirical patterns, we outline a processing model of the adaptive control of button pressing and eye movements. This model makes progress toward the goal of eliminating linking assumptions between memory constructs and empirical measures in favor of explicit theories of the coordinated control of motor responses and parsing.
KW  - locality effects
KW  - working memory
KW  - sentence processing
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024194
SN  - 0278-7393
VL  - 37
IS  - 5
SP  - 1178
EP  - 1198
PB  - American Psychological Association
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ehlert, Antje
A1  - Poltz, Nadine
A1  - Quandte, Sabine
A1  - Kohn-Henkel, Juliane
A1  - Kucian, Karin
A1  - Aster, Michael von
A1  - Esser, Günter
T1  - Taking a closer look: The relationship between pre-school domain general cognition and school mathematics achievement when controlling for intelligence
JF  - Journal of Intelligence
N2  - Intelligence, as well as working memory and attention, affect the acquisition of mathematical competencies. This paper aimed to examine the influence of working memory and attention when taking different mathematical skills into account as a function of children’s intellectual ability. Overall, intelligence, working memory, attention and numerical skills were assessed twice in 1868 German pre-school children (t1, t2) and again at 2nd grade (t3). We defined three intellectual ability groups based on the results of intellectual assessment at t1 and t2. Group comparisons revealed significant differences between the three intellectual ability groups. Over time, children with low intellectual ability showed the lowest achievement in domain-general and numerical and mathematical skills compared to children of average intellectual ability. The highest achievement on the aforementioned variables was found for children of high intellectual ability. Additionally, path modelling revealed that, depending on the intellectual ability, different models of varying complexity could be generated. These models differed with regard to the relevance of the predictors (t2) and the future mathematical skills (t3). Causes and conclusions of these findings are discussed.
KW  - intellectual ability
KW  - intelligence
KW  - pre-school
KW  - mathematical development
KW  - school mathematics
KW  - longitudinal
KW  - numerical skills
KW  - working memory
KW  - attention
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10030070
SN  - 2079-3200
VL  - 10
SP  - 1
EP  - 23
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 3
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinzel, Stephan
A1  - Lorenz, Robert C.
A1  - Brockhaus, Wolf-Ruediger
A1  - Wuestenberg, Torsten
A1  - Kathmann, Norbert
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Working memory load-dependent brain response predicts behavioral training gains in older adults
JF  - The journal of neuroscience
N2  - In the domain of working memory (WM), a sigmoid-shaped relationship between WM load and brain activation patterns has been demonstrated in younger adults. It has been suggested that age-related alterations of this pattern are associated with changes in neural efficiency and capacity. At the same time, WM training studies have shown that some older adults are able to increase their WM performance through training. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging during an n-back WM task at different WM load levels was applied to compare blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses between younger and older participants and to predict gains in WM performance after a subsequent 12-session WM training procedure in older adults. We show that increased neural efficiency and capacity, as reflected by more "youth-like" brain response patterns in regions of interest of the frontoparietal WM network, were associated with better behavioral training outcome beyond the effects of age, sex, education, gray matter volume, and baseline WM performance. Furthermore, at low difficulty levels, decreases in BOLD response were found after WM training. Results indicate that both neural efficiency (i. e., decreased activation at comparable performance levels) and capacity (i. e., increasing activation with increasing WM load) of a WM-related network predict plasticity of the WM system, whereas WM training may specifically increase neural efficiency in older adults.
KW  - aging
KW  - fMRI
KW  - neuroimaging
KW  - plasticity
KW  - training
KW  - working memory
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2463-13.2014
SN  - 0270-6474
VL  - 34
IS  - 4
SP  - 1224
EP  - 1233
PB  - Society for Neuroscience
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinzel, Stephan
A1  - Rimpel, Jérôme
A1  - Stelzel, Christine
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Transfer Effects to a Multimodal Dual-Task after Working Memory Training and Associated Neural Correlates in Older Adults
BT  - A Pilot Study
JF  - Frontiers in human neuroscience
N2  - Working memory (WM) performance declines with age. However, several studies have shown that WM training may lead to performance increases not only in the trained task, but also in untrained cognitive transfer tasks. It has been suggested that transfer effects occur if training task and transfer task share specific processing components that are supposedly processed in the same brain areas. In the current study, we investigated whether single-task WM training and training-related alterations in neural activity might support performance in a dual-task setting, thus assessing transfer effects to higher-order control processes in the context of dual-task coordination. A sample of older adults (age 60–72) was assigned to either a training or control group. The training group participated in 12 sessions of an adaptive n-back training. At pre and post-measurement, a multimodal dual-task was performed in all participants to assess transfer effects. This task consisted of two simultaneous delayed match to sample WM tasks using two different stimulus modalities (visual and auditory) that were performed either in isolation (single-task) or in conjunction (dual-task). A subgroup also participated in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the performance of the n-back task before and after training. While no transfer to single-task performance was found, dual-task costs in both the visual modality (p < 0.05) and the auditory modality (p < 0.05) decreased at post-measurement in the training but not in the control group. In the fMRI subgroup of the training participants, neural activity changes in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during one-back predicted post-training auditory dual-task costs, while neural activity changes in right DLPFC during three-back predicted visual dual-task costs. Results might indicate an improvement in central executive processing that could facilitate both WM and dual-task coordination.
KW  - working memory
KW  - cognitive training
KW  - modality
KW  - dual-task
KW  - aging
KW  - transfer
KW  - fMRI
KW  - neuroimaging
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00085
VL  - 11
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Höhle, Barbara
A1  - Fritzsche, Tom
A1  - Müller, Anja
T1  - Children’s Comprehension of Sentences with Focus Particles and the Role of Cognitive Control
BT  - An Eye Tracking Study with German-Learning 4-Year-Olds
JF  - PLoS one
N2  - Children’s interpretations of sentences containing focus particles do not seem adult-like until school age. This study investigates how German 4-year-old children comprehend sentences with the focus particle ‘nur’ (only) by using different tasks and controlling for the impact of general cognitive abilities on performance measures. Two sentence types with ‘only’ in either pre-subject or pre-object position were presented. Eye gaze data and verbal responses were collected via the visual world paradigm combined with a sentence-picture verification task. While the eye tracking data revealed an adult-like pattern of focus particle processing, the sentence-picture verification replicated previous findings of poor comprehension, especially for ‘only’ in pre-subject position. A second study focused on the impact of general cognitive abilities on the outcomes of the verification task. Working memory was related to children’s performance in both sentence types whereas inhibitory control was selectively related to the number of errors for sentences with ‘only’ in pre-subject position. These results suggest that children at the age of 4 years have the linguistic competence to correctly interpret sentences with focus particles, which–depending on specific task demands–may be masked by immature general cognitive abilities.
KW  - eyes
KW  - sentence processing
KW  - cognition
KW  - cognitive linguistics
KW  - human performance
KW  - syntax
KW  - cognitive psychology
KW  - working memory
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149870
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
SP  - 1
EP  - 27
PB  - PLoS
CY  - Lawrence, Kan.
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kuschpel, Maxim S.
A1  - Liu, Shuyan
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Heinzel, Stephan
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Differential effects of wakeful rest, music and video game playing on working memory performance in the n-back task
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - The interruption of learning processes by breaks filled with diverse activities is common in everyday life. We investigated the effects of active computer gaming and passive relaxation (rest and music) breaks on working memory performance. Young adults were exposed to breaks involving (i) eyes-open resting, (ii) listening to music and (iii) playing the video game “Angry Birds” before performing the n-back working memory task. Based on linear mixed-effects modeling, we found that playing the “Angry Birds” video game during a short learning break led to a decline in task performance over the course of the task as compared to eyes-open resting and listening to music, although overall task performance was not impaired. This effect was associated with high levels of daily mind wandering and low self-reported ability to concentrate. These findings indicate that video games can negatively affect working memory performance over time when played in between learning tasks. We suggest further investigation of these effects because of their relevance to everyday activity.
KW  - break interventions
KW  - computer games
KW  - mozart effect
KW  - working memory
KW  - attention
KW  - cognitive resources
KW  - mind wandering
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01683
SN  - 1664-1078
IS  - 6
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Oberauer, Klaus
A1  - Kliegl, Reinhold
T1  - A formal model of capacity limits in working memory
JF  - Journal of Memory and Language
N2  - A mathematical model of working-memory capacity limits is proposed on the key assumption of mutual interference between items in working memory. Interference is assumed to arise from overwriting of features shared by these items. The model was fit to time-accuracy data of memory-updating tasks from four experiments using nonlinear mixed effect (NLME) models as a framework. The model gave a good account of the data from a numerical and a spatial task version. The performance pattern in a combination of numerical and spatial updating could be explained by variations in the interference parameter: assuming less feature overlap between contents from different domains than between contents from the same domain, the model can account for double dissociations of content domains in dual-task experiments. Experiment 3 extended this idea to similarity within the verbal domain. The decline of memory accuracy with increasing memory load was steeper with phonologically similar than with dissimilar material, although processing speed was faster for the similar material. The model captured the similarity effects with a higher estimated interference parameter for the similar than for the dissimilar condition. The results are difficult to explain with alternative models, in particular models incorporating time-based decay and models assuming limited resource pools.
KW  - working memory
KW  - interference
KW  - capacity
KW  - mathematical model
KW  - non-linear mixed effects
Y1  - 2006
UR  - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0749596X
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2006.08.009
SN  - 0749-596X
VL  - 55
IS  - 4
SP  - 601
EP  - 626
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pañeda, Claudia
A1  - Lago, Sol
A1  - Vares, Elena
A1  - Veríssimo, João Marques
A1  - Felser, Claudia
T1  - Island effects in Spanish comprehension
JF  - Glossa : a journal of general linguistics
N2  - A growing body of experimental syntactic research has revealed substantial variation in the magnitude of island effects, not only across languages but also across different grammatical constructions. Adopting a well-established experimental design, the present study examines island effects in Spanish using a speeded acceptability judgment task. To quantify variation across grammatical constructions, we tested extraction from four different types of structure (subjects, complex noun phrases, adjuncts and interrogative clauses). The results of Bayesian mixed effects modelling showed that the size of island effects varied between constructions, such that there was clear evidence of subject, adjunct and interrogative island effects, but not of complex noun phrase island effects. We also failed to find evidence that island effects were modulated by participants' working memory capacity as measured by an operation span task. To account for our results, we suggest that variability in island effects across constructions may be due to the interaction of syntactic, semantic-pragmatic and processing factors, which may affect island types differentially due to their idiosyncratic properties.
KW  - extraction islands
KW  - Spanish
KW  - reading comprehension
KW  - working memory
KW  - sentence processing
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1058
SN  - 2397-1835
VL  - 5
IS  - 1
PB  - Open Library of Humanities
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pliatsikas, Christos
A1  - Verissimo, Joao Marques
A1  - Babcock, Laura
A1  - Pullman, Mariel Y.
A1  - Glei, Dana A.
A1  - Weinstein, Maxine
A1  - Goldman, Noreen
A1  - Ullman, Michael T.
T1  - Working memory in older adults declines with age, but is modulated by sex and education
JF  - The quarterly journal of experimental psychology
N2  - Working memory (WM), which underlies the temporary storage and manipulation of information, is critical for multiple aspects of cognition and everyday life. Nevertheless, research examining WM specifically in older adults remains limited, despite the global rapid increase in human life expectancy. We examined WM in a large sample (N=754) of healthy older adults (aged 58-89) in a non-Western population (Chinese speakers) in Taiwan, on a digit n-back task. We tested not only the influence of age itself and of load (1-back vs. 2-back) but also the effects of both sex and education, which have been shown to modulate WM abilities. Mixed-effects regression revealed that, within older adulthood, age negatively impacted WM abilities (with linear, not nonlinear, effects), as did load (worse performance at 2-back). In contrast, education level was positively associated with WM. Moreover, both age and education interacted with sex. With increasing age, males showed a steeper WM decline than females; with increasing education, females showed greater WM gains than males. Together with other findings, the evidence suggests that age, sex, and education all impact WM in older adults, but interact in particular ways. The results have both basic research and translational implications and are consistent with particular benefits from increased education for women.
KW  - Ageing
KW  - sex differences
KW  - education
KW  - working memory
KW  - n back
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021818791994
SN  - 1747-0218
SN  - 1747-0226
VL  - 72
IS  - 6
SP  - 1308
EP  - 1327
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY  - Abingdon
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Soemer, Alexander
A1  - Schiefele, Ulrich
T1  - Working memory capacity and (in)voluntary mind wandering
JF  - Psychonomic bulletin & review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society
N2  - According to influential accounts of mind wandering (MW), working memory capacity (WMC) plays a key role in controlling the amount of off-task thought during the execution of a demanding task. Whereas WMC has primarily been associated with reduced levels of involuntarily occurring MW episodes in prior research, here we demonstrate for the first time that high-WMC individuals exhibit lower levels of voluntary MW. One hundred and eighty participants carried out a demanding reading task and reported their attentional state in response to random thought probes. In addition, participants' WMC was measured with two common complex span tasks (operation span and symmetry span). As a result, WMC was negatively related to both voluntary and involuntary MW, and the two forms of MW partially mediated the positive effect of WMC on reading performance. Furthermore, the negative relation between voluntary WM and reading remained significant after controlling for interest. Thus, in contrast to prior research suggesting that voluntary MW might be more closely related to motivation rather than WMC, the present results demonstrate that high-WMC individuals tend to limit both involuntary and voluntary MW more strictly than low-WMC individuals.
KW  - mind wandering
KW  - intention
KW  - working memory
KW  - executive control
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01737-4
SN  - 1069-9384
SN  - 1531-5320
VL  - 27
IS  - 4
SP  - 758
EP  - 767
PB  - Springer
CY  - New York
ER  -