ERIC Number: EJ1055904
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-May
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Working Memory Capacity and Stroop Interference: Global versus Local Indices of Executive Control
Meier, Matt E.; Kane, Michael J.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v39 n3 p748-759 May 2013
Two experiments examined the relations among working memory capacity (WMC), congruency-sequence effects, proportion-congruency effects, and the color-word Stroop effect to test whether congruency-sequence effects might inform theoretical claims regarding WMC's prediction of Stroop interference. In Experiment 1, subjects completed either a high-congruency or low-congruency Stroop task that restricted trial-to-trial repetitions of stimulus dimensions to examine WMC's relation to congruency-sequence effects while minimizing bottom-up, stimulus-driven contributions. Congruency-sequence effects and congruency-proportion effects were significant but did not interact. WMC predicted global Stroop interference under low-congruency conditions but neither local congruency-sequence effects nor global Stroop interference under high-congruency conditions, contrary to previous studies (e.g., Kane & Engle, 2003). A high-congruency Stroop task in Experiment 2 removed the Experiment 1 task constraints, and, here, we obtained the typical, global association between WMC and Stroop interference but still no relation between WMC and congruency-sequence effects. We thus examined the methodological differences between Experiments 1 and 2 to determine whether any of these were locally responsible for the global WMC-related differences. They were not, suggesting that the changes between Experiments 1 and 2 created a general task context that engaged (or disengaged) the executive processes associated with WMC.
Descriptors: Short Term Memory, Interference (Learning), Color, Task Analysis, Visual Stimuli, Prediction, Correlation, Cognitive Processes, Individual Differences, Undergraduate Students, Reaction Time, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: North Carolina
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Stroop Color Word Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A