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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

Working memory capacity modulates task performance but has little influence on task choice.

Karin M Butler1, Catherine M Arrington, Christina Weywadt

  • 1Department of Psychology, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. kmbutler@unm.edu

Memory & Cognition
|January 26, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) affect task performance in multitasking environments, particularly when preparing for tasks. WMC influences task readiness but not the initial choice between tasks.

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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Working memory capacity (WMC) is crucial for managing multiple information streams and maintaining internal goals.
  • Multitasking environments involve complex interactions between internal goals, past behavior, and available information.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and cognitive control processes in a multitasking setting.
  • To differentiate the influence of WMC on task choice versus task performance.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the voluntary task-switching paradigm to assess cognitive control.
  • Measured task performance via switch costs and analyzed the relationship with individual differences in WMC.

Main Results:

  • Task performance, indicated by switch costs, correlated with WMC, but specifically at short preparation intervals.
  • Task choice processes demonstrated only a weak association with WMC.

Conclusions:

  • Findings support cognitive control models that distinguish between task choice and task readiness activation/maintenance.
  • WMC is linked to the regulation of specific task parameters rather than the initial selection processes in complex environments.