Social exclusion weakens storage capacity and attentional filtering ability in visual working memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Social exclusion is known to negatively impact cognitive functions, including visual working memory (WM).
• The specific neural mechanisms underlying these WM deficits remain largely undetermined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether social exclusion affects visual working memory (WM) by reducing storage capacity, impairing attentional filtering, or both.
• To elucidate the neural processes associated with social exclusion-induced WM impairments.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using the Cyberball game to induce social exclusion in 74 female participants.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically contralateral delay activity (CDA), were recorded during WM tasks.
• Experiment 1 focused on attentional filtering, while Experiment 2 assessed WM storage capacity.

Main Results:

• Social exclusion impaired attentional filtering, evidenced by similar CDA amplitudes regardless of distractor presence.
• Exclusion also reduced WM storage capacity, with CDA amplitudes reaching asymptote at lower item loads compared to the inclusion group.
• These findings were supported by CDA measures in both experimental designs.

Conclusions:

• Social exclusion leads to deficits in visual working memory (WM).
• These WM impairments are attributable to both reduced storage capacity and compromised attentional filtering abilities.
• The study provides complementary evidence for the cognitive consequences of social exclusion.