Interrupted reading and working memory capacity.

Foroughi, Cyrus K.; Barragán, Daniela; Boehm‐Davis, Deborah A.

doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.02.002

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The results were not consistent with our hypothesis, at least not for the accuracy of responses. In accordance with studies conducted in static settings (e.g., Drews and Musters, 2015;Foroughi et al, 2016a), WMC was associated with better baseline accuracy on our dynamic primary task. In other words, when the dots moved visibly for the entire duration of the trial, target identification became more precise as WMC increased.…”

Section: Working Memorysupporting

confidence: 90%

Resuming a Dynamic Task Following Increasingly Long Interruptions: The Role of Working Memory and Reconstruction

Labonté

Vachon

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Studies examining individual differences in interruption recovery have shown that higher working memory capacity (WMC) attenuated the negative impact of interruption length on resumption, at least in static contexts. In continuously evolving (or dynamic) situations, however, working memory may not be as central to the effective resumption of a task, especially in the case of long interruptions. One of the main theories of task interruption suggests that dynamic task resumption could depend on a reconstruction of the primary task context, that is, a visual examination of the post-interruption environment. To better define the role of working memory and reconstruction processes in interruption recovery, the current study examined the association between (1) dynamic task resumption following interruptions of various lengths and (2) two cognitive abilities chosen to operationalize the processes under study, namely, WMC and visual search capacity. Participants performed a multiple object tracking task which could be uninterrupted or interrupted for 5, 15, or 30 s while the hidden stimuli continued their trajectory. They also completed tasks measuring the two cognitive abilities of interest. The results revealed that WMC contributed to post-interruption accuracy regardless of interruption duration. On the contrary, visual search capacity was related to faster resumption in the 15-s and 30-s interruption conditions only. Those results show that working memory plays a preponderant role in resumption not only in static, but also in dynamic contexts. However, our study suggests that this mechanism must share the limelight with reconstruction following lengthy interruptions in dynamic settings.

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Section: Working Memorysupporting

confidence: 90%

Resuming a Dynamic Task Following Increasingly Long Interruptions: The Role of Working Memory and Reconstruction

Labonté

Vachon

2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…Working memory resources are needed not only for drawing inferences about the text, but they are also essential in the process of incorporating previous information with new incoming information, and for updating the situation model representation of the text during reading as changes in character, time, setting, and so on, occur (e.g., Zwaan & Radvansky, ). Recently, Foroughi, Barragán, and Boehm‐Davis () aimed to use individual differences in WMC to determine the plausibility of the theory that the activation of information in working memory is vital for comprehension of a given text. Participants with high or low working memory read prompts with or without interruptions.…”

Section: Text Presentation and Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Should I Use My E‐Reader? An Exploration of the Circumstances Under Which Electronic Presentation of Text Results in Good Comprehension

Margolin

Snyder

Thamboo

2018

Mind Brain and Education

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The present research aimed to determine the circumstances under which comprehension between paper and e-readers is comparable and what role working memory plays in successful comprehension of text presented in these formats. Narrative and expository texts were presented in electronic and paper formats to determine whether readers glean different information for these text types via different presentation formats. Results indicated that comprehension for paper and electronic formats may not be equivalent. Although comprehension of thematic information presented via e-reader was better than when reading for detail (as in expository passages), it did not lead to comprehension as successfully as printed text. In addition, removing working memory led to the disappearance of the effects of presentation method and the type of questions, suggesting that it was important for individual differences in use of the e-reader device. Implications for the appropriate use of e-readers are discussed.In the past, reading material was presented primarily via paper-based documents such as newspapers, magazines,

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“…An important topic in this area is what role cognition has in both susceptibility to interruptions and ability to recover after interruptions occur. Attention control has been linked to resistance to interruption in work environments in a few studies (e.g., Tams et al, 2015 anda pre-registered study, Mirhoseini et al, 2020), but more research has been devoted to the role of working memory capacity (e.g., Foroughi, Barragán et al, 2016;Foroughi, Malihi et al, 2016;Foroughi, Werner et al, 2016;Gillie & Broadbent, 1989;Westbrook et al, 2018). These studies found support for the idea that working memory capacity has a protective effect against interruptions.…”

Section: Complex Task Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies found support for the idea that working memory capacity has a protective effect against interruptions. For example Foroughi, Barragán et al (2016) found that working memory capacity accounted for about 12% of the variance in errors in manual data entry following an interruption. While the short-term storage of information may be an important aspect of task resumption, it is more likely that the management of attention and place keeping would play a crucial role and explain more variance in performance following interruptions.…”

Section: Complex Task Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

The role of attention control in complex real-world tasks

Draheim

Pak²,

Draheim³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Working memory capacity is an important psychological construct and many real-world phenomena are strongly associated with individual differences in working memory functioning. Although working memory and attention are intertwined, several studies have recently shown that individual differences in the general ability to control attention is more strongly predictive of human behavior than working memory capacity. In this review, we argue that researchers would therefore generally be better suited to studying the role of attention control rather than memory-based abilities in explaining real-world behavior and performance in humans. The review begins with a discussion of relevant literature on the nature and measurement of both working memory capacity and attention control, including recent developments in the study of individual differences of attention control. We then selectively review existing literature on the role of both working memory and attention in various applied settings and explain, in each case, why a switch in emphasis to attention control is warranted. Topics covered include psychological testing, cognitive training, education, sports, police decision making, human factors, and disorders within clinical psychology. The review concludes with general recommendations and best practices for researchers interested in conducting studies of individual differences in attention control.

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Interrupted reading and working memory capacity.

Cited by 12 publications

References 25 publications

Resuming a Dynamic Task Following Increasingly Long Interruptions: The Role of Working Memory and Reconstruction

Resuming a Dynamic Task Following Increasingly Long Interruptions: The Role of Working Memory and Reconstruction

How Should I Use My E‐Reader? An Exploration of the Circumstances Under Which Electronic Presentation of Text Results in Good Comprehension

The role of attention control in complex real-world tasks

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