Combining Reaction Time and Accuracy: The Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity and Task Switching as a Case Example

Perspectives on Psychological Science

Volumn 11, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 133-155

  Draheim, Christopher ^a   Hicks, Kenny L ^a   Engle, Randall W ^a  

^a GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

Author keywords

executive function; measurement; switch cost; task switching; working memory capacity

Indexed keywords

ATTENTION; EXECUTIVE FUNCTION; HUMAN; PSYCHOLOGIC TEST; PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL; REACTION TIME; SHORT TERM MEMORY; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS;

ATTENTION; DATA INTERPRETATION, STATISTICAL; EXECUTIVE FUNCTION; HUMANS; MEMORY, SHORT-TERM; MODELS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS; REACTION TIME;

EID: 84955615630     PISSN: 17456916     EISSN: 17456924     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1745691615596990     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. P.L.AckermanM.E.BeierM.O.Boyle (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs?Psychological Bulletin, 131, 30–60.
2. D.A.AllportE.A.StylesS.Hsieh (1994). Shifting intentional set: Exploring the dynamic control of tasks. In (Eds.), Attention and performance XV (pp. 421–452). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
3. E.M.AltmannW.D.Gray (2008). An integrated model of cognitive control in task switching. Psychological Review, 115, 602–639.
4. C.M.ArringtonG.D.Logan (2004). The cost of a voluntary task switch. Psychological Science, 15, 610–615.
5. A.D.Baddeley (1992, January31). Working memory. Science, 255, 556–559.
6. A.D.BaddeleyD.ChincottaA.Adlam (2001). Working memory and the control of action: Evidence from task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 641–657.
7. A.D.BaddeleyS.E.GathercoleC.Papagno (1998). The phonological loop as a language learning device. Psychological Review, 105, 158–173.
8. R.CaseM.D.KurlandJ.Goldberg (1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 33, 386–404.
9. N.ChevalierT.D.SheffieldJ.M.NelsonC.A.C.ClarkS.A.WiebeK.A.Espy (2012). Underpinnings of the costs of flexibility in preschool children: The roles of inhibition and working memory. Developmental Psychology, 37, 99–118.
10. J.ChiouR.A.Spreng (1996). The reliability of difference scores: A re-examination. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behavior, 9, 158–167.
11. A.R.A.ConwayM.J.KaneM.F.BuntingD.Z.HambrickO.WilhelmR.W.Engle (2005). Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 769–786.
12. N.Cowan (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 24, 87–185.
13. L.J.CronbachL.Furby (1970). How should we measure “change”—or should we?Psychological Bulletin, 74, 68–80.
14. M.DanemanP.A.Carpenter (1980). Individual differences in WM and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.
15. M.DanemanP.M.Merikle (1996). Working memory and language comprehension: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3, 422–433.
16. A.E.DoyleJ.BiedermanL.J.SeidmanW.WeberS.V.Faraone (2000). Diagnostic efficiency of neuropsychological test scores for discriminating boys with and without attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 477–488.
17. J.R.Edwards (2001). Ten difference score myths. Organizational Research Methods, 4, 265–287.
18. M.J.EmersonA.Miyake (2003). The role of inner speech in task switching: A dual-task investigation. Journal of Memory and Language, 48, 148–168.
19. R.W.Engle (2002). Working memory capacity as executive attention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 19–23.
20. R.W.EngleJ.J.CarulloK.W.Collins (1991). Individual differences in working memory for comprehension and following directions. Journal of Educational Research, 84, 253–262.
21. R.W.EngleS.W.TuholskiJ.E.LaughlinA.R.A.Conway (1999). Working memory, short-term memory, and general fluid intelligence: A latent-variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128, 309–331.
22. B.A.EriksenC.W.Eriksen (1974). Effects of noise letters upon identification of a target letter in a non-search task. Perception and Psychophysics, 16, 143–149.
23. J.FanB.D.McCandlessT.SommerA.RazM.I.Posner (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 340–347.
24. N.P.FriedmanA.MiyakeR.P.CorleyS.E.YoungJ.C.DeFriesJ.K.Hewitt (2006). Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychological Science, 17, 172–179.
25. D.A.GrantE.Berg (1948). A behavioral analysis of degree of reinforcement and ease of shifting to new responses in a Weigl-type card-sorting problem. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 404–411.
26. A.G.GreenwaldD.E.McGheeJ.L.Schwartz (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480.
27. J.P.Guilford (1954). Psychometric methods (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
28. D.Z.HambrickF.L.OswaldE.S.DarowskiT.A.RenchR.Brou (2010). Predictors of multitasking performance in a synthetic work paradigm. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1149–1167.
29. T.L.HarrisonZ.ShipsteadK.L.HicksD.Z.HambrickT.S.RedickR.W.Engle (2013). Working memory training may increase working memory capacity but not fluid intelligence. Psychological Science, 24, 2409–2419.
30. R.P.Heitz (2014, June11). The speed-accuracy tradeoff: History, physiology, methodology, and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, Article 150. doi:10.3389/fnins.2014.00150
31. M.M.HughesJ.A.LinckA.R.BowlesJ.T.KoethM.F.Bunting (2014). Alternatives to switch-cost scoring in the task switching paradigm: Their reliability and increased validity. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 702–721.
32. A.T.Jersild (1927). Mental set and shift. Archives of Psychology, 14, 5–81.
33. M.J.KaneM.K.BleckleyA.R.ConwayR.W.Engle (2001). A controlled-attention view of working-memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 169–183.
34. M.J.KaneA.R.A.ConwayD.Z.HambrickR.W.Engle (2007). Variation in working memory capacity as variation in executive attention and control. In (Eds.), Variation in working memory (pp. 21–48). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
35. M.J.KaneD.Z.HambrickA.R.A.Conway (2005). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs: Comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 66–71.
36. M.J.KaneD.Z.HambrickS.W.TuholskiO.WilhemT.W.PayneR.W.Engle (2004). The generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 133, 189–217.
37. A.KieselM.StenhauerM.WendtM.FalkensteinK.JostA.M.PhilippI.Koch (2010). Control and interference in task switching—A review. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 849–874.
38. A.KieselM.WendtA.Peters (2007). Task switching: On the origin of response congruency effects. Psychological Research/Psychologische Forschung, 71, 117–125.
39. P.C.KyllonenR.E.Christal (1990). Reasoning ability is (little more than) working-memory capacity. Intelligence, 14, 389–433.
40. F.J.Landy (2008). Stereotypes, bias, and personnel decisions: Strange and stranger. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 379–392.
41. B.LiefoogheP.BarrouilletA.VandierendonckV.Camos (2008). Working memory costs of task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 478–494.
42. B.LiefoogheA.VandierendonckI.MuyllaertF.VerbruggenS.Vanneste (2005). The phonological loop in task alternation and task repetition. Memory, 13, 650–660.
43. M.C.LienE.RuthruffD.Kuhns (2006). On the difficulty of task switching: Assessing the role of task-set inhibition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 530–535.
44. G.D.Logan (2004). Working memory, task switching, and executive control in the task span procedure. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 133, 218–236.
45. G.D.LoganR.D.Gordon (2001). Executive control of visual attention in dual-task situations. Psychological Review, 108, 393–434.
46. F.M.Lord (1963). Elementary models for measuring change. In (Ed.), Problems in measuring change (pp. 22–38). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
47. D.Luce (1986). Response times: Their role in inferring elementary mental organization. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
48. C.M.MacLeod (1991). Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 163–203.
49. U.MayrT.Bell (2006). On how to be unpredictable. Psychological Science, 17, 774–780.
50. U.MayrS.W.Keele (2000). Changing internal constraints on action: The role of backwards inhibition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 129, 4–26.
51. U.MayrR.Kliegl (2000). Task-set switching and long-term memory retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 1124–1140.
52. N.Meiran (1996). Reconfiguration processing mode prior to task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22, 1423–1442.
53. A.MiyakeN.P.FriedmanM.J.EmersonA.H.WitzkiA.HowerterT.D.Wager (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 48–100.
54. S.Monsell (2003). Task switching. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 134–140.
55. K.OberauerR.SchulzeO.WilhelmH.M.SüßH. M. (2005). Working memory and intelligence—Their correlation and their relation: Comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 61–65.
56. K.OberauerH.M.SußR.SchulzeO.WilhelmW.W.Wittmann (2000). Working memory capacity-facets of a cognitive ability construct. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 1017–1045.
57. K.OberauerH.M.SüßH. M.O.WilhelmW.W.Wittman (2003). The multiple faces of working memory: Storage, processing, supervision, and coordination. Intelligence, 31, 167–193.
58. K.OberaurerH.SüßH.M.O.WilhelmN.Sander (2007). Variation in working memory capacity as variation in executive attention and control. In (Eds.), Variation in working memory (pp. 21–48). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
59. J.E.OverallJ.A.Woodward (1975). Unreliability of difference scores: A paradox for measurement of change. Psychological Bulletin, 82, 85–86.
60. J.P.PeterG.A.ChurchillT.J.Brown (1993). Caution in the use of difference scores in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 655–662.
61. J.C.Raven (1941). Standardization of progressive matrices. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 19, 137–150.
62. T.S.RedickJ.M.BroadwayM.E.MeierP.S.KuriakoseN.UnsworthM.J.KaneR.W.Engle (2012). Measuring working memory capacity with automated complex span tasks. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 28, 164–171.
63. R.D.RogersS.Monsell (1995). The costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, 207–231.
64. O.RubinN.Meiran (2005). On the origins of the task mixing cost in the cueing task-switching paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 31, 1477–1491.
65. J.S.RubinsteinD.E.MeyerJ.E.Evans (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763797.
66. P.ShahA.Miyake (1996). The separability of working memory resources from spatial thinking and language processing: An individual differences approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 125, 4–27.
67. Z.ShipsteadT.L.HarrisonR.W.Engle (2014, November). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence: Maintenance and disengagement. Paper presented at the 55th annual meeting of the Psychonomics Society, Long Beach, CA.
68. Z.ShipsteadT.L.HarrisonA.N.TraniT.S.RedickP.SloanM.F.BuntingR.W.. Engle (2015). The unity and diversity of working memory capacity and executive functions: Their relationship to general fluid intelligence. Manuscript submitted for review.
69. J.R.Simon (1969). Reactions towards the source of stimulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 174–176.
70. J.H.Steiger (1980). Tests for comparing elements of a correlation matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 245–251.
71. G.StoetL.H.Snyder (2007). Extensive practice does not eliminate human switch costs. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7, 192–197.
72. J.TisakC.S.Smith (1994). Defending and extending difference score methods. Journal of Management, 20, 675–682.
73. M.L.TurnerR.W.Engle (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent?Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154.
74. N.UnsworthR.W.Engle (2008). Speed and accuracy of accessing information in working memory: An individual differences investigation of focus switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 616–630.
75. A.VandierendonckB.LiefoogheF.Verbruggen (2010). Task switching: Interplay of reconfiguration and interference control. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 601–626.
76. W.A.Wickelgren (1977). Speed-accuracy tradeoffs and information processing dynamics. Acta Psychologia, 41, 67–85.