Working memory, attention control, and the N-back task:: A question of construct validity

被引:607
作者
Kane, Michael J.
Conway, Andrew R. A.
Miura, Timothy K.
Colflesh, Gregory J. H.
机构
[1] Univ N Carolina, Dept Psychol, Greensboro, NC 27412 USA
[2] Princeton Univ, Dept Psychol, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA
[3] Univ Illinois, Dept Psychol, Chicago, IL 60680 USA
关键词
working memory; memory span; n-back; intelligence; individual differences;
D O I
10.1037/0278-7393.33.3.615
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
The n-back task requires participants to decide whether each stimulus in a sequence matches the one that appeared n items ago. Although n-back has become a standard "executive" working memory (WM) measure in cognitive neuroscience, it has been subjected to few behavioral tests of construct validity. A combined experimental-correlational study tested the attention-control demands of verbal 2- and 3-back tasks by presenting n - 1 "lure" foils. Lures elicited more false alarms than control foils in both 2- and 3-back tasks, and lures caused more misses to targets that immediately followed them compared with control targets, but only in 3-back tasks. N-back thus challenges control over familiarity-based responding. Participants also completed a verbal WM span task (operation span task) and a marker test of general fluid intelligence (Gf; Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices Test; J. C. Raven, J. E. Raven, & J. H. Court, 1998). N-back and WM span correlated weakly, suggesting they do not reflect primarily a single construct; moreover, both accounted for independent variance in Gf. N-back has face validity as a WM task-but it does not demonstrate convergent validity with at least I established WM measure.
引用
收藏
页码:615 / 622
页数:8
相关论文
共 39 条
[1]  
[Anonymous], MEMORY
[2]  
[Anonymous], 1998, RAVEN MANUAL
[3]   Working memory, psychiatric symptoms, and academic performance at school [J].
Aronen, ET ;
Vuontela, V ;
Steenari, MR ;
Salmi, J ;
Carlson, S .
NEUROBIOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MEMORY, 2005, 83 (01) :33-42
[4]  
Baddeley A. D., 1986, WORKING MEMORY
[5]   Time constraints and resource sharing in adults' working memory spans [J].
Barrouillet, P ;
Bernardin, S ;
Camos, V .
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-GENERAL, 2004, 133 (01) :83-100
[6]   Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user's guide [J].
Conway, ARA ;
Kane, MJ ;
Bunting, MF ;
Hambrick, DZ ;
Wilhelm, O ;
Engle, RW .
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW, 2005, 12 (05) :769-786
[7]   Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence [J].
Conway, ARA ;
Kane, MJ ;
Engle, RW .
TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES, 2003, 7 (12) :547-552
[8]   Individual differences in working memory capacity: More evidence for a general capacity theory [J].
Conway, ARA ;
Engle, RW .
MEMORY, 1996, 4 (06) :577-590
[9]   INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN WORKING MEMORY AND READING [J].
DANEMAN, M ;
CARPENTER, PA .
JOURNAL OF VERBAL LEARNING AND VERBAL BEHAVIOR, 1980, 19 (04) :450-466
[10]   ADULT AGE-DIFFERENCES IN WORKING MEMORY [J].
DOBBS, AR ;
RULE, BG .
PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING, 1989, 4 (04) :500-503