Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine whether two facets of executive functioning, working memory and response inhibition, are interrelated or independent. Working memory refers to the ability to acquire, manipulate, and retain information. Response inhibition refers to the ability to stop an ongoing action. In this experiment, we measured the working memory capacity of all participants using a traditional span-task. We then manipulated working memory load by having participants either count up (low load condition) or down (high load condition) while performing a stop signal task. In this task, participants were told to respond to a stimulus unless a tone was presented in which case they were instructed to inhibit their response. We hypothesized that under high working memory load conditions that it would be more difficult to inhibit a response. We further hypothesized that individuals with a high working memory capacity would perform better than individuals with a low working memory capacity. We found that in the low working memory load condition, high working memory capacity participants inhibited their responses sooner than those with low capacity. In the high working memory load condition, we found no advantage for high working memory capacity participants. We conclude that working memory and response inhibition are interrelated.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Leanne Boucher
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-13-2012 1:00 PM
End Date
4-13-2012 5:30 PM
The Relationship Between Working Memory and Response Inhibition
Alvin Sherman Library
The purpose of this study is to determine whether two facets of executive functioning, working memory and response inhibition, are interrelated or independent. Working memory refers to the ability to acquire, manipulate, and retain information. Response inhibition refers to the ability to stop an ongoing action. In this experiment, we measured the working memory capacity of all participants using a traditional span-task. We then manipulated working memory load by having participants either count up (low load condition) or down (high load condition) while performing a stop signal task. In this task, participants were told to respond to a stimulus unless a tone was presented in which case they were instructed to inhibit their response. We hypothesized that under high working memory load conditions that it would be more difficult to inhibit a response. We further hypothesized that individuals with a high working memory capacity would perform better than individuals with a low working memory capacity. We found that in the low working memory load condition, high working memory capacity participants inhibited their responses sooner than those with low capacity. In the high working memory load condition, we found no advantage for high working memory capacity participants. We conclude that working memory and response inhibition are interrelated.
