. 2007 Aug;14[4]:699-703.
doi: 10.3758/bf03196824.
Affiliations
- PMID: 17972736
- DOI: 10.3758/bf03196824
Individual differences in working memory capacity and divided attention in dichotic listening
Gregory J H Colflesh et al. Psychon Bull Rev. 2007 Aug.
Abstract
The controlled attention theory of working memory suggests that individuals with greater working memory capacity [WMC] are better able to control or focus their attention than individuals with lesser WMC. This relationship has been observed in a number of selective attention paradigms including a dichotic listening task [Conway, Cowan, & Bunting, 2001] in which participants were required to shadow words presented to one ear and ignore words presented to the other ear. Conway et al. found that when the participant's name was presented to the ignored ear, 65% of participants with low WMC reported hearing their name, compared to only 20% of participants with high WMC, suggesting greater selective attention on the part of high WMC participants. In the present study, individual differences in divided attention were examined in a dichotic listening task, in which participants shadowed one message and listened for their own name in the other message. Here we find that 66.7% of high WMC and 34.5% of low WMC participants detected their name. These results suggest that as WMC capacity increases, so does the ability to control the focus of attention, with high WMC participants being able to flexibly "zoom in" or "zoom out" depending on task demands.
Similar articles
Auditory distraction in school-age children relative to individual differences in working memory capacity.
Nagaraj NK, Magimairaj BM, Schwartz S. Nagaraj NK, et al. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2020 Oct;82[7]:3581-3593. doi: 10.3758/s13414-020-02056-5. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2020. PMID: 32494910
From dichotic listening to the irrelevant sound effect: a behavioural and neuroimaging analysis of the processing of unattended speech.
Beaman CP, Bridges AM, Scott SK. Beaman CP, et al. Cortex. 2007 Jan;43[1]:124-34. doi: 10.1016/s0010-9452[08]70450-7. Cortex. 2007. PMID: 17334212 Review.
The role of working memory in dichotic-listening studies of auditory laterality.
Penner IK, Schläfli K, Opwis K, Hugdahl K. Penner IK, et al. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2009 Nov;31[8]:959-66. doi: 10.1080/13803390902766895. Epub 2009 Apr 8. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2009. PMID: 19358008
Focusing on attention: the effects of working memory capacity and load on selective attention.
Ahmed L, de Fockert JW. Ahmed L, et al. PLoS One. 2012;7[8]:e43101. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043101. Epub 2012 Aug 28. PLoS One. 2012. PMID: 22952636 Free PMC article.
A locus coeruleus-norepinephrine account of individual differences in working memory capacity and attention control.
Unsworth N, Robison MK. Unsworth N, et al. Psychon Bull Rev. 2017 Aug;24[4]:1282-1311. doi: 10.3758/s13423-016-1220-5. Psychon Bull Rev. 2017. PMID: 28108977 Review.
Cited by
Working Memory: From Neural Activity to the Sentient Mind.
Jaffe RJ, Constantinidis C. Jaffe RJ, et al. Compr Physiol. 2021 Sep 23;11[4]:2547-2587. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c210005. Compr Physiol. 2021. PMID: 34558671 Free PMC article.
Acute alcohol intoxication and the cocktail party problem: do "mocktails" help or hinder?
Harvey AJ, Beaman CP. Harvey AJ, et al. Psychopharmacology [Berl]. 2021 Nov;238[11]:3083-3093. doi: 10.1007/s00213-021-05924-6. Epub 2021 Jul 27. Psychopharmacology [Berl]. 2021. PMID: 34313803 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
Effect of Auditory Distraction on Working Memory, Attention Switching, and Listening Comprehension.
Nagaraj NK. Nagaraj NK. Audiol Res. 2021 May 28;11[2]:227-243. doi: 10.3390/audiolres11020021. Audiol Res. 2021. PMID: 34071364 Free PMC article.
A Neuroergonomics Approach to Mental Workload, Engagement and Human Performance.
Dehais F, Lafont A, Roy R, Fairclough S. Dehais F, et al. Front Neurosci. 2020 Apr 7;14:268. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00268. eCollection 2020. Front Neurosci. 2020. PMID: 32317914 Free PMC article. Review.
What Can Computational Models Learn From Human Selective Attention? A Review From an Audiovisual Unimodal and Crossmodal Perspective.
Fu D, Weber C, Yang G, Kerzel M, Nan W, Barros P, Wu H, Liu X, Wermter S. Fu D, et al. Front Integr Neurosci. 2020 Feb 27;14:10. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2020.00010. eCollection 2020. Front Integr Neurosci. 2020. PMID: 32174816 Free PMC article. Review.
References
- J Exp Psychol Gen. 2004 Jun;133[2]:189-217 - PubMed
- Psychon Bull Rev. 2002 Dec;9[4]:637-71 - PubMed
- J Exp Psychol Gen. 2001 Jun;130[2]:169-83 - PubMed
- Psychon Bull Rev. 2001 Jun;8[2]:331-5 - PubMed
- J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2004 Nov;30[6]:1302-21 - PubMed