Shortened complex span tasks can reliably measure working memory capacity
Shortened complex span tasks can reliably measure working memory capacity
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DOI：
10.3758/s13421-014-0461-7
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发表时间：
2015-02-01
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Engle, Randall W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Foster, Jeffrey L.;Shipstead, Zach;Engle, Randall W.
工作记忆容量（WMC）的测量，如复杂的跨度任务（例如，操作跨度），已经成为认知心理学中最常用的一些任务。然而，由于完成这些任务所需的时间很长，许多试图得出关于WMC结论的研究人员放弃了正确管理多个任务。但是，复杂的跨任务是否可以缩短，以减少管理时间？我们通过将任务分成三个试验块来解决这个问题，并分析每个块对测量WMC和预测流体智力（Gf）的贡献。我们发现，所有三个试验模块对任务测量WMC和Gf的能力的贡献相似，因此任务可以在不改变测量内容的情况下大幅缩短。此外，我们发现，在这些任务的电池中将试验次数减少67%仍然可以解释他们测量Gf的90%的方差。我们讨论了我们的研究结果，在管理复杂的跨度任务的方法，可以最大限度地提高他们的准确性，在测量WMC，同时尽量减少管理所需的时间。
Measures of working memory capacity (WMC), such as complex span tasks (e.g., operation span), have become some of the most frequently used tasks in cognitive psychology. However, due to the length of time it takes to complete these tasks many researchers trying to draw conclusions about WMC forgo properly administering multiple tasks. But can the complex span tasks be shortened to take less administration time? We address this question by splitting the tasks into three blocks of trials, and analyzing each block's contribution to measuring WMC and predicting fluid intelligence (Gf). We found that all three blocks of trials contributed similarly to the tasks' ability to measure WMC and Gf, and the tasks can therefore be substantially shortened without changing what they measure. In addition, we found that cutting the number of trials by 67 % in a battery of these tasks still accounted for 90 % of the variance in their measurement of Gf. We discuss our findings in light of administering the complex span tasks in a method that can maximize their accuracy in measuring WMC, while minimizing the time taken to administer.