Tuesday July 28, 17:30-18:30

Heian Hall

Keynote Speech

Engle, Randall 　

Georgia Institute of Technology

Working memory capacity/Executive attention as both a state and a trait variable　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Early conceptions of cognitive limitations were based on a limited number of items or chunks such as 7 ± 2 or 4 ±　 1. However, more recent thinking focuses on abiding individual differences in cognitive control and the role those differences play in other complex cognitive tasks. It is further clear that working memory capacity (WMC) should be thought of as a construct or variable that mediates between many other variables and a wide range of cognitive tasks in which control is required or useful. In the same way that personality psychologists think about anxiety as both a trait and state variable, we can think of working memory capacity as both a trait and state variable. Individual trait differences, probably due to genetic, brain, and neurotransmitter influences, limits working memory capacity but other variables ranging from sleep deprivation to secondary cognitive load to stereotype threat and social pressure will lead to temporary reduction in capability for cognitive control in a wide array of real-world cognitive tasks.

Polaschek, Devon　　　 Chair