The Study On The Focus Of Attention In Working Memory For Individuals With Different Cognitive Style In Word-updating Tasks

The ability to store information for short durations and to allow cognitiveprocesses to manipulate is called working memory. The concentric model of workingmemory distinguishes three different layers of items according to their accessibility:the activated long term memory, the region of direct access, and the focus of attentionselecting the one item to which the next cognitive operation. The focus of attentioncan only directly retrieve items from within the region of direct access. Withincreasing numbers of items within this region, selection becomes more difficult andmore time-consuming. As the significant concept to explain the differences ofindividuals, the cognitive style plays an important part in the psychologicaldevelopment of individuals. Field dependence-independence has been studiedfrequently by worldwide psychologists. One argument for this belief of the concentricmodel of working memory is the observation of item switch costs from several kindsof working memory updating tasks. Three experiments adopted a novel word updatingtask, thereby extending previous research to the field of linguistic stimuli andlinguistic grapheme updating operations. There are four experiments in this study.Experiment1used2（working memory item：the letter and the word）×2（thefocus of attention： switch and repetition） within-subject design, verifying theeffectiveness and applicability of the word-updating tasks. The dependent variableswere the reaction time and accuracy in updating tasks. Multiple-factor repetitivemeasurement and analysis of variance were performed. Experiment2used awithin-subject design. The independent variable was the position of a letter. Thedependent variable was the reaction time in updating tasks. Pared-samples T test wasperformed to compare the reaction time of updating the switched and repeated letter.Experiment3used3（the number of words：2/3/4）×2（Cognitive style:field-independence and field-dependence）between-subjects design, investigating theinfluence of the number of words for individuals with different cognitive styles inworking memory switch cost. The dependent variable was working memory switch cost. MANOVA was performed. Experiment4used a between-subjects design. Theindependent variable was cognitive style(field-independence and field-dependence).The dependent variable was working memory switch cost in correctly updating tasks.Independent-samples T test was performed to compare the working memory switchcost for2words in Experiment3and Experiment4. Results showed that：1. Experiment1was carried out to show that this task proves fruitful to studyitem switching in working memory. The results from Experiment1further showedthat a switch effect does not only exist on the level of words but also on the level ofletter positions within words: Word repetition items were updated faster when theletter substitution occurred at the same letter position as in the previous item.2. Letter position switch costs were evident, and they were not merely based onthe re-orientation of visual spatial attention for letter position switches as opposed torepetitions. Letter position switch costs do not determine word switch costs throughlarger distances to be covered in word switch items.3（.1） The results from Experiment1extend (on the word level) earlier findingsof item switch costs to a new set of stimuli and updating operations. According to theconcentric model of working memory switch costs should increase with set size, i.e.,the number of working memory items currently stored within the region of directaccess, due to more competition for selection by the focus of attention.（2）The average switch cost for four words of the field-independencesignificantly was less than that of the field-dependence. Field-independence hadsignificant advantage over field-dependence on the flexibility of the focus of attentionfor the task in which there were four working memory items.4.（1） The average switch cost for four words of the field-independencesignificantly was less than that of the field-dependence at the encoding stage.（2）The average switch cost of the maintaining stage significantly was less thanthat of the encoding stage.