Working memory capacity modulates expectancy-based strategic processing: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Sergio Fernández; Juan José Ortells; Markus Kiefer; Carmen Noguera; Jan W De Fockert

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108023

Working memory capacity modulates expectancy-based strategic processing: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Biol Psychol. 2021 Feb:159:108023. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108023. Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Authors

Sergio Fernández¹, Juan José Ortells², Markus Kiefer³, Carmen Noguera⁴, Jan W De Fockert⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain. Electronic address: sfg354@ual.es.
² Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain; CEINSA, Health Research Center, University of Almería, Spain. Electronic address: jortells@ual.es.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain; CEINSA, Health Research Center, University of Almería, Spain.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom.

PMID: 33460781
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108023

Abstract

The present research measured participants' event-related brain activity while they performed a Stroop-priming task that induced the implementation of expectancy-based strategic processes. Participants identified a colored (red vs. green) target patch preceded by a prime word (GREEN or RED), with incongruent prime-target pairings being more frequent (75 %) than congruent pairs (25 %). The prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was manipulated at two levels: 300 vs. 700 ms. Participants also performed a change localization task to assess their working memory capacity (WMC). At the 300 ms SOA, all participants presented a Stroop-priming congruency effect (slower responses on incongruent than on congruent trials) and an increased N2 amplitude in incongruent trials, irrespective of their WMC. At the 700-ms SOA, the lower-WMC group showed again a larger negative-going waveform to incongruent targets, whereas the higher-WMC group exhibited a reversed Stroop-priming congruency effect (faster responses to incongruent targets) and the N2 component was absent.

Keywords: Expectancy-based strategic processes; Individual differences in working memory capacity; N2 ERP component; SOA intervals; Stroop priming effects.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain*
Humans
Memory, Short-Term*
Reaction Time
Stroop Test