Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-LEARNING MEMORY AND COGNITION
Volume 48, Issue 9, Pages 1296-1310Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001125
Keywords
working memory capacity; attention control; fluid intelligence; mind-wandering; pupillometry
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [1632327]
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [1632327] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The present study examined individual differences in attention control, working memory capacity, and fluid intelligence in relation to the tendency to experience task-unrelated thoughts and the regulation of arousal. The results showed that participants who reported more task-unrelated thoughts exhibited poorer attention control, lower working memory capacity, and lower fluid intelligence. Arousal dysregulation was correlated with more task-unrelated thoughts and lower attention control. However, there was no direct correlation between arousal regulation and working memory capacity or fluid intelligence. The association between arousal regulation and fluid intelligence was indirect through the mediating influence of task-unrelated thoughts.
The present study examined individual differences in 3 cognitive abilities: attention control (AC), working memory capacity (WMC), and fluid intelligence (gF) as they relate the tendency to experience task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) and the regulation of arousal. Cognitive abilities were measured with a battery of 9 laboratory tasks. TUTs were measured via thought probes inserted into 2 tasks. and arousal regulation was measured via pupillometry. Recent theorizing (Unsworth & Robison, 2017b) suggests that 1 reason why some people experience relatively frequent TUTs and relatively poor cognitive performance-especially AC and WMC-is that they exhibit dysregulated arousal. Here, we examined how arousal regulation might predict both AC and WMC, but also higher-order cognitive abilities like gF. Further, we examine direct and indirect associations with these abilities via a mediating influence of TUT. Participants who reported more TUTs also tended to exhibit poorer AC, lower WMC, and lower gF. Arousal dysregulation correlated with more TUTs and lower AC. However, there was no direct correlation between arousal regulation and WMC, nor between arousal regulation and gF. The association between arousal regulation and gF was indirect via TUT. We discuss the implications of the results in light of the arousal regulation theory of individual differences and directions for future research.
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