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Daily Variability in Working Memory is Coupled With Negative Affect: The Role of Attention and Motivation

Brose, Annette ; Schmiedek, Florian ; Lövdén, Martin LU and Lindenberger, Ulman (2012) In Emotion 12(3). p.605-617
Abstract
Across days, individuals experience varying levels of negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. We investigated whether this intraindividual variability was coupled with daily fluctuations in working memory (WM) performance. In 100 days, 101 younger individuals worked on a spatial N-back task and rated negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. Results showed that individuals differed in how reliably WM performance fluctuated across days, and that subjective experiences were primarily linked to performance accuracy. WM performance was lower on days with higher levels of negative affect, reduced control of attention, and reduced task-related motivation. Thus, variables that were found to predict WM in... (More)
Across days, individuals experience varying levels of negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. We investigated whether this intraindividual variability was coupled with daily fluctuations in working memory (WM) performance. In 100 days, 101 younger individuals worked on a spatial N-back task and rated negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. Results showed that individuals differed in how reliably WM performance fluctuated across days, and that subjective experiences were primarily linked to performance accuracy. WM performance was lower on days with higher levels of negative affect, reduced control of attention, and reduced task-related motivation. Thus, variables that were found to predict WM in between-subjects designs showed important relationships to WM at the within-person level. In addition, there was shared predictive variance among predictors of WM. Days with increased negative affect and reduced performance were also days with reduced control of attention and reduced motivation to work on tasks. These findings are in line with proposed mechanisms linking negative affect and cognitive performance. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
intraindividual variability, working memory, affect, motivation, attention
in
Emotion
volume
12
issue
3
pages
605 - 617
publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
external identifiers
  • wos:000304512700019
  • scopus:84867339718
  • pmid:21787075
ISSN
1528-3542
DOI
10.1037/a0024436
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a3f474cb-0be9-45cb-947c-16a46fbb5f5d (old id 2906489)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:42:01
date last changed
2022-04-20 05:18:44
@article{a3f474cb-0be9-45cb-947c-16a46fbb5f5d,
  abstract     = {{Across days, individuals experience varying levels of negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. We investigated whether this intraindividual variability was coupled with daily fluctuations in working memory (WM) performance. In 100 days, 101 younger individuals worked on a spatial N-back task and rated negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. Results showed that individuals differed in how reliably WM performance fluctuated across days, and that subjective experiences were primarily linked to performance accuracy. WM performance was lower on days with higher levels of negative affect, reduced control of attention, and reduced task-related motivation. Thus, variables that were found to predict WM in between-subjects designs showed important relationships to WM at the within-person level. In addition, there was shared predictive variance among predictors of WM. Days with increased negative affect and reduced performance were also days with reduced control of attention and reduced motivation to work on tasks. These findings are in line with proposed mechanisms linking negative affect and cognitive performance.}},
  author       = {{Brose, Annette and Schmiedek, Florian and Lövdén, Martin and Lindenberger, Ulman}},
  issn         = {{1528-3542}},
  keywords     = {{intraindividual variability; working memory; affect; motivation; attention}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{605--617}},
  publisher    = {{American Psychological Association (APA)}},
  series       = {{Emotion}},
  title        = {{Daily Variability in Working Memory is Coupled With Negative Affect: The Role of Attention and Motivation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024436}},
  doi          = {{10.1037/a0024436}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}