The current study aimed to investigate the relation between visual working memory, organizational strategy use, and memory accuracy in process-oriented dynamic testing with a complex figure task....Show moreThe current study aimed to investigate the relation between visual working memory, organizational strategy use, and memory accuracy in process-oriented dynamic testing with a complex figure task. The sample (N = 43) consisted of 3rd and 4th grade children (M = 8.91 years; SD =.72). On the pretest participants were asked to draw the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) from memory. Then, the control group practiced independently with two alternative figures and the training group received a graduated prompts training in organizational strategy use. On the posttest participants were again asked to draw the original ROCF from memory. There was no difference in organizational strategy use for levels of working memory on the pretest. The results showed a greater improvement from pretest to posttest for the training group and, in the training group, a greater improvement for children with a high working memory level. Only organizational strategy use predicted memory accuracy on the pretest, whereas both working memory and organizational strategy use predicted memory accuracy on the posttest. It was concluded that dynamic testing with a graduated prompts training can support children to adopt effective strategy use and improve task performance. Also, children with a high working memory level benefit more from a learning opportunity. Therefore, visual working memory seems to facilitate learning.Show less
Objective: Emotion is known to affect our perception. Research has shown that fear, in particular, affects our perception by enhancing the processing of coarse low spatial frequency (LSF)...Show moreObjective: Emotion is known to affect our perception. Research has shown that fear, in particular, affects our perception by enhancing the processing of coarse low spatial frequency (LSF) information at the cost of detailed high spatial frequency (HSF) information. This biased LSF processing may be mediated by the subcortical or cortical pathway to the amygdala. However, findings on whether the subcortical pathway processes automatically are contradictory, and some studies found a mediation effect of anxiety. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate whether the processing of LSF information is automatic during threat and whether this is moderated by anxiety. Method: We used a high and low load visual working memory (VWM) task while participants performed a visual orientation discrimination task of LSF and HSF gratings, under safe and threat of shock conditions. Anxiety levels were measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results: Using data from a previous similar experiment, we found a significant interaction effect of spatial frequency by VWM. We found significant main effects of spatial frequency and VWM; there was no main effect of threat condition. Conclusion: Our results indicate that LSF information was perceived more accurately than HSF information, that visual information was perceived more accurately under low than high VWM load and that this was not affected by risk of threat. Due to these results, we were unable to test for automatic processing of LSF stimuli under fear. To investigate this further, as well as to examine whether this is affected by anxiety, more research is needed.Show less
Emotions have an effect on perception. When in a life-threatening situation processing of coarse visual features is enhanced. Studies show that inducement of fear increases low spatial frequency...Show moreEmotions have an effect on perception. When in a life-threatening situation processing of coarse visual features is enhanced. Studies show that inducement of fear increases low spatial frequency processing. It is argued that this process facilitates the direct subcortical route. This study investigates if this process is automatic. We will replicate an experiment that measured the effect of a threat on low and high spatial frequency processing and we will add the manipulation of visual working memory. High visual working memory load results in ongoing processes in the visual cortex. When low spatial frequency processing does not show increasement in the high visual working memory load condition this indicates that the visual cortex is included in this process and that the process therefore is not automatic. We expect the process to be automatic therefore we hypothesize that high visual working memory load has no effect on the facilitated processing of low spatial frequency information when induced with fear. The performance on accuracy on low spatial frequency and high spatial frequency gratings of 24 participants was measured. To induce fear threat of shock was given. We found that threat does not have an effect on the processing of low spatial frequency and high spatial frequency stimuli for the low visual working memory condition as well as the high visual working memory condition. Therefore, we could not test if this process is automatic or not. We conclude that the inducement of fear was not successful and that manipulation checks were needed to explain our findings.Show less
