Worry in imagery and verbal form: Effect on residual working memory capacity

Abstract

Worry-prone individuals have less residual working memory capacity during worry compared to low-worriers (Hayes, Hirsch, & Mathews, 2008). People typically worry in verbal form, and the present study investigated whether verbal worry depletes working memory capacity more than worry in imagery-based form. High and low-worriers performed a working memory task, random interval generation, whilst thinking about a worry in verbal or imagery form. High (but not low) worriers had less available working memory capacity when worrying in verbal compared to imagery-based form. The findings could not be accounted for by general attentional control, amount of negatively-valenced thought, or appraisals participants made about worry topics. The findings indicate that the verbal nature of worry is implicated in the depletion of working memory resources during worry among high-worriers, and point to the potential value of imagery-based techniques in cognitive-behavioural treatments for problematic worry.

Perfectionism and false memories: A signal detection analysis

“…This relationship between perfectionistic concerns and working memory capacity corroborates previous studies relating worry and lower working memory capacity for neutral stimuli (e.g., Leigh & Hirsch, 2011;Trezise & Reeve, 2016). Moreover, recent studies found that individuals with lower working memory capacity recall more critical lures than individuals with high levels of working memory (e.g., Bixter & Daniel, 2013).…”

“…Numerous behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that worry is responsible for the detrimental effect of anxiety on working memory, and executive functioning in particular (e.g., Collette & Van der Linden, 2002;Crowe, Matthews, & Walkenhorst, 2007;Hayes, Hirsch, & Mathews, 2008;Leigh & Hirsch, 2011;Trezise & Reeve, 2016). To account for the restricted working memory capacities associated with worry, it has been suggested (Leigh & Hirsch, 2011) that depleted working memory resources during worry may be relevant to the persistence and perceived uncontrollability of worry.…”

“…To account for the restricted working memory capacities associated with worry, it has been suggested (Leigh & Hirsch, 2011) that depleted working memory resources during worry may be relevant to the persistence and perceived uncontrollability of worry. According to this notion, worry, once initiated, consumes working memory capacity and as a consequence, there may be less available working memory capacity to inhibit worrisome thoughts and shift to a more benign topic, maintaining the worry process.…”

Relating Worry and Executive Functioning During Childhood: The Moderating Role of Age

“…Lastly, the moderational of working memory by age was rather surprising, especially given that several studies have found positive associations between worry and this dimension of executive functioning in adult populations [30,54]. It is unclear why this relationship would not be significant at a certain point in childhood only to reemerge at a later stage of development.…”

Efeito de um programa de treinamento da memória de trabalho em adultos idosos

“…Dentre as funções cognitivas estudadas pela neuropsicologia, a memória de trabalho (MT) vêm se destacando por sua complexidade e alta relação com demais processos neuropsicológicos (Baddeley, 2010;Baddeley, Allen, & Vargha-Khadem, 2010;Cabeza et al, 2004;Leigh & Hirsch, 2011;Levens, & Gotlib, 2010). Esse domínio cognitivo constitui-se em um sistema ativo, composto por múltiplos componentes, que possuem a capacidade de armazenar informações por um tempo limitado (de alguns segundos a um ou dois minutos), mas suficiente para manipular uma ampla variedade de informações durante o processamento de tarefas cognitivas complexas (Baddeley, 2003).…”