Auditory Working Memory- Generalization and Resilience: Reevaluation of Data
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Abstract
By Olivia Grimley, Speech-Language Hearing Sciences
Advisor: Jeffery DiGiovanni
Presentation ID: 126
Abstract: Auditory working memory has three components: short-term memory, information processing, and attention. As such, it is an important component of how people interact with their surroundings. As the listening environment becomes more challenging, the ability of working memory to effectively process information declines. Differences in individual working memory contributes to an individual's ability to successfully navigate difficult environments. Previously, Sörqvist (2010) and Sörqvist et al. (2012) studied the relation of auditory working memory to the ability to resist distraction by deviant noises and found that individuals with high-working memory capacities were able to acclimate to deviant noises. This study aimed to further the results of Sörqvist's et al. (2012) previous work and to further it by trying to understand how differences in working memory correlate with the ability to apply previous experience to new situations through the use of different deviant distractors as well as different tasks. The study was originally completed, and the data were analyzed through a two-group analysis. To further the results of the study, data were reanalyzed in a continuous model. The reanalysis showed that all working memory groups were able to apply previous experience to new distractors and tasks while the original analysis showed that only the high working memory group could. The reanalysis as continuous data provided greater detail about performance across the range of working memory capacities but was still limited by small sample size.