Working memory, strategy, and distraction on gF tasks
- Megan Raden, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States
- Andrew Jarosz, Psychology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States
AbstractRecent work suggests that strategy differences may play an important role on gF tasks and are related to WMC. The present study utilized eye tracking to assess the consistency of strategy use across tasks, focusing on constructive matching (CM) and response elimination (RE) strategies. Across two gF tasks (the Raven Matrices and a figural analogies task), participants were highly consistent in their strategy use, regardless of WMC. However, high-WMC individuals were more likely to utilize the CM strategy, though this was influenced by task order. Those who utilized RE were more likely to have their attention captured by salient, incorrect responses in the response bank and time on those responses was negatively related to accuracy. However, on select items where the response bank was necessary to make a response, these relationships disappeared. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of strategy differences on our understanding of WMC and gF.