Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Dual-Process Theories of the Mind

Dual-process theories of the mind are ubiquitous in psychology. A central principle of these theories is that behavior is determined by the interplay of automatic and controlled processing. In this article, the authors examine individual differences in the capacity to control attention as a major co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological bulletin Vol. 130; no. 4; pp. 553 - 572
Main Authors Barrett, Lisa Feldman, Tugade, Michele M, Engle, Randall W
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Psychological Association 01.07.2004
Subjects
Attention Control
Clinical Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Humans
Individual Differences
Memory
Motivation
Psychological Theory
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Summary:Dual-process theories of the mind are ubiquitous in psychology. A central principle of these theories is that behavior is determined by the interplay of automatic and controlled processing. In this article, the authors examine individual differences in the capacity to control attention as a major contributor to differences in working memory capacity (WMC). The authors discuss the enormous implications of this individual difference for a host of dual-process theories in social, personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology. In addition, the authors propose several new areas of investigation that derive directly from applying the concept of WMC to dual-process theories of the mind.
ISSN:0033-2909
1939-1455
DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.553