Low working memory reduces the use of mental contrasting

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

Authors

Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy that helps people effectively pursue important personal wishes. People with higher self-regulation skills are more likely to spontaneously use mental contrasting. Because one central cognitive function underlying self-regulation is working memory capacity, we investigated whether people with low rather than high working memory capacity are less likely to spontaneously use mental contrasting. Study 1 provided correlational evidence that participants with lower working memory capacity, as measured by the Operation-Span Task, were less likely to use mental contrasting when elaborating an important interpersonal wish. Study 2 provided experimental evidence that manipulating low working memory capacity by inducing cognitive load (vs. no load) led fewer participants to use mental contrasting. The findings have theoretical implications by illuminating the processes that impede mental contrasting, and they have applied implications for understanding how to foster the use of mental contrasting in everyday life.
Original languageEnglish
Article number103644
JournalConsciousness and Cognition
Volume118
Number of pages13
ISSN1053-8100
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.02.2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s)

    Research areas

  • Spontaneous mental contrasting, Self-regulation, Working memory, Content-analysis, Cognitive load
  • Psychology

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Thomas Gann

Publications

  1. Accuracy, latency, and confidence in abstract reasoning: The influence of fear of failure and gender
  2. Estimated substitution elasticities of a nested CES production function approach for Germany
  3. Analysis of the relevance of models, influencing factors and the point in time of the forecast on the prediction quality in order-related delivery time determination using machine learning
  4. Are Acute Effects of Foam-Rolling Attributed to Dynamic Warm Up Effects? A Comparative Study
  5. Application of friction surfacing for solid state additive manufacturing of cylindrical shell structures
  6. Modeling a modular omnidirectional AGV developmental platform with integrated suspension and power-plant
  7. TANGO: A reliable, open-source, browser-based task to assess individual differences in gaze understanding in 3 to 5-year-old children and adults
  8. Evaluation of a Four-Week Online Resilience Training Program for Multiple Sclerosis Patients
  9. "Die Arbeit funktioniert"
  10. Identification of Parameters and States in PMSMs
  11. Complexity of traffic scenes and EEG-measures of processing workload in car driving
  12. Grounding Space
  13. U-model-based dynamic inversion control for quadrotor UAV systems
  14. Stimulus complexity determined by fractal geometry
  15. Introduction to Automatic Imitation
  16. From Fleeting Enchantment to Embodied Commitment
  17. One tool to rule? – A field experimental longitudinal study on the costs and benefits of mobile device usage in public agencies
  18. Collaborative design prototyping in transdisciplinary research
  19. Developing a model of financing for brownfield redevelopment
  20. Mapping perceptions of energy transition pathways
  21. Security of web servers and web services
  22. Correction to: Operative communication: project Cybersyn and the intersection of information design, interface design, and interaction design (AI & SOCIETY, (2022), 10.1007/s00146-021-01346-2)
  23. Polar Coordinates and Interactive Learning
  24. Peter's positions: a diffractive analysis of authority in a year one classroom
  25. E-stability and stability of adaptive learning in models with private information