The effects of eye closure and working memory capacity on memory performance

Blackledge, Bethan Emma (2015) The effects of eye closure and working memory capacity on memory performance. Manchester Metropolitan University. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Eye closure (EC) has been shown to facilitate performance on a range of cognitive tasks, including the recall of items previously studied. Additionally, working memory capacity (WMC) has been shown to influence memory performance. The present study aimed to combine these separate strands of research to assess whether EC and WMC interact with each other on a episodic memory task, for true and false memory with remember, know and guess responses outlined. The experiment assessed participants WMC using a reading span task and the median split was used to group participants into low vs. high. Following this, participants memory performance was assessed with eyes open and closed with a free recall task. Results from the separate ANOVAs found that EC facilitated memory performance for true memory overall and for remember and guess responses. Additionally, high WMC influenced memory performance for true memory overall and for remember, know and guess responses. The results highlight that EC effects are not critically dependent on WMC for true or false memory. Overall, the results obtained for this underexplored area of research provide the foundation for further contributions.