The roles of working memory updating and processing speed in mediating age-related differences in fluid intelligence
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the relative roles of working memory updating (updating) and processing speed in mediating age-related differences in fluid intelligence. A sample of 142 normal adults between 18 and 85 years of age performed a set of updating, processing speed, and fluid intelligence tasks. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the proportion of unique age-related variance in updating measures was related to the complexity of speed measures. There was a larger proportion of unique age-related variance in updating measures after controlling for the variance in simpler speed measures. Moreover, structural equation modeling showed that updating mediated almost all the age-related effects on fluid intelligence. These results suggest that updating, but not speed, is the critical mediator between age and fluid intelligence. In addition, the speed mediation of age-related differences in fluid intelligence as indicated by previous studies is at least partially derived from the executive component of speed measures.
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WMU predicts fluid intelligence and is related to academic achievement.
“Its role in predicting fluid intelligence [1–3], and its relationship to academic achievement [4–6] have prompted numerous studies on the extent to which WMU training effects may generalize to other tasks dissimilar to those used in the training.”
From Nearest transfer effects of working memory training: A comparison of two programs focused on working memory updating (2019) · cites this paper as [2]
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“This ability has proven to be instrumental in understanding age-related changes in higher order cognition (Chen & Li, 2007; McCabe, Roediger, McDaniel, Balota, & Hambrick, I thank Matthew Rhodes for his helpful comments on this manuscript.”
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“…that updating (in particular relevance-based) information in WM is a crucial function deeply rooted in intellectual functioning (Palladino et al., 2001), and offer further support to the observations of Friedman et al. (2006) and of Chen and Li (2007) on adults using a different updating measure.”
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“…topic of interest in aging research, as it consistently accounts for substantial age-related variability in a variety of other higher-order cognitive processes (e.g., Chen & Li, 2007; Kane, Bleckley, Conway, & Engle, 2001; McCabe, Roediger, McDaniel, Balota, & Hambrick, 2010; Verhaegen, 2012).”
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“decline in healthy adults, even if updating was shown to be a significant mediator between age and fluid intelligence [46].”
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“Age-Related Changes in WM Updating and Emotional Functioning Aging is associated with impairments in WM updating (Van der Linden et al., 1994; Hartman et al., 2001; Salthouse et al., 2003; De Beni and Palladino, 2004; Chen and Li, 2007; Schmiedek et al., 2009).”
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“Because WM is the foundation for developing children’s fluid intelligence (Chen & Li, 2007; Giofrè, Mammarella, & Cornoldi, 2013), children with LDs exhibit abnormal activity in cerebral areas related to WM updating function (Ashkenazi, Black, Abrams, Hoeft, & Menon, 2013), which impedes the…”
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“…(2011) suggesting that updating may also be a better indicator of performance on reading comprehension measures than complex span measures, and are also consistent with a study by Chen and Li (2007) who showed that updating, but not processing speed predicted unique variance in fluid intelligence.”
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“The reasoning was used due to its strong relationship with WM and its common use in the field of WMT (Conway et al., 2003; Chen and Li, 2007; Oberauer et al., 2008).”
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“…to be consistently age sensitive, namely the availability of information once it leaves the focus of attention (Vaughan, Basak, Hartman, & Verhaeghen, 2008; Verhaeghen, 2012; Verhaeghen & Basak, 2005; Zhang, Verhaeghen, & Cerella, 2012; see Chen & Li, 2007,; Oberauer, 2002, for similar takes).”
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“Our lab and others have studied this topic using variations on the N-Back task – the task we will also use here (e.g., Oberauer, 2002; Verhaeghen and Basak, 2005; Chen and Li, 2007; Vaughan et al., 2008; Verhaeghen, 2012; Zhang et al., 2012).”
MethodRumination burdens the updating of working memory
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“…updating, an essential process that involves replacing outdated information in working memory with new content (Ecker et al., 2010; Ecker et al., 2014), which is correlated with an individual’s fluid intelligence (T. Chen & Li, 2007; Ecker et al., 2010; Friedman et al., 2006; Miyake et al., 2000).”
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“…previous research has found an association between fluid reasoning and both WM capacity (Colom et al., 2004; Conway et al., 2002 Engle et al., 1999; Singh et al., 2018; Süß et al., 2002) and removal ability (Chen & Li, 2007; Friedman et al., 2006; Shipstead et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2018).”
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“2010; Chen and Li 2007; Cornoldi 2006; Friedman et al.”
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“Conclusion This trial indicated that (1) this type of acute RE intervention improves information processing speed, which may be associated with a decrease in conflict-related neural activity in the ACC (2) the RE protocol used in this trial may have created an inordinate level of stress for improving inhibitory contro…”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialWhat Can Neural Activity Tell Us About Cognitive Resources in Aging?
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“…generalized to other cognitive domains, even though age-related limitations in WM seem to account for age-related differences across different tasks (including memory – Baudouin et al., 2009 – and non-memory related domains – Van der Linden et al., 1999; Chen and Li, 2007; Borella et al., 2011).”
BackgroundVerhaeghen, P., & Zhang, Y. (2012) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbs119 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Training working memory updating in young adults
Linares, R., Borella, E., Lechuga, M. T., Carretti, B., & Pelegrina, S. (2017) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-017-0843-0 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“2008; Schmiedek, Hildebrant, Lövden, Wilhelm and Lindenberger 2009), and it is the best predictor of several higher level cognitive functions, such as fluid intelligence (Belacchi, Carretti and Cornoldi 2010; Chen and Li 2007; Friedman et al. 2006).”
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“In addition, WMU ability is closely correlated to fluid intelligence and advanced cognitive abilities (Chen and Li, 2007; Engle, 2010).”
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“Reaction times and information-processing speed decrease with aging and contribute to crash risk (Chen & Li, 2007).”
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“, 2011) and in working memory updating (Van der Linden et al., 1994; Hartman et al., 2001; Salthouse et al., 2003; De Beni and Palladino, 2004; Chen and Li, 2007; Schmiedek et al., 2009).”
BackgroundNassir, C. M. N. C. M., Ghazali, M. M., Safri, A. A., Jaffer, U., Abdullah, W. Z., Idris, N. S., & Mustapha, M. (2021) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci11020133 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“One study reported that, among 142 subjects, those aged 20–59 years (n = 95) had WMHs burden, which was not significantly associated with cognitive deficits, whereas participants aged 60 and older (n = 47) accounted for more than 58% of the variance in working memory, processing speed, fluency, and fluid intelligence…”
BackgroundEstrogen, testosterone, and sequential movement in men.
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“The source of the differences in speed and accuracy is not clear but could include central or peripheral physiological slowing (Salthouse, 1996), higher response bias to be accurate by the elderly, and/or changes in executive processes (Chen and Li, 2007) that together appear as a speed-accuracy trade off by the elder…”
BackgroundWorking memory at work: How the updating process alters the nature of working memory transfer
Zhang, Y., Verhaeghen, P., & Cerella, J. (2011) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.10.012 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…(Friedman et al., 2006; Kane, Conway, Miura, & Colflesh, 2007; Shelton, Elliott, Matthews, Hill, & Gouvier, 2010; Schmiedek, Hildebrandt, Lövdén, Wilhelm, & Lindenberger, 2009; Unsworth & Engle, 2007), making it an important source of individual (and age-related; Chen & Li, 2007) differences.”
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“First, measures of updating share some common variance with processing speed (Chen & Li, 2007).”
BackgroundZhao, X., Cao, W., & Maes, J. H. R. (2023) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12848 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Processing speed links approximate number system and arithmetic abilities
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Working Memory Capacity Mediates the Relationship between Removal and Fluid IntelligencePreprint
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“This is especially true for updating training since it is widely considered to be the most crucial aspect of EF due to its involvement in fluid reasoning and its significance in solving cognitively demanding daily tasks (Chen & Li, 2007; McAlister & Schmitter-Edgecombe, 2016).”
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Working memory updating of emotional stimuli predicts emotional intelligence in females
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Processing Speed and Attentional Resources
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“Given that WM largely contributes to the functioning of other aspects of human cognition (e.g., Baudouin et al., 2009; Borella et al., 2011; Chen & Li, 2007; Park et al., 2002; Unsworth et al., 2005) and has a prominent role in everyday life (Hahn & Lachman, 2015), in recent years, researchers have…”
BackgroundWorking Memory Updating in the Macaque Lateral Prefrontal Cortex
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The Plasticity of Working Memory Updating Ability
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“…1990)。因此, 本研究将采用活动记忆任务 对工作记忆刷新功能进行训练, 以探清工作记忆 训练的实质, 进一步探清工作记忆训练的起效因 素, 进一步理解工作记忆在复杂认识活动中的机 制, 进一步探究人类认知功能以及认知神经的可 塑性。 2 儿童工作记忆刷新功能可塑性 之前的研究发现, 儿童的工作记忆中央执行 功能具有一定的可塑性 (Klingberg et al., 2002; Thorell, Lindqvist, Bergman Nutley, Bohlin, & Klingberg, 2009; Thorell & Wåhlstedt, 2006), 如 Klingberg…”
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There Is Nothing Wrong With Cognitive Aging, and Here Is What to Do About It
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Are Memory Updating Tasks Valid Working Memory Measures? A Meta-Analysis
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“Prior research also supports the idea that updating is the strongest predictor of fluid reasoning among the three core EF components (T. Chen & Li, 2007).”
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“This is because it is involved in fluid reasoning processes and holds significant importance in solving daily tasks that require high cognitive abilities (T. Chen & Li, 2007; McAlister & Schmitter-Edgecombe, 2016).”
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Effects of Music Related Training Experience on Visual Working Memory of the Elderly
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“Updating, inhibition, and task switching are important components of the executive function of WM, and the updating function is more closely related to other higher cognitive abilities than are inhibition and task-switching (Chen & Li, 2007; Friedman et al., 2006).”
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Mise à jour en mémoire de travail et vieillissement normal de la mémoire épisodique
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- Authors
- Chen, T., & Li, D.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Li, Deming
- Venue
- Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2007-11-14
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 631-646
- ISSN
- 0928-9917 (ISSN-L)
- 1382-5585
- 1744-4128
- OpenAlex
- W2104286480
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repository of Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- working memory updating, processing speed, fluid intelligence, age differences, mediation, cognitive aging, executive function
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Intelligence Tests, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Mental Processes, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time
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