Disentangling Mental Speed, Working Memory Capacity, and Fluid Intelligence

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Oliver Wilhelm, since 7/2019
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 313383592

The described project is designed to improve our understanding of individual differences in the three most important constructs in cognitive psychology: working memory capacity (WMC), mental speed, and fluid intelligence (gf). Thereby, it bridging psychometric and cognitive modeling approaches. Experimental manipulations will be combined with the analysis of individual differences in order to tease apart the investigated constructs and to describe their relationships. To this end, the leading theories of WMC and its constituent factors will be incorporated. Paradigms will be selected that allow the measurement of temporal bindings, executive attention, an interplay of primary and secondary memory, and the relevant factors of limited working memory capacity approaches. WMC affordance as conceptualized in these theories will be systematically manipulated in mental speed tasks. Analogously, effects of speed manipulations in WMC tasks will be investigated. This will allow testing predictions of the respective theoretical approaches and contribute to a better understanding of individual differences in cognitive abilities.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Florian Schmitz, until 6/2019