Working memory (WM) measures have in the past been used in lieu of IQ measures. The perception of the relationship between WM or IQ and how well individuals perform on tasks may have more power over performance than that individual’s actual ability to perform. Approximately 30 participants at a small liberal arts university will participate in this study. Participants will complete a working memory task. They will be grouped according to WM span score. Within each group, half will read a passage on how WM correlates with performance; the remaining half will read about how WM does not correlate with performance. Participants will then complete a challenging task. Differences in performance will be examined with regard to group membership. Analyses will reveal possible differences between the groups (high and low working memory span; reading about whether WM predicts performance or not). It is expected that individual perception on how working memory affects the ability to complete a challenging task will impact actual performance.
