WORKING-MEMORY CAPACITY AND SUPPRESSION

Two experiments examined whether a relationship exists between an indi vidual's working memory capacity and their ability to suppress intrusi ve thoughts and behaviors. In both experiments, participants learned t hree lists in a modified paired-associates task where the interference condition followed an AB-AC-AB design and the noninterference conditi on an EF-DC-AB design. Experiment 1 stressed speed, and individuals wh o scored high on a measure of working memory capacity (high spans) pro duced fewer first-list intrusions during second-list learning than did low spans. Experiment 2 stressed accuracy, and high spans in the inte rference condition were slower than their control to retrieve first-li st responses on List 3, suggesting that they had suppressed them durin g second-list learning. In contrast, the low spans in the interference condition were faster than their control. The findings suggested that a relationship exists between an individual's working memory capacity and their ability to suppress intrusive thoughts and behaviors. (C) 1 998 Academic Press.