Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches to Individual Differences in Working Memory and Executive Control: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

Abstract

(from the chapter) In this chapter, we review several issues that have been of long-standing concern in behavioral research on individual differences and that are equally relevant to cognitive neuroscience studies of executive control and working memory. The chapter is structured into three parts. In the first part, we provide a selective review of the literature in this domain, highlighting the most common individual difference approaches, as well as emerging trends. The scope of the review is restricted to human neuroimaging studies using fMRI methods, since this is the domain in which most of the relevant work has been conducted. However, we expect that many of the issues and relevant findings will apply equally well to other cognitive neuroscience methods (e.g., PET, ERP, TMS, etc). The second part discusses the conceptual relationship between within-subject and individual differences analyses, focusing particular attention on situations in which within-subject and individual differences analyses produce seemingly discrepant results. Finally, in the third part, we selectively review a number of statistical and methodological concerns that arise when conducting individual differences analyses of fMRI data, including the relative lack of statistical power, the absence of data concerning the reliability of individual differences in the BOLD signal, and the deleterious effects of outliers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)