Volume 6, No. 1, 2022
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Browsing Volume 6, No. 1, 2022 by Author "Sara B. Festini"
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Item Busyness and Cognition in Undergraduate Students: End-of-Semester versus Beginning-of-Semester Cognitive Performance(Department of Psychology, University of Tampa, 2022-12) Mryczko, Danusia; Brown, Tina; Sara B. FestiniStudents frequently report feeling more stress at the end-of-the-semester versus the beginning-of-the-semester (Kofman et al., 2006). Whether this results in worse cognition has not been thoroughly investigated. The current study measured three types of cognition, including long-term memory, working memory, and executive functioning. We assessed whether undergraduates’ stress and busyness levels and cognitive performance was different between the end of the Fall 2020 and beginning of the Spring 2021 semester. Contrary to the hypotheses, no significant point-in-semester differences were found in undergraduates’ busyness or stress levels at the beginning versus end of the semester. Mixed results were observed for cognitive performance, such that no significant differences were found for picture recall, word recall, picture recognition or letter number sequencing. Performance on the verbal fluency category task and the backward digit span task were found to approach significance, with marginally better performance at the end of the semester. Finally, word recognition was significantly better at the end of the semester, whereas verbal fluency, given a letter cue, was significantly worse at the end of the semester. Therefore, given the lack of observed busyness and stress differences, it is unlikely that busyness and stress are driving differences in students’ cognition. Future research is needed to determine if the observed cognitive differences are reliable and to assess additional mechanisms.Item Working Memory Deficits in Alzheimer’s Disease(Department of Psychology, University of Tampa, 2022-12) Rodriguez, Alexandra M.; Sara B. FestiniAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which patients demonstrate cognitive deficits, especially deficiencies in long-term memory. However, working memory (WM) impairments can also be observed in Alzheimer’s disease, yet they are not as clearly defined as other long-term memory deficits. Here, neuropsychological evidence regarding WM deficits in patients with AD is evaluated, utilizing the WM model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. Impairments in the central executive component have been the most documented early WM impairments seen among AD patients. The phonological loop seems to remain intact in earlier stages of the disorder but impairments in the ability to temporarily maintain and internally rehearse verbal information progress with disease severity. Deficits in the visuospatial sketchpad have been observed among patients with AD, although more research is needed for further distinction of visual and spatial processing impairments. Finally, the inability to strategically organize and integrate multimodal information is characteristic of impairments associated with the episodic buffer in AD patients. Overall, this review demonstrates that WM deficits in AD differ depending on disease severity, making WM performance a potentially valuable clinical marker. By defining the WM deficits associated with AD, clinical distinctions are able to be made between AD and other memory-related disorders, which may allow for more comprehensive treatment plans and coping strategies for patients.