Modality specific taxation of the working memory during auditory and visual memory recall.

Abstract

To further increase our understanding of EMDR and possibly improve its effectiveness, this study investigated whether the working memory is taxed more when the modalities of the dual tasks is congruent in comparison to when the modalities of the dual tasks is incongruent. This study’s hypothesis was that is taxed more by congruent memory/task combinations compared to incongruent combinations. This study had a two (visual memory or auditory memory recall) by two (visual reaction time task or auditory reaction time task) factorial design with delay in reaction times being the dependent variable. Ninety-six participants were recruited at the University of Utrecht, they performed baseline measurements for each type of reaction task, retrieved two negatively loaded emotional memories and performed both reaction time tasks for each memory. Results show a large general taxation of the working memory during dual tasks. On top is this general taxation, this study found a modality specific, albeit smaller, taxation of the working memory for the modality congruent conditions. These findings further support the working memory theory of EMDR.