title: Dissociative style and individual differences in verbal working memory span.
abstract: Dissociative style is mostly studied as a risk factor for dissociative pathology, but it may also reflect a fundamental characteristic of healthy information processing. Due to the close link between attention and working memory and the previous finding of enhanced attentional abilities with a high dissociative style, a positive relationship was also expected between dissociative style and verbal working memory span. In a sample of 119 psychology students, it was found that the verbal span of the high-dissociative group was about half a word larger than of the medium and low-dissociative groups. It is suggested that dissociative style may be one of only very few individual differences that is directly relevant to consciousness research.
authors.affiliation: Psychonomics Department, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mb.de.ruiter@psy.vu.nl
authors.forename: Michiel B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: de Ruiter
authors.forename: R Hans
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Phaf
authors.forename: Bernet M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Elzinga
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Dyck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008606:Mental Processes; D012307:Risk Factors