The effect of stress on working memory capacity

The purpose of this study, was to investigate the effect of stressful tasks on working memory capacity. This study was based on quasi- experimental design through a pretest- posttest with a control group model during 1390-91 academic years. The sample group consisted of 28 female students (age mean=20 years) of the Alzahra university who were selected via accessible sampling with respect to neuropsychological control variables. The subjects were divided randomly into an experimental and a control groups. During the pretest and posttest, stressful tasks administered for, subjects in the experimental groups while the subjects in the control group were relaxed. For evaluating the working memory capacity, it was used a word span test and physiological variables such as diastolic blood pressure (BPD) and heart rate (HR) were recorded with a blood pressure monitor. These data were analyzed by covariance test and repeated variance test. Subjects were asked to evaluate the perceived stress by self-report measure. The results showed the effect of stressful tasks in stress induction (F= 4/814, P 0/05). The results of this study indicated that the moderate stress will not affect working memory capacity.