This information in working memory may be in a verbal or visual and spatial form. Working memory has separate components for holding and sustaining this information: the articulatory loop for verbal information and the visuospatial sketchpad for visual and spatial information. A third component, the central executive, has three functions. The central executive is responsible for inhibiting distractions and directing attention, shifting attention back and forth between multiple tasks, and updating and monitoring the contents of working memory. An episodic buffer integrates information from these systems and from long-term memory (Baddeley, 2001: Friedman & Miyake, 2004; Miyake et al., 2000). Working memory is situated in the prefrontal cortex and has an executive function in that it allows for the prioritization of cognitions and behaviors and the inhibition of distracting information and cognitive interference (Engle, 2002; Gallucci, 2014; Kane, Conway, Hambrick, & Engle, 2007).
In general, anxiety disrupts performance to a greater degree when task demands on the central executive increase Gallucci (2014). This is most evident with intense anxiety and panic. For example, skydivers experience extreme pressure and face death when their primary parachutes fail to deploy. Under these conditions, even experienced skydivers fail to deploy reserve parachutes and fall to their deaths (Leach & Griffith, 2008).
Recall that the span of working memory is 7 +/- 2. Surprisingly, those with larger memory spans are more likely to succumb to performance anxiety. Perhaps with additional storage capacity they can accommodate more cognitive interference. Those with limited working memory “keep it simple” out of necessity – storage capacity sufficient to process worries and explicit monitoring is not available (Gallucci, 2014).