The Role of Working Memory in HigherLevel Cognition

The Role of Working Memory in Higher-Level Cognition Domain-Specific versus Domain-General Perspectives David Z. Hambrick, Michael J. Kane, and Randall W. Engle

Introduction � Working Memory, 1992, Baddeley Working Memory and language, 2003, Baddeley

An Individual-Differences Perspective On Working Memory(WM) � Measuring individual difference ◦ Reading/operation/counting/spatial span � Two observation 1. WM tasks are reliable 2. Individual difference is correlated with Higherlevel Cognition. � General or Specific WM ?

Which Hypothesis is correct? � Two hypothesis ◦ Domain-specific factor �Reading process – reading span task, etc. ◦ Domain-general factor �Attention control / Inhibitory process Average inter-task correlation Domain-general factor Correlation of WM span with higher-level cognition

View in Research � Microanalytic Research ◦ WM tasks vs. elementary tasks. � Macroanalytic Research WM Elementary task ◦ WM vs. Individual difference (Cognition) ◦ WM may be a component of gf gf WM

The Role of Strategies? main effect of strategy use may be on the total variance in WM performance. �The it Not mean differential strategy use by low-spans and high-spans accounts for the relationship between WM span and higher-level cognition. �But

Toward a Broader Perspective on the Role of WM in Higher-Level Cognition � Domain-general ◦ Microanalytic hypothesis �Individual difference Factor is elementary attention. ◦ Macroanalytic �WM plays important role in cognition. � WM : bottom-up ◦ Integrating coming information with preexisting knowledge.