Retrieval and Storage Consequences of Working Memory Limitations

摘要

The research funded by this grant addressed questions about the nature ofindividual differences in working memory (WM) capacity. Experiments showed that high and low WM subjects did not differ in retrieval from the inactive portion of memory and differed in retrieval from active or primary memory only under conditions of conflict or interference. In neither case was there a set size effect in retrieval from secondary memory. Another set of experiments showed that suppression of distracting or interfering information was a function of WM capacity and that suppression was diminished if the subjects was operating under a mental work load. The final project completed on the grant was a large scale factor analysis to determine whether the wide range of putative WM tasks reflect a common mechanism, whether that mechanism is manifest in simple short-term memory tasks and the relationship of these constructs to general fluid intelligence. In a series of confirmatory factor analyses, the WM tasks loaded closely together and a separate STM factor was necessary. The WM factor was closely associated with a factor for general fluid intelligence.