scholarly journals The role of working memory capacity in visual search and search of visual short term memory

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1073-1073
Author(s):  
E. Reijnen ◽  
J. Hoffmann ◽  
J. Wolfe
Author(s):  
Stoo Sepp ◽  
Steven J. Howard ◽  
Sharon Tindall-Ford ◽  
Shirley Agostinho ◽  
Fred Paas

In 1956, Miller first reported on a capacity limitation in the amount of information the human brain can process, which was thought to be seven plus or minus two items. The system of memory used to process information for immediate use was coined “working memory” by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram in 1960. In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed their multistore model of memory, which theorized that the memory system was separated into short-term memory, long-term memory, and the sensory register, the latter of which temporarily holds and forwards information from sensory inputs to short term-memory for processing. Baddeley and Hitch built upon the concept of multiple stores, leading to the development of the multicomponent model of working memory in 1974, which described two stores devoted to the processing of visuospatial and auditory information, both coordinated by a central executive system. Later, Cowan’s theorizing focused on attentional factors in the effortful and effortless activation and maintenance of information in working memory. In 1988, Cowan published his model—the scope and control of attention model. In contrast, since the early 2000s Engle has investigated working memory capacity through the lens of his individual differences model, which does not seek to quantify capacity in the same way as Miller or Cowan. Instead, this model describes working memory capacity as the interplay between primary memory (working memory), the control of attention, and secondary memory (long-term memory). This affords the opportunity to focus on individual differences in working memory capacity and extend theorizing beyond storage to the manipulation of complex information. These models and advancements have made significant contributions to understandings of learning and cognition, informing educational research and practice in particular. Emerging areas of inquiry include investigating use of gestures to support working memory processing, leveraging working memory measures as a means to target instructional strategies for individual learners, and working memory training. Given that working memory is still debated, and not yet fully understood, researchers continue to investigate its nature, its role in learning and development, and its implications for educational curricula, pedagogy, and practice.


2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDIT KORMOS ◽  
ANNA SÁFÁR

In our research we addressed the question what the relationship is between phonological short-term and working memory capacity and performance in an end-of-year reading, writing, listening, speaking and use of English test. The participants of our study were 121 secondary school students aged 15–16 in the first intensive language training year of a bilingual education program in Hungary. The participants performed a non-word repetition test and took a Cambridge First Certificate Exam. Fifty students were also tested with a backward digit span test, measuring their working memory capacity. Our study indicates that phonological short-term memory capacity plays a different role in the case of beginners and pre-intermediate students in intensive language learning. The backward digit span test correlated very highly with the overall English language competence, as well as with reading, listening, speaking and use of English (vocabulary and grammar) test scores.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 265-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao-Xin Wang ◽  
Zhuang-Wei Xiao ◽  
Da-Ren Zhang ◽  
Chun-Yu Liang ◽  
John X. Zhang

Background:A prevailing belief is that opioids tend not to impair cognitive performance in opioid-dependent users. However, the impact of heroin abuse on verbal memory, especially on working memory, is not well studied and the results available are inconsistent.Objective:This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that abstinent heroin abusers have intact working memory capacity.Methods:N-back task and backward digit span task were used to measure the verbal working memory capacity in 28 abstinent heroin abusers and 25 controls matched for age, education level and gender. Forward digit span task was used as a control task to measure short-term memory capacity.Results:Compared with the control subjects, heroin abusers showed normal backward/forward digit spans but significant performance impairment in the n-back task.Conclusion:Abstinent heroin abusers have intact short-term memory capacity but impaired verbal working memory capacity.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maren Prass ◽  
Bianca de Haan

The existing literature suggests a critical role for both the right intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) in our ability to attend to multiple simultaneously-presented lateralised targets (multi-target attention), and the failure of this ability in extinction patients. Currently, however, the precise role of each of these areas in multi-target attention is unclear. In this study, we combined the theory of visual attention (TVA) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) guided continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) in neurologically healthy subjects to directly investigate the role of the right IPS and TPJ in multi-target attention. Our results show that cTBS at an area of the right IPS associated with multi-target attention elicits a reduction of visual short-term memory capacity. This suggests that the right IPS is associated with a general capacity-limited encoding mechanism that is engaged regardless of whether targets have to be attended or remembered. Curiously, however, cTBS to the right IPS failed to elicit extinction-like behaviour in our study, supporting previous suggestions that different areas of the right IPS may provide different contributions to multi-target attention. CTBS to the right TPJ failed to induce a change in either TVA parameters or extinction-like behaviour.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Martinez

The present study was conducted to replicate bilingual advantages in short-term memory for language-like material and word learning in young adults and extend this research to the sign domain, ultimately with the goal of investigating the domain specificity of bilingual advantages in cognition. Data from 112 monolingual hearing non-signers and 78 bilingual hearing non-signers were analysed for this study. Participants completed a battery of tasks assessing sign and word learning, short-term memory, working memory capacity, intelligence, and a language and demographic questionnaire. Overall, the results of this study suggested a bilingual advantage in memory for speech-like material—no other advantage (or disadvantage) was found. Results are discussed within the context of recent large-scale experimental and meta-analytic studies that have failed to find bilingual advantages in domain-general abilities such as attention control and working memory capacity in young adults.


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