A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence

Conway, Andrew R. A.; Cowan, Nelson; Bunting, Michael F.; Therriault, David J.; Minkoff, Scott R. B.

doi:10.1016/s0160-2896(01)00096-4

Cited by 929 publications

(923 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Consistent with prior work in the verbal domain (Conway et al, 2002;, the WMC and STM constructs were highly correlated but separable for both our verbal-and visuospatial-task data. These findings are consistent with the view that simple and complex span tasks require some shared executive and storage-rehearsal processes but that WM span tasks require additional executive processes to deal with their dual-task demands, whereas STM tasks may elicit additional rehearsal processes that are disrupted by the secondary task in WM span.…”

Section: The Relation Between Wmc and Stmsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Moreover, findings from latent-variable studies using verbal span tasks indicate that the executive component of WM, rather than the storage-STM component, carries the weight in the correlation between WM span and general fluid ability (Conway et al, 2002;. Our next analysis therefore addressed the relative contribution of executive-attentional, verbal storage-STM, and visuospatial storage-STM processes to the relation between immediate memory and reasoning.…”

Section: The Contribution Of Executive Attention To Fluid Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Generality of Working Memory Capacity: A Latent-Variable Approach to Verbal and Visuospatial Memory Span and Reasoning.

Kane

Hambrick

Tuholski

et al. 2004

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

1,402

115

1,402

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A latent-variable study examined whether verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) capacity measures reflect a primarily domain-general construct by testing 236 participants in 3 span tests each of verbal WM, visuospatial WM, verbal short-term memory (STM), and visuospatial STM, as well as in tests of verbal and spatial reasoning and general fluid intelligence (Gf). Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models indicated that the WM tasks largely reflected a domain-general factor, whereas STM tasks, based on the same stimuli as the WM tasks, were much more domain specific. The WM construct was a strong predictor of Gf and a weaker predictor of domain-specific reasoning, and the reverse was true for the STM construct. The findings support a domain-general view of WM capacity, in which executive-attention processes drive the broad predictive utility of WM span measures, and domain-specific storage and rehearsal processes relate more strongly to domain-specific aspects of complex cognition.

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Section: The Relation Between Wmc and Stmsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: The Contribution Of Executive Attention To Fluid Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Generality of Working Memory Capacity: A Latent-Variable Approach to Verbal and Visuospatial Memory Span and Reasoning.

Kane

Hambrick

Tuholski

et al. 2004

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

1,402

115

1,402

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One such model draws on the observed association between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence (Conway et al, 2002;Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999;Kyllonen & Christal, 1990). This model has been invoked frequently in recent training research.…”

Section: Transfer Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the validity and generality of transfer effects in cognitive training research

Noack

Lövdén

Schmiedek

2014

Psychological Research

107

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“…If sufficient information cannot be retained in WM and integrated, it is assumed that various problems cannot be solved, and that reading or language comprehension cannot be completed. An important approach to WM has blossomed, in which experimental and psychometric methods are synthesized (e.g., Conway, Cowan, Bunting, Therriault, & Minkoff, 2002;Cowan et al, 1998;Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999;Miyake, Friedman, Rettinger, Shah, & Hegarty, 2001). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the capacity of attention: Its estimation and its role in working memory and cognitive aptitudes

Cowan

Elliott

Saults

et al. 2005

Cognitive Psychology

Self Cite

992

1,051

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Working memory (WM) is the set of mental processes holding limited information in a temporarily accessible state in service of cognition. We provide a theoretical framework to understand the relation between WM and aptitude measures. The WM measures that have yielded high correlations with aptitudes include separate storage and processing task components, on the assumption that WM involves both storage and processing. We argue that the critical aspect of successful WM measures is that rehearsal and grouping processes are prevented, allowing a clearer estimate of how many separate chunks of information the focus of attention circumscribes at once. Storage-and-processing tasks correlate with aptitudes, according to this view, largely because the processing task prevents rehearsal and grouping of items to be recalled. In a developmental study, we document that several scope-of-attention measures that do not include a separate processing component, but nevertheless prevent efficient rehearsal or grouping, also correlate well with aptitudes and with storage-andprocessing measures. So does digit span in children too young to rehearse. Keywordsworking memory; short-term memory; individual differences; variation in working memory; cholastic abilities; intellectual abilities; attention; capacity; storage capacity Baddeley and Hitch (1974) highlighted a key theoretical construct, working memory (WM), which can be described generally as the set of mechanisms capable of retaining a small amount of information in an active state for use in ongoing cognitive tasks (though it now means Research on WM suggests that the measures used most often to examine individual differences have both strengths and weaknesses. A main type of strength is their strong correlation with intellectual aptitude tests, and a main type of weakness is the difficulty encountered in analyzing and interpreting WM test results. This difficulty stems largely from the reliance on dual tasks in the measurement of WM capacity (which include separate storage and processing task components). We will argue that the research literature provides hints that the strengths can be retained without using storage-and-processing measures. We will offer a theoretical framework for doing so, and for measuring WM in a more meaningful way than is found with current measurement practices. The theoretical framework is based on the notion of an adjustable attentional focus and on measures of the storage capacity of attention or its scope. The predictions tested in the present article pertain to the scope of attention, whereas the adjustable nature of the focus allows consistency with other highly relevant research (e.g., Kane, Bleckley, Conway, & Engle, 2001).We do not judge the success of this endeavor by whether storage-and-processing measures or the proposed alternative, scope-of-attention measures, pick up more variance in aptitude tasks.Rather, success will be judged by whether the variance that is picked up contributes to our understanding of the processes underlyi...

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A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence

Cited by 929 publications

References 27 publications

The Generality of Working Memory Capacity: A Latent-Variable Approach to Verbal and Visuospatial Memory Span and Reasoning.

The Generality of Working Memory Capacity: A Latent-Variable Approach to Verbal and Visuospatial Memory Span and Reasoning.

On the validity and generality of transfer effects in cognitive training research

On the capacity of attention: Its estimation and its role in working memory and cognitive aptitudes

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