The many faces of working memory and short-term storage

Abstract

The topic of working memory (WM) is ubiquitous in research on cognitive psychology and on individual differences. According to one definition, it is a small amount of information kept in a temporary state of heightened accessibility; it is used in most types of communication and problem solving. Short-term storage has been defined as the passive (i.e., non-attention-based, nonstrategic) component of WM or, alternatively, as a passive store separate from an attentionbased WM. Here I note that much confusion has been created by the use by various investigators of many, subtly different definitions of WM and short-term storage. The definitions are sometimes made explicit and sometimes implied. As I explain, the different definitions may have stemmed from the use of a wide variety of techniques to explore WM, along with differences in theoretical orientation. By delineating nine previously used definitions of WM and explaining how additional ones may emerge from combinations of these nine, I hope to improve scientific discourse on WM. The potential advantages of clarity about definitions of WM and short-term storage are illustrated with respect to several ongoing research controversies.Keywords Short term memory . Working memory During the past 40+ years, I have watched as working memory (WM) has become one of the most talked-about and written-about terms in the field of cognitive psychology. During that time I have noticed that many of the controversies that occur in the field are related to definitions of WM. Several times within the last decade, after having devoted much of my career to exploring WM, I have even been asked to write review papers largely to clarify what the meaning of the term WM is, and how it is different from other terms in the literature (Cowan, 2008(Cowan, , 2010. The alternative terms with which it can sometimes be confused include primary memory (James, 1890;Waugh & Norman, 1965), immediate memory (e.g., Miller, 1956), short-term storage (e.g., Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) or short-term memory, and prospective memory (Einstein & McDaniel, 2005).It has become clearer to me that a major source of confusion is that researchers use different definitions of the malleable and useful concept of WM. We do not seem to be converging on a common definition of the term. Others also have noted this absence of clarity about definitions; see for example Postle (2015). The main purpose of this article is to delineate definitions that have been used. This could lead to better scientific discourse if researchers could qualify their statements in a convenient manner by indicating which of the following definitions, if any, they mean by WM. I will elaborate on different definitions of WM and short-term storage and say a bit about how the definitions may affect scientific debate. On scientific definitions and WMMy sensitivity to definitions was enhanced after a conference on WM in which each participating researcher was asked to define WM, with the definitions recorded within a volume of proceedings (Miy...

Dynamics of cognitive control: Theoretical bases, paradigms, and a view for the future

“…This resulted in three major task groupings: updating tasks that require the continuous updating of information in memory (e.g., the N‐back task), shifting tasks that require alternating between two or more stimulus‐response pairings (e.g., task‐switching paradigms), and inhibition (or conflict) tasks that require the suppression of a prepotent or prepared response (e.g., the Stroop and stop‐signal tasks). This terminology involves an important distinction between updating (i.e., incorporating novel information into working memory) and shifting (i.e., online selection of already available attentional settings used in previous trials), which resonates with Cowan's partition of working memory into representations within the focus of attention, outside the focus of attention but readily available, and inactive but retrievable (Cowan, ).…”

“…Executive function may be more broadly construed as also implicating long-term goal representation, and nesting or interleaving of goals set for accounts, the following general "processing pieces" are commonly agreed upon. First, representations of the currently possible task goals must be generated and maintained active or, at least, made easily accessible while they are useful for the task at hand (e.g., see the concept of central executive proposed by Baddeley, 1996;Baddeley & Hitch, 1974; and the more recent model of working memory proposed by Cowan, 2001Cowan, , 2016. Second, mechanisms must exist for recognizing the particular contextual cues that lead to the preferential selection of one specific goal over other alternatives (goal selection or attention biasing mechanisms).…”

Brain reflections: A circuit‐based framework for understanding information processing and cognitive control

“…In some cases, this may generate the appearance of phase/amplitude locking (see Figure 3 , bottom;Bonnefond, Kastner, & Jensen, 2017;Lisman, 2010). This may be a mechanism for maintaining selected, precisely individuated representations active within the focus of attention (see Cowan's model of working memory; Cowan, 2011Cowan, , 2012Cowan, , 2016. Conversely, negative feedback loops (e.g., theta bursts) may disrupt or suppress activity in gamma loops.…”

Development of the ability to combine visual and acoustic information in working memory

“…Working memory refers to the small amount of information held in a temporarily heightened state of availability (Baddeley & Hitch, ; Cowan, ), and performance on tasks measuring working memory increases markedly throughout childhood (Gathercole, Pickering, Ambridge, & Wearing, ). After many years of investigation, however, the fundamental reasons for increases in working memory across development remain unclear.…”