Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence

Conway, Andrew R. A.; Kane, Michael J.; Engle, Randall W.

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.005

Cited by 949 publications

(718 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…And despite close links between measures of fluid intelligence and working memory in adult samples (Conway et al, 2003;, fluid intelligence shared no independent associations with either reading or mathematics in the present study. This asymmetry of association provides a strong basis for identifying working memory as a specific and significant contributor to reading disabilities.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 94%

“…These criteria were less restrictive than the majority of studies in this field, which typically include only children who perform within the normal range on tests of fluid intelligence (e.g., Siegel & Ryan, 1989;Swanson & Sachse-Lee, 2001), as reflected in nonverbal reasoning measures such as Coloured Progressive Matrices (Raven, 1986) or performance IQ from the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children -III Revised UK (Wechsler, 1992). An issue raised by close associations between working memory and fluid intelligence (e.g., Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003;Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999;Fry & Hale, 2000) is whether variation in fluid intelligence abilities underpins links between working memory and achievements in reading and mathematics. Although working memory deficits in children with learning difficulties have been found to persist even after fluid intelligence has been taken into account (Swanson & Sachse-Lee, 2001), the inclusion in such studies only of children with intelligence scores in the normal range limits sensitivity to this potentially confounding factor.…”

Section: Working Memory In Children With Reading Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Working memory in children with reading disabilities

Gathercole

Alloway

Willis

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

598

420

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This study investigated associations between working memory (measured by complex memory tasks) and both reading and mathematics abilities, as well as the possible mediating factors of Xuid intelligence, verbal abilities, short-term memory (STM), and phonological awareness, in a sample of 46 6- to 11-year-olds with reading disabilities. As a whole, the sample was characterized by deWcits in complex memory and visuospatial STM and by low IQ scores; language, phonological STM, and phonological awareness abilities fell in the low average range. Severity of reading diYculties within the sample was signiWcantly associated with complex memory, language, and phonological awareness abilities, whereas poor mathematics abilities were linked with complex memory, phonological STM, and phonological awareness scores. These Wndings suggest that working memory skills indexed by complex memory tasks represent an important constraint on the acquisition of skill and knowledge in reading and mathematics. Possible mechanisms for the contribution of working memory to learning, and the implications for educational practice, are considered

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 94%

Section: Working Memory In Children With Reading Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory in children with reading disabilities

Gathercole

Alloway

Willis

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

598

420

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“…For example, whereas Kyllonen and Christal (1990) found WMC and reasoning ability to be virtually inseparable, WMC was more closely related to speed measures than was reasoning, and reasoning was more closely related to domain knowledge than was WMC. On the whole, then, we argue that WMC is an important contributor to Gf, but the two constructs are probably not isomorphic (see also Ackerman et al, 2002;Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003;Stankov, 2002).…”

Section: Wmc As a Mechanism Of Gfmentioning

confidence: 90%

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

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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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“…These memory capacity limitations have profound effects on many aspects cognitive processing, and WM capacity correlates with various measures of language comprehension, reasoning, educational achievement and even general intelligence (e.g., Barrouillet, 1996;Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003;Daneman & Carpenter, 1980;Daneman & Green, 1986;Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999;Engle, Carullo, & Collins, 1991;Engle, Cantor, & Carullo, 1992;Fukuda, Vogel, Mayr, & Awh, 2010;King & Just, 1991;Kyllonen & Christal, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

Endress

Szabó

2017

Psychological Review

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. However, the origins of these capacity limitations are debated, and generally attributed to active, attentional processes. Here, we show that the existence of interference among items in memory mathematically guarantees fixed and limited capacity limits under very general conditions, irrespective of any processing assumptions. Assuming that interference (i) increases with the number of interfering items and (ii) brings memory performance to chance levels for large numbers of interfering items, capacity limits are a simple function of the relative influence of memorization and interference. In contrast, we show that time-based memory limitations do not lead to fixed memory capacity limitations that are independent of the timing properties of an experiment. We show that interference can mimic both slot-like and continuous resource-like memory limitations, suggesting that these types of memory performance might not be as different as commonly believed. We speculate that slot-like WM limitations might arise from crowding-like phenomena in memory when participants have to retrieve items. Further, based on earlier research on parallel attention and enumeration, we suggest that crowding-like phenomena might be a common reason for the three major cognitive capacity limitations. As suggested by Miller (1956) and Cowan (2001), these capacity limitations might thus arise due to a common reason, even though they likely rely on distinct processes. Permanent repository link:

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Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence

Cited by 949 publications

References 41 publications

Working memory in children with reading disabilities

Working memory in children with reading disabilities

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

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

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