The art of thinking · 3 · Memory

Working memory

Also known as: Multicomponent model of working memory

German: Arbeitsgedächtnis

In cognitive psychology, working memory is the limited-capacity system that temporarily holds and manipulates information needed for ongoing tasks such as understanding a sentence, following an instruction, calculating or planning; unlike the older notion of short-term memory, it covers processing as well as storage.

Cognitive psychology
Memory

In one sentence

Working memory is the limited system that holds and works on information during a task (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974; Baddeley, 2000).

Example

A technician reads “Set parameter P-214 to the value in table 7, then restart the drive”, turns to table 7 and has to keep the parameter number in mind while looking up the value.

What the research shows

Alan D. Baddeley and Graham Hitch (1974) replaced the idea of a single short-term store with a multicomponent working memory: a central executive that controls attention, a phonological loop that holds speech-based information for a few seconds unless it is rehearsed, and a visuospatial sketchpad for visual and spatial information. Their evidence came from dual-task experiments in which a memory load interfered with reasoning and comprehension less than a single store would predict. Baddeley (2000) added the episodic buffer, which binds information from the components and from long-term memory into integrated episodes. Other models describe working memory as the activated part of long-term memory with a focus of attention (Nelson Cowan) or emphasize individual differences in executive attention (Randall W. Engle and colleagues). Meredyth Daneman and Patricia A. Carpenter (1980) found that a reading span measure combining processing and storage predicted reading comprehension.

Evidence status

That working memory is limited and that it matters for comprehension, reasoning and learning is well established. Which model fits best is still debated; the models agree on limited capacity and on an attentional component. Whether training working memory improves other abilities is contested; several meta-analyses found little transfer beyond the trained tasks. Short-term memory and working memory are not synonyms: short-term memory tasks mainly measure storage.

How it applies

Instructions that make readers hold information while they act — a value from another page, a condition stated three steps earlier, a code to enter later — load working memory. The glossary “Applied cognitive psychology for information use” covers the design side (for example worked examples and the spatial contiguity principle), and cognitive load theory builds on this entry. Working memory limits are one input to writing steps; they are not a rule for a fixed number of steps.

External references

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