Central and Peripheral Components of Working Memory Storage

Overview

Journal J Exp Psychol Gen

Specialty Psychology

Date 2014 May 29

PMID 24867488

Citations 45

Authors

Nelson Cowan

J Scott Saults

Christopher L Blume

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study reexamines the issue of how much of working memory storage is central, or shared across sensory modalities and verbal and nonverbal codes, and how much is peripheral, or specific to a modality or code. In addition to the exploration of many parameters in 9 new dual-task experiments and reanalysis of some prior evidence, the innovations of the present work compared to previous studies of memory for 2 stimulus sets include (a) use of a principled set of formulas to estimate the number of items in working memory and (b) a model to dissociate central components, which are allocated to very different stimulus sets depending on the instructions, from peripheral components, which are used for only 1 kind of material. We consistently find that the central contribution is smaller than was suggested by Saults and Cowan (2007) and that the peripheral contribution is often much larger when the task does not require the binding of features within an object. Previous capacity estimates are consistent with the sum of central plus peripheral components observed here. We consider the implications of the data as constraints on theories of working memory storage and maintenance.

Citing Articles

The Interplay Between Multisensory Processing and Attention in Working Memory: Behavioral and Neural Indices of Audiovisual Object Storage.

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Modality-, feature-, and strategy-dependent organization of low-level working memory.

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Integration of valence and conflict processing through cellular-field interactions in human subgenual cingulate during emotional face processing in treatment-resistant depression.

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Encoding colors and tones into working memory concurrently: A developmental investigation.

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