Working memory and backward digit span5/29/2023 ![]() ![]() Because complex span tasks combine the recall of some items (e.g., words) while subjects also perform a secondary processing task (e.g., math operations), such tasks are also known as storage-plus-processing tests. Instead of being given a list of digits to serially recall, as in digit span, subjects taking an operation span task see a series of items such as the following: “IS (2 × 1) + 3 = 6 ? DOG”. Other complex span tasks followed: (a) counting span (Case, Kurland, & Goldberg, 1982) (b) operation span (Turner & Engle, 1989) (c) rotation span (Shah & Miyake, 1996) and (d) symmetry span (Kane et al., 2004), to name a few. In the present research, we investigated the degree of overlap between two commonly used categories of WM measures: complex span and n-back tasks.īeginning with reading span (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980), “complex span” tasks became popular measures of WM, in contrast to existing “simple span” tasks such as digit span. An important consideration for such research efforts is how to operationally define and measure WM. WM is critical to activities involving the goal-directed use of immediate memory, the maintenance and manipulation of recently attended information, and switching and scheduling task priorities in multitasking situations. WM has been studied extensively not only in cognitive psychology, but also in other areas, including social, clinical, developmental, and personality research. The concept is a more dynamic version of the short-term memory construct that was present in initial information-processing models (e.g., Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). Working memory (WM) is a construct that has been studied extensively in the past 50 years, since it was first mentioned by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram ( 1960), and especially since the influential WM model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch ( 1974). The present findings indicate that the complex span and n-back tasks cannot be used interchangeably as working memory measures in research applications. Finally, a separate meta-analysis indicated that the simple span and n-back tasks are correlated to the same extent as are the complex span and n-back tasks. A follow-up analysis of unpublished data indicated that the sample composition affects the relationship between the complex span and n-back tasks, following the law of diminishing returns. The present meta-analysis showed that the complex span and n-back tasks are weakly correlated, although significant heterogeneity across studies was observed. Despite both categories of tasks being labeled as “working memory” measures, previous empirical studies have provided mixed evidence regarding the shared amount of overlapping processes between complex span and n-back tasks. Two types of tasks have been used to measure working memory, primarily in different research areas: Complex span tasks are commonly used in behavioral studies in the cognitive and individual-differences literature, whereas n-back tasks have been used more frequently in cognitive neuroscience studies investigating the neural underpinnings of working memory. Working memory is a construct of primary relevance to many areas of psychology. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |