Working memory and intelligence are highly related constructs, but why?
Section snippets
Overview of the present studies
Working memory tasks comprise short-term storage plus some sort of processing requirements (Conway et al., 2005, Engle et al., 1999a, Miyake and Shah, 1999) so their correlation with intelligence could be attributed to storage, processing, or both.
The present studies address the contribution of these storage and processing components. It must be emphasized from the outset that the tasks modelled for measuring the constructs of interest follow the mainstream. This underscoring implicates that
Participants
One hundred and eleven participants (70% females) took part in the study to fulfil course requirements. They were recruited at high school (35%) and college institutions (65%). Their mean age was 18.0 (SD = 2.7).
Measures
Short-term memory was measured by three tasks requiring the temporary maintenance of verbal, quantitative, or spatial simple items for latter recall: forward letter span, forward digit span, and Corsi Block.
Forward letter span (FLSPAN) and forward digit span (FDSPAN). Single letters or
Participants
261 university undergraduates (80% females) took part in the study. They participated to fulfil a course requirement. Their mean age was 20.2 (SD = 3.4).
Measures
Short-term memory was measured by forward letter span (FLSPAN), forward digit span (FDSPAN), and dot memory. FLSPAN and FDSPAN were the same as in study 1.
The dot memory task was modelled after Miyake et al. (2001). One five × five grid was displayed for 750 ms at the computer screen. Each grid had between two and seven spaces comprising solid
Participants
Two hundred and eighty-nine university undergraduates (80% females) took part in this study. They participated to fulfil a course requirement. Their mean age was 20.3 (SD = 2.9).
Measures
Short-term memory was measured by forward digit span (FDSPAN) and Corsi Block. Both tasks were the same as administered in study 1.
Working memory was measured by computation span and dot matrix. Computation span was the same task administered in studies 1 and 2. Dot matrix was the same task administered in study 2.
Mental
Cross-validating SEM
In order to cross-validate the results of the SEM analyses, we compute first regression analyses in which a WM composite score was predicted by the remaining composite scores (STM and mental speed — study 1; STM, mental speed, and executive functioning — study 2; STM, mental speed, executive functioning, and controlled attention — study 3). The WM residual score (WM-r) representing the WM variance unpredicted by the predictors is computed. Second, given that executive functioning is highly
The central role of simple short-term storage
Here we considered concurrently several mainstream constructs presumably relevant to understand the large relationship between working memory and intelligence. They were progressively incorporated from study 1 to study 3 in order to gain knowledge in a gradual way. This general discussion begins underscoring the consistencies and inconsistencies across studies.
First, simple short-term storage is a main working memory component. The measures administered in the three studies followed the
Acknowledgements
The research referred to in this article was supported by grants funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Grant No. BSO2002-01455) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (SEJ2006-07890). We would like to thank Miguel Burgaleta, Jesús Privado, and Aida Aguilera for their assistance during testing sessions and tasks programming. We also thank Earl Hunt, Wendy Johnson, Andrew Conway, and one anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments to previous versions of this
References (58)
- et al.
A reappraisal of the relationship between span memory and intelligence via “best evidence synthesis”
Intelligence
(2004) - et al.
Reasoning=working memory≠attention
Intelligence
(2005) - et al.
Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
(1982) - et al.
Memory span and general intelligence: A latent-variable approach
Intelligence
(2005) - et al.
Fluid intelligence, memory span, and temperament difficulties predict academic performance of young adolescents
Personality and Individual Differences
(2007) - et al.
Working memory and general intelligence: The role of short-term storage
Personality and Individual Differences
(2005) - et al.
Distributed brain sites for the g-factor of intelligence
Neuroimage
(2006) - et al.
Working memory is (almost) perfectly predicted by g
Intelligence
(2004) - et al.
Is working memory fractionated onto different components of intelligence?
Intelligence
(2004) - et al.
A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence
Intelligence
(2002)
Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Individual-differences in working memory and reading
Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior
The concurrent validity and test–retest reliability of a visuospatial memory task
Intelligence
Simple reaction time as a suppressor variable in the chronometric study of intelligence
Intelligence
The structure of human intelligence : It is verbal, perceptual, and image rotation (VPR), not fluid and crystallized
Intelligence
Reasoning ability is (little more than) working-memory capacity
Intelligence
Working memory capacity and resistance to interference
Journal of Memory and Language
Working memory capacity explains reasoning ability—And a little bit more
Intelligence
Individual differences in working memory within a nomological network of cognitive and perceptual speed abilities
Journal of Experimental Psychology-General
Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs?
Psychological Bulletin
AMOS 5.0, SmallWaters
Is working memory still working?
European Psychologist
Differential Aptitude Test
Structural equation modelling with LISREL, PRELIS, and SIMPLIS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming
Human cognitive abilities
General intelligence and memory span: Evidence for a common neuro-anatomic framework
Cognitive Neurosychology
Simple span tasks, complex span tasks. and cognitive abilities: A re-analysis of key studies
Memory and Cognition
The real relationship between short-term memory and working memory
Memory
Cited by (255)
Is there a Flynn effect for attention? Cross-temporal meta-analytical evidence for better test performance (1990–2021)
2024, Personality and Individual Differences