Working Memory and Comprehension

Abstract

It seems intuitively obvious that the temporary retention of information would be important for complex cognitive behaviour such as listening and reading comprehension. In order to comprehend this chapter you must maintain representations of words, phrases, sentences, etc. However, traditional measures of short-term memory (STM) capacity, such as simple digit span, fail to reveal a strong relationship with measures of comprehension, such as the Verbal Scholastic Aptitude Test (VSAT). Baddeley and Hitch (1974) claimed that the lack of a relationship between STM capacity and complex cognition is due to the fact that STM is a passive storage buffer that is not involved in the processing of information. Instead, they proposed a working-memory (WM) system that is responsible not only for the storage of information, but also for the simultaneous processing of information. Working memory, not shortterm memory, is the system that will play a role in complex cognitive behaviour, and working-memory capacity, not short-term memory capacity, is the critical constraint on behaviour.

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