Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Working memory is the system devoted to the simultaneous processing and storage of information needed to perform many cognitive tasks. We present a theory that assumes that time constraints constitute the main limitation of working memory. According to our theory, processing and storage compete for attention, which constitutes a limited resource. As soon as attention is switched away, memory traces suffer from temporal decay, but they can be refreshed by bringing them back into the focus of attention. Because a central bottleneck constrains controlled cognitive activities that require attention so that they must take place one at a time, memory traces decline when the central bottleneck is occupied by processing activities. This results in a sequential functioning of working memory that alternates between processing and maintenance, leading to a trade-off between these two activities. We review empirical evidence of this trade-off and discuss its implications for the increase in working memory capacity over the course of development.

Keywords

working memory cognitive load time-based resource sharing cognitive development

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

J. R.

Lebière

(1998). The atomic components of thought. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Baddeley

A. D.

(1986). Working memory. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.

Barrouillet

Bernardin

Camos

(2004). Time constraints and resource sharing in adults’ working memory spans. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 83–100.

Barrouillet

De Paepe

Langerock

(2012). Time causes forgetting from working memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19, 87–92.

Barrouillet

Gavens

Vergauwe

Gaillard

Camos

(2009). Working memory span development: A time-based resource-sharing model account. Developmental Psychology, 45, 477–490.

Barrouillet

Lucidi

(2011, November). Individual differences in working memory: Where do they come from? Paper presented at the 52nd annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Seattle, WA.

Barrouillet

Portrat

Camos

(2011). On the law relating processing to storage in working memory. Psychological Review, 118, 175–192.

Barrouillet

Portrat

Vergauwe

Diependaele

Camos

(2011). Further evidence for temporal decay in working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 1302–1317.

Case

Kurland

Goldberg

(1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 33, 386–404.

10.

Cowan

(1999). An embedded processes model of working memory. In Miyake

Shah

(Eds.), Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control (pp. 62–101). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

11.

Cowan

(2005). Working memory capacity. Hove, England: Psychology Press.

12.

Cowan

Nugent

L. D.

Elliott

E. M.

Saults

J. S.

(2000). Persistence of memory for ignored lists of digits: Areas of developmental constancy and change. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 76, 151–172.

13.

Cowan

Wood

N. L.

Wood

P. K.

Keller

T. A.

Nugent

L. D.

Keller

C. V.

(1998). Two separate verbal processing rates contributing to short-term memory span. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 127, 141–160.

14.

Daneman

Carpenter

P. A.

(1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.

15.

Della Sala

(2010). Forgetting. Hove, England: Psychology Press.

16.

Engle

R. W.

Kane

M. J.

(2004). Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a two-factor theory of cognitive control. In Ross

(Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 44, pp. 145–199). New York, NY: Elsevier.

17.

Fry

A. F.

Hale

(1996). Processing, speed, working memory, and fluid intelligence: Evidence for a developmental cascade. Psychological Science, 7, 237–241.

18.

Gaillard

Barrouillet

Jarrold

Camos

(2011). Developmental differences in working memory: Where do they come from? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 110, 469–479.

19.

Gavens

Barrouillet

(2004). Delays of retention, processing efficiency, and attentional resources in working memory span development. Journal of Memory and Language, 51, 644–657.

20.

Kail

Salthouse

T. A.

(1994). Processing speed as a mental capacity. Acta Psychologica, 86, 199–225.

21.

Lewandowsky

Oberauer

Brown

G. D. A.

(2009). No temporal decay in verbal short-term memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 120–126.

22.

McCabe

D. P.

(2008). The role of covert retrieval in working memory span tasks: Evidence from delayed recall tests. Journal of Memory and Language, 58, 480–494.

23.

Plancher

Barrouillet

(in press). Forgetting from working memory: Does novelty encoding matter? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.

24.

Salthouse

T. A.

(1996). The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition. Psychological Review, 103, 403–428.

25.

Saults

J. S.

Cowan

(1996). The development of memory for ignored speech. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 63, 239–261.

26.

Turner

M. L.

Engle

R. W.

(1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154.

As Time Goes By

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References