Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Site Complexity Predict Recall from Web Pages

Abstract

Participants with either high or low working memory operation spans interacted with one of three websites and then recalled both the layout and content they experienced. Websites varied in terms of complexity, with more complex sites containing more dense text and additional animations. Results showed that site complexity predicted general content recall, whereas working memory span predicted both specific layout recall and specific content recall. Working memory operation span is an important predictor of interactions with websites, and this variable predicts beyond information about site complexity.