Four groups of adults, ages 40 to 70+ years, took the Modified Lag Task which requires that participants remember lists of words and subsequently recall the first, second, or third word from the end of the list. Previously, the task showed convergent validity with the operation span (a complex span measure) and a divergent validity with the digit span (a simple span measure). To establish predictive validity, the present study was designed to assess if this task could separate four age groups in working memory performance. The present study found support for the validity of the Modified Lag Task; however, additional research is warranted to further develop the construct validity of this task.
ConwayA.CowanN.BuntingM.TherriaultD.MinkoffS. (2002) A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 30, 163–183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(01)00096-4.
CowanN.ElliottE.SaultsJ.CandiceC.MattoxS.HismjatullinaA.ConwayR. (2005) On the capacity of attention: its estimation and its role in working memory and cognitive aptitudes. Cognitive Psychology, 51, 42–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2004.12.001.
5.
DanemanM.CarpenterP. (1983) Individual differences in integrating information between and within sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 9, 561–584. DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.9.4.561.
6.
DobbsA.RuleB. (1989) Adult age differences in working memory. Psychology and Aging, 4(4), 500–503. DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.4.4.500.
7.
EngleR.TuholskiS.LaughlinJ.ConwayA. (1999) Working memory, short-term memory and general fluid intelligence: a latent variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128, 309–331. DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.128.3.309.
8.
HasherL.ZacksR. (1988) Working memory, comprehension, and aging: a review and a new view. In BowerG. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation. Vol. 22. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 193–225.
9.
KaneM.ConwayA.HambrickD.EngleR. (2007) Variation in working memory capacity as variation in executive attention and control. In ConwayA.JarroldC.KaneM.MiyakeA.TowseJ. (Eds.), Variation in working memory. New York: Oxford Univer. Press. Pp. 21–48.
10.
KirchnerW. K. (1958) Age differences in short-term retention of rapidly changing information. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33, 352–358. DOI: 10.1037/h0043688.
11.
MiyakeA.FriedmanN.EmersonM.WitzkiA.WagerT. (2000) The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734.
12.
SheltonJ. T.MetzgerL. R.ElliottE. M. (2007) A group administered lag task as a measure of working memory. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 482–493. DOI: 10.3758/BF03193017.
WestR. L. (1996) An application of prefrontal cortex theory to cognitive aging. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 272–292. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.120.2.272.
15.
WilsonM. (1988) MRC Psycholinguistic Database: machine-usable dictionary. Version 2.00. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 20, 6–10. http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/mrcdatabase/uwa_mrc.htm.
16.
YntemaD. B. (1963) Keeping track of several things at once. Human Factors, 5, 7–17.
