David Z. Hambrick, Michael J.Kane, and Randall W.Engle The Role of Working Memory in Higher-Level Cognition Domain-Specific versus Domain-General Perspectives David Z. Hambrick, Michael J.Kane, and Randall W.Engle

Introduction Working Memory Working Memory, 1992, Baddeley Working Memory and language, 2003, Baddeley

An Individual-Differences Perspective On Working Memory(WM) Measuring individual difference Reading/operation/counting/spatial span Two observation WM tasks are reliable Individual difference is correlated with Higher-level Cognition. General or Specific WM ?

Which Hypothesis is correct? Two hypothesis Domain-specific factor Reading process – reading span task, etc. Domain-general factor Attention control / Inhibitory process Average inter-task correlation Domain-general factor Correlation of WM span with higher-level cognition

View in Research Microanalytic Research Macroanalytic Research WM Microanalytic Research WM tasks vs. elementary tasks. Macroanalytic Research WM vs. Individual difference (Cognition) WM may be a component of gf Elementary task Elementary task gf WM

The Role of Strategies? The main effect of strategy use may be on the total variance in WM performance. But it Not mean differential strategy use by low-spans and high-spans accounts for the relationship between WM span and higher-level cognition.

Toward a Broader Perspective on the Role of WM in Higher-Level Cognition Domain-general hypothesis Microanalytic Individual difference Factor is elementary attention. Macroanalytic WM plays important role in cognition. WM : bottom-up Integrating coming information with preexisting knowledge.