The Generality of Working Memory Capacity: A Latent-Variable Approach to Verbal and Visuospatial Memory Span and Reasoning

A latent-variable study examined whether verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) capacity measures reflect a primarily domain-general construct by testing 236 participants in 3 span tests each of verbal WM, visuospatial WM, verbal short-term memory (STM), and visuospatial STM, as well as in test...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental psychology. General 2004-06, Vol.133 (2), p.189-217
Main Authors: Kane, Michael J, Hambrick, David Z, Tuholski, Stephen W, Wilhelm, Oliver, Payne, Tabitha W, Engle, Randall W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Attention
Attention Control
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Processes
Decision Making
Factor Analysis
Female
Fluid Intelligence
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Generalization (Psychology)
Human
Humans
Intelligence
Latent Learning
Latent Variables
Learning. Memory
Male
Measures (Individuals)
Memory
Psychological tests
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reasoning
Short Term Memory
Space Perception
Spatial Ability
Structural Equation Models
Thinking Skills
Verbal Ability
Visual Perception
Visuospatial Memory
Vocabulary
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A latent-variable study examined whether verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) capacity measures reflect a primarily domain-general construct by testing 236 participants in 3 span tests each of verbal WM, visuospatial WM, verbal short-term memory (STM), and visuospatial STM, as well as in tests of verbal and spatial reasoning and general fluid intelligence (Gf). Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models indicated that the WM tasks largely reflected a domain-general factor, whereas STM tasks, based on the same stimuli as the WM tasks, were much more domain specific. The WM construct was a strong predictor of Gf and a weaker predictor of domain-specific reasoning, and the reverse was true for the STM construct. The findings support a domain-general view of WM capacity, in which executive-attention processes drive the broad predictive utility of WM span measures, and domain-specific storage and rehearsal processes relate more strongly to domain-specific aspects of complex cognition.
ISSN:0096-3445
1939-2222
DOI:10.1037/0096-3445.133.2.189