Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T02:32:04.014Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 18 - Mechanisms of Working Memory Capacity and Fluid Intelligence and Their Common Dependence on Executive Attention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2018

By
Zach Shipstead  and
Randall W. Engle
Edited by
Robert J. Sternberg
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Chapter
Information
The Nature of Human Intelligence , pp. 287 - 307
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J. R. (1974). Retrieval of propositional information from long-term memory. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 451–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2002). When and where do we apply what we learn? A taxonomy for far transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 612–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, R. E. (2016). Hebb and Cattell: The genesis of the theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 606. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00606CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cattell, R. B. (1943). The measurement of adult intelligence. Psychological Bulletin, 40, 153–193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0059973CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cattell, R. B. (1971). Abilities: Their structure, growth and action. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.Google Scholar
Cattell, R. B. (1973). Measuring intelligence with the Culture Fair tests. Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.Google Scholar
Chase, W. G., & Ericsson, K. A. (1982). Skill and working memory. In Bower, G. H. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation, Vol. 16 (pp. 1–58). New York: Academic Press. doi:10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60546-0Google Scholar
Chuderski, A. (2013). When are fluid intelligence and working memory isomorphic and when are they not? Intelligence, 41, 244–262. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2013.04.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colom, R., Abad, F. J., Quiroga, M. Á., Shih, P. C., & Flores-Mendoza, C. (2008). Working memory and intelligence are highly related constructs, but why? Intelligence, 36, 584–606. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2008.01.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, A. R. A., & Engle, R. W. (1994). Working memory and retrieval: A resource-dependent inhibition model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 123, 354–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conway, A. R. A., Tuholski, S. W., Shisler, R. J., & Engle, R. W. (1999). The effect of memory load on negative priming: An individual differences investigation. Memory & Cognition, 27, 1042–1050. doi:10.3758/BF03201233CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowan, N. (1988). Evolving conceptions of memory storage, selective attention, and their mutual constraints within the human information-processing system. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 163–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87–185. doi:10.1017/S0140525X01003922CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowan, N., Elliott, E. M., Saults, J. S., Morey, C. C., Mattox, S., Hismjatullina, A., & Conway, A. R. A. (2005). On the capacity of attention: Its estimation and its role in working memory and cognitive aptitudes. Cognitive Psychology, 51, 42–100. doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2004.12.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowan, N., Fristoe, N. M., Elliot, E. M., Brunner, R. P., & Saults, J. S. (2006). Scope of attention, control of attention, and intelligence in children and adults. Memory & Cognition, 34, 1754–1768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cronbach, L. J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 12, 671–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Ardenne, K., Eshel, N., Luka, J., Lenartowicz, A., Nystrom, L. E., & Cohen, J. D. (2012). Role of prefrontal cortex and the midbrain dopamine system in working memory updating. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 109, 19900–19909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dahlin, E., Nyberg, L., Bäckman, L., & Stigsdotter Neely, A. (2008). Plasticity of executive functioning in young and old adults: Immediate training gains, transfer, and long-term maintenance. Psychology & Aging, 23, 720–730. doi:10.1037/a0014296CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeCaro, M. S., Van Stockum, C. A. Jr., & Wieth, M. B. (2015). When higher working memory capacity hinders insight. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 42, 39–49. doi:10.1037/xlm0000152Google ScholarPubMed
Dempster, F. N. (1981). Memory span: Sources of individual and developmental differences. Psychological Bulletin, 89, 63–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.89.1.63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, J., Burgess, P., & Emslie, H. (1995). Fluid intelligence after frontal lobe lesions. Neuropsychologia, 33, 261–261.Google Scholar
Ecker, U. K. H., Lewandowsky, S., & Oberauer, K. (2014). Removal of information from working memory: A specific updating process. Journal of Memory and Language, 74, 77–90. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2014.03.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ecker, U. K. H., Lewandowsky, S., Oberauer, K., & Chee, A. E. H. (2010). The components of working memory updating: An experimental decomposition and individual differences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 170–189. doi:10.1037/a0017891Google ScholarPubMed
Engle, R. W. (2002). Working memory capacity as executive attention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 19–23. doi:10.1111/1467–8721.00160CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engle, R. W. & Kane, M. J. (2004). Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a two-factor theory of cognitive control. In B. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation, Vol. 44 (pp. 145–199). New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., & Conway, A. R. A. (1999). Working memory, short-term memory and general fluid intelligence: A latent variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128, 309–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, T. L., Shipstead, Z., & Engle, R. W. (2015). Why is working memory capacity related to matrix reasoning tasks? Memory & Cognition, 43, 389–396. doi: 10.3758/s13421-014-0473-3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrison, T. L., Shipstead, Z., Hambrick, D. Z., Hicks, K. L., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2013). Working memory training may increase working memory capacity but not fluid intelligence. Psychological Science, 24, 2409–2419. doi: 10.1177/0956797613492984CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hebb, D. O. (1942). The effect of early and late brain injury upon test scores, and the nature of normal adult intelligence. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 85, 275–292.Google Scholar
Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Jonidas, J., & Perrig, W. J. (2008). Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 6829–6833. doi:10.1073/pnas.0801268105CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaeggi, S. M., Studer-Luethi, B., Buschkuehl, M., Su, Y.-F., Jonides, J., & Perrig, W. J. (2010). The relationship between n-back performance and matrix reasoning – Implications for training and transfer. Intelligence, 38, 625–635. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2010.09.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kane, M., & Engle, R. (2000). Working-memory capacity, proactive interference, and divided attention: Limits on long-term memory retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 26, 336. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.26.2.336Google ScholarPubMed
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., & Conway, A. R. A. (2005). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs: Comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 66–71. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.66CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klingberg, T. (2012). Is working memory capacity fixed? Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1, 194–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klingberg, T., Fernell, E., Olesen, P., Johnson, M., Gustafsson, P., Dahlström, K., ... Westerberg, H. (2005). Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD – A randomized, controlled, trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 177–186. doi:10.1097/00004583-200502000-00010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kyllonen, P. C., & Christal, R. E. (1990). Reasoning ability is (little more than) working memory capacity? Intelligence, 14, 389–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, S.-C., Schmiedeck, F., Huxhold, O., Röcke, C., Smith, J., & Lindenberger, U. (2008). Working memory plasticity in old age: Practice gain, transfer, and maintenance. Psychology and Aging, 23, 731–742. doi:10.1037/a0014343CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Long, D. L., & Prat, C. S. (2002). Working memory and Stroop interference: An individual differences investigation. Memory & Cognition, 30, 294–301. doi:10.3758/BF03195290CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, J. D., Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., Reddick, T. S., Bunting, M., & Engle, R. W. (2017). The role of maintenance and disengagement in predicting reading comprehension and vocabulary learning. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
May, C. P., Hasher, L., & Kane, M. J. (1999). The role of interference in memory span. Memory & Cognition, 27, 759–767.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCabe, J., & Hartman, M. (2008). Working memory for item and temporal information in younger and older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 15, 574–600. doi:10.1080/13825580801956217CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGrew, K. S. (2005). The Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities: Past, present, and future. In Flanagan, D. P., Genshaft, J. L., & Harrison, P. L. (Eds.), Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests, and issues (pp. 151–179). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 8–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (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. doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0734CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nespodzany, A. L., & Shipstead, Z. (2016). Fluid intelligence as a predictor of memory updating. Manuscript in preparation for submission.Google Scholar
Oberauer, K., Schulze, R., Wilhelm, O., & Süß, H. M. (2005). Working memory and intelligence – their correlation and their relation: A comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 61–65. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.61CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oberauer, K., Süß, H.-M., Wilhem, O., & Sander, N. (2007). Individual differences in working memory capacity and reasoning ability. In Conway, A. R. A., Jarrold, C., Kane, M. H., Miyake, A., & Towse, J. N. (Eds.), Variation in working memory (pp. 49–75). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Raven, J. C. (1990). Advanced progressive matrices. Oxford: Oxford Psychological Press.Google Scholar
Redick, T. S., Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., Hicks, K. L., Fried, D. E., Hambrick, D. Z., Kane, M. J., & Engle, R. W. (2013). No evidence of intelligence improvement after working memory training: A randomized, placebo-controlled study. Journal of Experimental Psychology, General, 142, 359–379. doi:10.137/a0029082CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosen, V. M., & Engle, R. W. (1997). The role of working memory capacity in retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 126, 211–227. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.126.3.211CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosen, V. M., & Engle, R. W. (1998). Working memory capacity and suppression. Journal of Memory and Language, 39, 418–436. doi:10.1006/jmla.1998.2590CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipstead, Z., & Engle, R. W. (2013). Interference within the focus of attention: Working memory tasks reflect more than temporary maintenance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39, 277–289. doi:10.1037/a0028467Google ScholarPubMed
Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., & Engle, R. W. (2015). Working memory capacity and the scope and control of attention. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 77, 1863–1880.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., & Engle, R. W. (2016). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence: Maintenance and disengagement. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 771–799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shipstead, Z., Hicks, K. L., & Engle, R. W. (2012a). Cogmed working memory training: Does the evidence support the claims? Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1, 185–193. doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.06.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipstead, Z., Hicks, K. L., & Engle, R. W. (2012b). Working memory training remains a work in progress. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1, 217–219. doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.07.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipstead, Z., Lindsey, R. B., Marshall, R. L., & Engle, R. W. (2014). The contributions of maintenance, retrieval and attention control to working memory capacity. Journal of Memory and Language, 72, 116–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipstead, Z. & Nespodzany, A. (2017). The Contribution of Disengagement to Temporal Discriminability. Manuscript in press at Memory.Google ScholarPubMed
Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2010). Does working memory training generalize? Psychologica Belgica, 50, 245–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2012). Is working memory training effective? Psychological Bulletin. doi:10.1037/a0027473CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sternberg, R. J., & Powell, J. S. (1983). Comprehending verbal comprehension. American Psychologist, 38, 878–893.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorsen, C., Gustafsson, J.-E., & Cliffordson, C. (2014). The influence of fluid and crystallized intelligence on the development of knowledge and skills. Educational Psychology, 84, 556–570.Google ScholarPubMed
Turner, M. L., & Engle, R. W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unsworth, N., & Engle, R. W. (2007). The nature of individual differences in working memory capacity: Active maintenance in primary memory and controlled search from secondary memory. Psychological Review, 114, 104–132. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.114.1.104CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiley, J., Jarosz, A. F., Cushen, P. J., & Colflesh, G. J. H. (2011). New rule use drives the relation between working memory capacity and Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 256–263. doi:10.1037/a0021613Google ScholarPubMed
Winship, C., & Korenman, S. (1997). Does staying in school make you smarter? In Devlin, B., Fienberg, S. E., Resnick, D. P., & Roeder, K (Eds.). Intelligence, genes and success: Scientists respond to the bell curve (pp. 215–234). Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Yong, E. (2016, October 3). The weak evidence behind brain-training games: Seven psychologists reviewed every single scientific paper put forward to support these products – and found them wanting. The Atlantic.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×