Nothing left in store . . . but how do we measure attentional capacity?

Abstract

I compare the concepts of “activation” and “storage” as foundations of short-term memory, and suggest that an attention-based view of STM does not need to posit specialized short-term stores. In particular, no compelling evidence supports the hypothesis of time-limited stores. Identifying sources of activation, examining the role of activated procedural knowledge, and studying working memory development are central issues in modelling capacity-limited focal attention.