Multiple Resources for Processing and Storage in Short-Term Working Memory

Abstract

A frequent assumption in cognitive psychology is that performance in decision making and planning is severely restricted by the limited capacity of short-term working memory. Many predictions of this theory have not been supported, possibly because working memory may be composed of multiple resources rather than a single resource. The present experiments study two tasks, both involving memory for digits. Although these tasks can employ the same modality for input and for responding, they appear to differ in their demands for working memory resources. Specifically, the tasks appear to differ in resources required for processing at input, and they also differ in resources in the sense of storage capacity. The results support a version of multiple-resource theory applied to working memory in which resource composition depends on internal mediators even when stimulus and response modality are held constant.