VerhaeghenCerellaBasakBoppZhangHoyer

Verhaeghen et al. -- Ins and Outs of Working Memory -- p. 1The Ins and Outs of Working Memory:Dynamic Processes Associated with Focus Switching and SearchPaul Verhaeghen, John CerellaSyracuse UniversityChandramallika Basak Beckman InstituteKara BoppWofford CollegeYanmin Zhang, William J. Hoyer Syracuse UniversityFirst version of a chapter for: Osaka, N., Logie, R. & D’Esposito, M. (eds.).

Working Memory: Behavioural & Neural Correlates

, Oxford University Press.

Verhaeghen et al. -- Ins and Outs of Working Memory -- p. 2Recent theories of working memory propose that working memory is not unitary, but issubdivided into concentric regions that differ in the accessibility of the storedinformation. Cowan’s (e.g., 1995, 2001) model has probably been most influential in thisregard. This model proposes a hierarchical two-tier structure for working memory,distinguishing a zone of privileged and immediate access, labeled the focus of attention,from a larger activated portion of long-term memory in which items are stored in areadily available but not immediately accessible state. (In accordance with theterminology introduced by McElree, 2001, the accessibility of an element in workingmemory is defined by the time needed to retrieve it; availability is defined by the probability that the element is retrieved correctly.) The focus of attention is capacity-limited, and contains a fixed number of items; the activated portion of long-term memoryis not capacity-limited, but items stored in this structure are subject to interference anddecay. Note that in this view, working memory is seen not as a separate cognitive system, but rather as an arena consisting of activated elements on which attentional processesoperate; the ‘central executive’ (e.g., Baddeley, 1996) is no longer a structural element of the model, but rather is equated with this set of processes.A logical consequence of this two-tier structure is the existence of a focus-switching process (McElree, 2001; as far as we can determine, the term ‘focus switch’was coined by Voigt & Hagendorf, 2002). When the number of items to be retained inworking memory is smaller than or equal to the capacity of the focus of attention, theywill be contained in this inner store; there they are immediately retrievable, and accesstimes will be fast. When the number of items to be retained exceeds the capacity of thefocus, however, the excess items will be stored outside the focus of attention. Accessing

Verhaeghen et al. -- Ins and Outs of Working Memory -- p. 3items for processing will necessitate a retrieval operation; this will slow down accesstime.

1. Focus switching and the capacity of the focus of attention: The new magical number 2.5 plus-or-minus 1.5

Cowan’s theory provides an operational definition of the capacity of the focus of attention: capacity is measured by the number of items that can be accessed immediately.The measurement can be made for any task that requires retrieval from working memory-- when the number of items to be retained is systematically increased, a jump in responsetimes will occur when the limit of the focus of attention is reached.An aspect of working memory revealed by such measurements is that the capacityof the focus of attention is not fixed but expandable, up to a point. Early studiessuggested a capacity of the “magical number seven plus or minus two” (Miller, 1956).This estimate is probably too large. It was derived from forward digit span tasks, and ithas been shown that these tasks are contaminated with the effects of rehearsal (Cowan,2001). Following an extensive review of the literature, Cowan ascribed to the focus of attention a size of four (plus or minus one). Evidence for his estimate came from a varietyof experiments in a large number of research domains, including cluster size in free recallfrom episodic memory, the limits of perfect recall from immediate memory, proactiveinterference effects, the limits of cued partial reports, subitizing spans, multiple-objecttracking, and the limits of consistently mapped search. The range of the evidence isstaggering: Cowan’s Table 1 cites 41 key references from 17 different research domains,all pointing to the magical number four. Recent research using evoked potentials todirectly assess the capacity of visual working memory as activation in the parietal cortex