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21 - Working Memory and Intelligence

from Part V - Intelligence and Information Processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2019

By
Andrew R. A. Conway  and
Kristof Kovacs
Edited by
Robert J. Sternberg
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

Working memory is a system that allows for the maintenance of goal-relevant information in the face of concurrent processing and/or distraction. Working memory plays a role in many real-world cognitive tasks such as reading, reasoning, planning, and problem-solving. It consists of multiple components, including domain-general mechanisms associated with attention control and domain-specific processes associated with short-term storage. It is also a limited capacity system and working memory capacity is highly correlated with general fluid intelligence. This chapter provides a review of cognitive models of working memory, the measurement of working memory capacity, and evidence linking working memory capacity and intelligence. Several theoretical frameworks, such as executive attention theory and process overlap theory, are also discussed.

Keywords

working memoryexecutive attentionfluid intelligencemulticomponent modelprocess overlap theorysampling modelpositive manifoldg factor
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence , pp. 504 - 527
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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