Why is working memory related to intelligence? Different contributions from storage and processing

Memory

Volumn 22, Issue 4, 2014, Pages 426-441

  Dang, Cai Ping ^a   Braeken, Johan ^b   Colom, Roberto ^c   Ferrer, Emilio ^d   Liu, Chang ^e  

^a GUANGZHOU MEDICAL UNIVERSITY   (China)

^b TILBURG UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

^c UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE MADRID   (Spain)

^d UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^e NANJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY   (China)

Author keywords

Crystallised intelligence; Executive functioning; Fluid intelligence; Short term memory; Working memory

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ARTICLE; EXECUTIVE FUNCTION; FEMALE; HUMAN; INDIVIDUALITY; INTELLIGENCE; INTELLIGENCE TEST; MALE; PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL; SHORT TERM MEMORY; YOUNG ADULT;

ADOLESCENT; EXECUTIVE FUNCTION; FEMALE; HUMANS; INDIVIDUALITY; INTELLIGENCE; INTELLIGENCE TESTS; MALE; MEMORY, SHORT-TERM; MODELS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84894311428     PISSN: 09658211     EISSN: 14640686     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2013.797471     Document Type: Article

References (82)

1. Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2002). Individual differences in working memory within a nomological network of cognitive and perceptual speed abilities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 567 589. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.131.4.567
2. Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 30-60. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.30
3. Adrover-Roig, D., Sesé, A., Barcelo, F., & Palmer, A. (2012). A latent variable approach to executive control in healthy ageing. Brain and Cognition, 78, 284-299. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2012.01.005
4. Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Verbal and visuospatial short-term memory in children: Are they separable? Child Development, 77, 1698-1716. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00968.x
5. Anderson, M. (2001). Annotation: Conceptions of intelligence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 287-298. doi: 10.1017/S0021963001007016
6. Baddeley, A. D. (1992). Working memory. Science, 255, 556-559. doi: 10.1126/science.1736359
7. Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol 8). New York: Academic Press.
8. Barbey, A. K, Colom, R., Solomon, J., Krueger, F., Forbes, C., & Grafman, J. (2012). An integrative architecture for general intelligence and executive function revealed by lesion mapping. Brain, 135, 1154-1164. doi: 10.1093/brain/aws021
9. Bayliss, D. M., Jarrold, C., Gunn, D. M., & Baddeley, A. D. (2003). The complexities of complex span: Explaining individual differences in working memory in children and adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 71-92. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.132.1.71
10. Benson, N. (2007). Cattell Horn Carroll cognitive abilities and reading achievement. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 26, 27-41. doi: 10.1177/0734282907301424
11. Buehner, M., Krumm, S., & Pick, M. (2005). Reasoning = working memory≠attention. Intelligence, 33, 251-272. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2005.01.002
12. Carpenter, P. A., Just, M. A., & Reichle, E. D. (2000). Working memory and executive function: evidence from neuroimaging. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 10, 195-199. doi: 10.1016/S0959-4388(00)00074-X
13. Cattell, R. B. (1940). A culture-free intelligence test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 31, 161-179. doi: 10.1037/h0059043
14. Cattell, R. B. (1971). Abilities: Their structure, growth, and action. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
15. Chuderski, A., Taraday, M., Ne{ogonek}cka, E., & Smoleń, T. (2012). Storage capacity explains fluid intelligence but executive control does not. Intelligence, 40, 278-295, doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2012.02.010
16. Colom, R., Abad, F. J., Quiroga, M. A., 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.2008.01.002
17. Colom, R., Abad, F. J., Rebollo, I., & Shih, P. C. (2005). Memory span and general intelligence: A latent-variable approach. Intelligence, 33, 623-642. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2005.05.006
18. Colom, R., Burgaleta, M., Román, F. J., Karama, S., Álvarez-Linera, J., Abad, F. J. Haier, R. J. (2013). Neuroanatomic overlap between intelligence and cognitive factors: Morphometry methods provide support for the key role of the frontal lobes. NeuroImage, 15, 143-152. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.01.032
19. Colom, R., Flores-Mendoza, C., Quiroga, M. Á., & Privado, J. (2005). Working memory and general intelligence: The role of short-term storage. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 1005-1014. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.03.020
20. Colom, R., Jung, R. E., & Haier, R. J. (2007). General intelligence and memory span: Evidence for a common neuroanatomic framework. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 24, 867-878. doi: 10.1080/02643290701781557
21. Colom, R., Rebollo, I., Abad, F. J., & Shih, P. C. (2006a). Complex span tasks, simple span tasks, and cognitive abilities: A re-analysis of key studies. Memory & Cognition, 34, 158-171. doi: 10.3758/BF03193395
22. Colom, R., Shih, P. C., Flores-Mendoza, C., & Quiroga, M. A. (2006b). The real relationship between short-term memory and working memory. Memory, 14, 804-813. doi: 10.1080/09658210600680020
23. Colom, R., Rubio, V. J., Shih, P. C., & Santacreu, J. (2006). Fluid intelligence, working memory and executive functioning. Psicothema, 18, 816-821
24. Conway, A. R. A., Cowan, N., Bunting, M. F., Therriault, D. J., & Minkoff, S. (2002). A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 30, 163-183. doi: 10.1016/S0160-2896(01)00096-4
25. Corbetta, M., & Shulman, G. L. (2002). Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 201-215. doi: 10.1038/nrn755
26. Dang, C.-P., Braeken, J., Ferrer, E., & Liu, C., (2012). Unitary or non-unitary nature of working memory? Evidence from its relation to general fluid and crystallised intelligence. Intelligence, 40, 499-508. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2012.05.002
27. Dempster, F. N. (1991). Inhibitory processes: A neglected dimension of intelligence. Intelligence, 15, 157-173. doi: 10.1016/0160-2896(91)90028-C
28. Duan, X., Wei, S., Wang, G., & Shi, J. (2010). The relationship between executive functions and intelligence on 11- to 12-year-old children. Psychological Test and Assessment Modelling, 52, 419-431.
29. Duncan, J., & Owen, A. M. (2000). Common regions of the human frontal lobe recruited by diverse cognitive demands. Trends in Neurosciences, 23, 475-483. doi: 10.1016/S0166-2236(00)01633-7
30. Engle, R. W., Kane, M. J., & Tuholski, S. W. (1999a). Individual differences in working memory capacity and what they tell us about controlled attention, general fluid intelligence, and functions of the prefrontal cortex. In A. Miyake, & P. Shah (Eds.), Models of working memory (pp. 102-134). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
31. 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. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.128.3.309
32. Fisk, J. E., & Sharp, C. A. (2004). Age-related impairment in executive functioning: updating, inhibition, shifting, and access. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26, 874-890. doi: 10.1080/13803390490510680
33. Friedman, N. P., Miyake, A., Corley, R. P., Young, S. E., DeFries, J. C., & Hewitt, J. K. (2006). Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychological science, 17, 172-179. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01681
34. Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1989). Evaluation of the role of phonological STM in the development of vocabulary in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 200-213. doi: 10.1016/0749-596X(89)90044-2
35. Gong, Q., Sluming, V., Mayes, A., Keller, S., Barrick, T., Cezayirli, E., et al. (2005). Voxel-based morphometry and stereology provide convergent evidence of the importance of medial prefrontal cortex for fluid intelligence in healthy adults. Neuroimage, 25, 1175-1186. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.12.044
36. Gong, Y. X. & Collaborative group of revising Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. (1992). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-RC) manual (China amendment). Changsha, China: Hunan Cartographic Press.
37. Gray, J., Chabris, C., & Braver, T. (2003). Neural mechanisms of general fluid intelligence. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 316-322. doi: 10.1038/nn1014
38. Halford, G. S., Wilson, W. H., & Phillips, S. (1998). Processing capacity defined by relational complexity: Implications for comparative, developmental, and cognitive psychology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 803-831.
39. Hambrick, D. Z. (2005). The role of domain knowledge in higher-level cognition. In O. Wilhelm & R. W. Engle, Handbook of understanding and measuring intelligence (pp. 361-372). London: Sage.
40. Healey, M. K., Hasher, L., & Danilova, E., (2011). The stability of working memory: Do previous tasks influence complex span? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140, 573-585. doi: 10.1037/a0024587
41. Horn, J. L., & Noll, J. (1997). Human cognitive capabilities: Gf±Gc theory. In D. P. Flanagan, J. L. Genshaft, & P. L. Harrison (Eds.), Contemporary intellectual assessment. Theories, tests, and issues. New York: Guilford Press.
42. Hornung, C., Brunner, M., Reuter, R. A. P., & Martin, R. (2011). Children's working memory: Its structure and relationship to fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 39, 210-221. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2011.03.002
43. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modelling, 6, 1-55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118
44. Hunt. E. (2011). Human intelligence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
45. Jung, R. E., & Haier, R. J. (2007). The parieto-frontal integration theory (P-FIT) of intelligence: Converging neuroimaging evidence. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30, 135-154. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X07001185
46. Kaller, C. P., Unterrainer, J. M., Rahm, B., & Halsband, U. (2004). The impact of problem structure on planning: Insights from the Tower of London task. Cognitive Brain Research, 20, 462-472. doi: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.04.002
47. Kane, M. J., & Engle, R. W. (2002). The role of prefrontal cortex in working-memory capacity, executive attention, and general fluid intelligence: An individual differences perspective. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 9, 637-671. doi: 10.3758/BF03196323
48. Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2004). The generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 189-217. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.133.2.189
49. Krumm, S., Schmidt-Atzert, L., Buehner, M., Ziegler, M., Michalczyk, K., & Arrow, K. (2009). Storage and non-storage components of working memory predicting reasoning: A simultaneous examination of a wide range of ability factors. Intelligence, 37, 347-364. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2009.02.003
50. Kyllonen, P. C., & Christal, R. E. (1990). Reasoning ability is (little more than) working-memory capacity. Intelligence, 14, 389-433. doi: 10.1016/S0160-2896(05)80012-1
51. Lehto, J. E., Juujärvi, P., Kooistra, L., & Pulkkinen, L. (2003). Dimensions of executive functioning: Evidence from children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21, 59-80. doi: 10.1348/026151003321164627
52. Mackintosh, N. J., & Bennet, E.S. (2003). The fractionation of working memory maps onto different components of intelligence. Intelligence, 31, 519-531. doi: 10.1016/S0160-2896(03)00052-7
53. Martínez, K., Burgaleta, M., Román, F.J., Escorial, S., Shih, P. C., Quiroga, M. Á., & Colom, R. (2011). Can fluid intelligence be reduced to 'simple' short-term storage? Intelligence, 39, 473-480. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2011.09.001
54. Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167-202. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.167
55. Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Rettinger, D. A., Shah, P., & Hegarty, M. (2001). How are visuospatial working memory, executive functioning, and spatial abilities related? A latent-variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 621-640. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.130.4.621
56. Oberauer, K., Lange, E., & Engle, R. (2004). Working memory capacity and resistance to interference. Journal of Memory and Language, 51, 80-96. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2004.03.003
57. Oberauer, K., Schultze, R., Wilhelm, O., & Süß, H.-M. (2005). Working memory and intelligence - Their correlation and their relation: Comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 61-65. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.61
58. Oberauer, K., Süß, H.-M., Wilhelm, O., & Sander, N. (2007). Individual differences in working memory capacity and reasoning ability. In A. R. A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. J. Kane, A. Miyake, & J. N. Towse (Eds.), Variation in working memory (pp. 49-75). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
59. Oberauer, K., Süβ, H.-M., Wilhelm, O., & Wittmann, W. W. (2008). Which working memory functions predict intelligence? Intelligence, 36, 641-652. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2008.01.007
60. Prabhakaran, V., Smith, J., Desmond, J., Glover, G., & Gabrieli, J. (1997). Neural substrates of fluid reasoning: An fMRI study of neocortical activation during performance of the Raven's Progressive Matrices test. Cognitive Psychology, 33, 43-63. doi: 10.1006/cogp.1997.0659
61. Raven, J. (1989). The Raven progressive matrices: A review of national norming studies and ethnic and socioeconomic variation within the United States. Journal of Educational Measurement, 26, 1-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-3984.1989.tb00314.x
62. Reitan, R. M. (1992). Trail Making Test. South Tucson, AZ: Reitan Neuropsychology Laboratory.
63. Salthouse, T. A. (2005). Relations between cognitive abilities and measures of executive functioning. Neuropsychology, 19, 532-545. doi: 10.1037/0894-4105.19.4.532
64. Salthouse, T. A., Atkinson, T. M., & Berish, D. E. (2003). Executive functioning as a potential mediator of age-related cognitive decline in normal adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 566-594. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.132.4.566
65. Salthouse, T. A., Fristoe, N., McGuthry, K. E., & Hambrick, D. Z. (1998). Relation of task switching to speed, age, and fluid intelligence. Psychology and Aging, 13, 445-461. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.13.3.445
66. Schroeders, U., Wilhelm, O. & Bucholtz, N. (2010). Reading, listening, and viewing comprehension in English as a foreign language: One or more constructs? Intelligence, 38, 562-57310.1016/j.intell.2010.09.003
67. Sternberg, R. J. (1988). The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence. New York, NY: Viking Penguin.
68. Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643-662. doi: 10.1037/h0054651
69. Süß, H., Oberauer, K., Wittman, W., Wilhelm, O., & Schulze, R. (2002). Working memory capacity explains reasoning ability - and a little bit more. Intelligence, 30, 261-288. doi: 10.1016/S0160-2896(01)00100-3
70. Tillman, C. M., Bohlin, G., Sørensen, L., Lundervold, A. J. (2009). Intelligence and specific cognitive abilities in children. Journal of Individual Differences, 30, 209-219. doi: 10.1027/1614-0001.30.4.209
71. Tyson, P. J., Laws, K. R., Roberts, H. K., & Mortimer, A. M. (2004). Stability of set-shifting and planning abilities in patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research, 129, 229-239. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2004.09.007
72. Unsworth, N., & Engle, R. W. (2007). On the division of short-term and working memory: An examination of simple and complex span and their relation to higher order abilities. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 1038-1066. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.133.6.1038
73. Unsworth, N., & Spillers, G. J. (2010). Working memory capacity: Attention, memory, or both? A direct test of the dual-component model. Journal of Memory and Language, 62, 392-406. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2010.02.001
74. Van der Sluis, S., de Jong, P., & van der Leij, A. (2007). Executive functioning in children, and its relations with reasoning, reading, and arithmetic. Intelligence, 35, 427-449. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2006.09.001
75. Vernon, P. A., Wickett, J. C., Bazana, P. G., & Stelmack, R. M. (2000). The neuropsychology and neurophysiology of human intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
76. Wechsler, D. (1955). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Oxford, UK: Psychological Corp.
77. Welsh, M. C., & Huizinga, M. (2001). The development and preliminary validation of the Tower of Hanoi-Revised. Assessment, 8, 167-176. doi: 10.1177/107319110100800205
78. Welsh, M. C., Pennington, B. F., & Groisser, D. B. (1991). A normative-developmental study of executive function: A window on prefrontal function in children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 7, 131-149. doi: 10.1080/87565649109540483
79. Wu, K. K., Anderson, V., & Castiello, U. (2002). Neuropsychological evaluation of deficits in executive functioning for ADHD children with and without additional learning disabilities. Developmental Neuropsychology, 22, 501-531.
80. Zhang, H. C., & Wang, X. P. (1989). Raven's standard progressive matrices revised in China. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 21, 113-120.
81. Zheng, R. C. (1995). Handbook of Cattell's culture fair test of intelligence (Chinese version). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.
82. Zook, N. A., Davalos, D. B., DeLosh, E. L., & Davis, H. P. (2004). Working memory, inhibition, and fluid intelligence as predictors of performance on Tower of Hanoi and London tasks. Brain and cognition, 56, 286-292.