On the Relation of Working Memory and Multitasking: Memory Span and Synthetic Work Performance

Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 2016, Pages 401-409

  Redick, Thomas S ^a  

^a PURDUE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Applied; Multitasking; Working memory

Indexed keywords

EID: 84992450936     PISSN: 22113681     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.05.003     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Ackerman, P.L., Beier, M.E., Further explorations of perceptual speed abilities in the context of assessment methods, cognitive abilities, and individual differences during skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 13 (2007), 249–272, 10.1037/1076-898X.13.4.249.
2. Bratfisch, O., Hagman, E., Simultankapazität/multi-tasking (SIMKAP) version 24.00: Handanweisung (Trans.) Simultaneous capacity/multi-tasking (SIMKAP) release 24.00: Manual, 2003, Schuhfried, Mödling, Austria.
3. Broadway, J.M., Engle, R.W., Validating running memory span: Measurement of working memory capacity and links with fluid intelligence. Behavior Research Methods 42 (2010), 563–570, 10.3758/BRM.42.2.563.
4. Bühner, M., König, C., Pick, M., Krumm, S., Working memory dimensions as differential predictors of the speed and error aspect of multitasking performance. Human Performance 19 (2006), 253–275, 10.1207/s15327043hup1903_4.
5. Colom, R., Rebollo, I., Abad, F.J., Shih, P., Complex span tasks, simple span tasks, and cognitive abilities: A reanalysis of key studies. Memory & Cognition 34 (2006), 158–171, 10.3758/BF03193395.
6. Colom, R., Martínez-Molina, A., Shih, P., Santacreu, J., Intelligence, working memory, and multitasking performance. Intelligence 38 (2010), 543–551, 10.1016/j.intell.2010.08.002.
7. Comstock, J.R., Arnegard, R.J., The multi-attribute task battery for human operator workload and strategic behaviour research (Tech. Memorandum No. 104174). 1992, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA.
8. Conway, A.R.A., Kane, M.J., Bunting, M.F., Hambrick, D.Z., Wilhelm, O., Engle, R.W., Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user's guide. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 12:5 (2005), 769–786, 10.3758/BF03196772.
9. Cowan, N., The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (2001), 97–185.
10. Cowan, N., Elliott, E.M., Saults, J., Morey, C.C., Mattox, S., Hismjatullina, A., et al. On the capacity of attention: Its estimation and its role in working memory and cognitive aptitudes. Cognitive Psychology 51 (2005), 42–100, 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2004.12.001.
11. Daneman, M., Carpenter, P.A., Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior 19:4 (1980), 450–466, 10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90312-6.
12. Elsmore, T.F., SYNWORK: A PC-based tool for assessment of performance in a simulated work environment. Behavior Research Methods, Instrumentation, and Computers 26 (1994), 421–426, 10.3758/BF03204659.
13. Engle, R.W., Tuholski, S.W., Laughlin, J.E., Conway, A.R.A., Working memory, short-term memory and general fluid intelligence: A latent-variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 128 (1999), 309–331, 10.1037/0096-3445.128.3.309.
14. Foster, J.L., Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T.L., Hicks, K.L., Redick, T.S., Engle, R.W., Shortened complex span tasks can reliably measure working memory capacity. Memory & Cognition 43 (2015), 226–236, 10.3758/s13421-014-0461-7.
15. Hambrick, D.Z., Oswald, F.L., Darowski, E.S., Rench, T.A., Brou, R., Predictors of multitasking performance in a synthetic work paradigm. Applied Cognitive Psychology 24 (2010), 1149–1167, 10.1002/acp.1624.
16. Hambrick, D.Z., Rench, T.A., Poposki, E.M., Darowski, E.S., Roland, D., Bearden, R.M., et al. The relationship between the ASVAB and multitasking in Navy sailors: A process-specific approach. Military Psychology 23 (2011), 365–380, 10.1037/h0094762.
17. Jaeggi, S.M., Buschkuehl, M., Perrig, W.J., Meier, B., The concurrent validity of the n-back task as a working memory measure. Memory 18 (2010), 394–412, 10.1080/09658211003702171.
18. Kane, M.J., Conway, A.R.A., Miura, T.K., Colflesh, J.H., Working memory, attention control, and the n-back task: A question of construct validity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 33 (2007), 615–632, 10.1037/0278-7393.33.3.615.
19. König, C.J., Bühner, M., Mürling, G., Working memory, fluid intelligence, and attention are predictors of multitasking performance, but polychronicity and extraversion are not. Human Performance 18 (2005), 243–266, 10.1207/s15327043hup1803_3.
20. Luck, S.J., Vogel, E.K., Visual working memory capacity: From psychophysics and neurobiology to individual differences. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 17 (2013), 391–400, 10.1016/j.tics.2013.06.006.
21. McVay, J.C., Kane, M.J., Why does working memory capacity predict variation in reading comprehension? On the influence of mind wandering and executive attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 141 (2012), 302–320, 10.1037/a0025250.
22. Medeiros-Ward, N., Watson, J.M., Strayer, D.L., On supertaskers and the neural basis of efficient multitasking. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 22 (2015), 876–883, 10.3758/s13423-014-0713-3.
23. Minear, M., Brasher, F., McCurdy, M., Lewis, J., Younggren, A., Working memory, fluid intelligence, and impulsiveness in heavy media multitaskers. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 20 (2013), 1274–1281, 10.3758/s13423-013-0456-6.
24. Morgan, B., D'Mello, S., Abbott, R., Radvansky, G., Haass, M., Tamplin, A., Individual differences in multitasking ability and adaptability. Human Factors 55 (2013), 776–788, 10.1177/1071181311551191.
25. Ophir, E., Nass, C., Wagner, A.D., Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 (2009), 15583–15587, 10.1073/pnas.0903620106.
26. Oswald, F.L., Hambrick, D.Z., Jones, L.A., Keeping all the plates spinning: Understanding and predicting multitasking performance. Jonassen, D.H., (eds.) Learning to solve complex scientific problems, 2007, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 77–97.
27. Oswald, F.O., McAbee, S.T., Redick, T.S., Hambrick, D.Z., The development of a short domain-general measure of working memory capacity. Behavior Research Methods 47 (2015), 1343–1355, 10.3758/s13428-014-0543-2.
28. Proctor, R.W., Wang, D.Y., Pick, D.F., An empirical evaluation of the SYNWORK1 multiple-task work environment. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers 30 (1998), 287–305, 10.3758/BF03200657.
29. Redick, T.S., Broadway, J.M., Meier, M.E., Kuriakose, P.S., Unsworth, N., Kane, M.J., et al. Measuring working memory capacity with automated complex span tasks. European Journal of Psychological Assessment 28 (2012), 164–171, 10.1027/1015-5759/a000123.
30. Redick, T.S., Lindsey, D.R.B., Complex span and n-back measures of working memory: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 20 (2013), 1102–1113, 10.3758/s13423-013-0453-9.
31. Redick, T.S., Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T.L., Hicks, K.L., Fried, D.E., Hambrick, D.Z., et al. No evidence of intelligence improvement after working memory training: A randomized, placebo-controlled study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 142 (2013), 359–379, 10.1037/a0029082.
32. Salthouse, T.A., Hambrick, D.Z., Lukas, K.E., Dell, T.C., Determinants of adult age differences on synthetic work performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2 (1996), 305–329, 10.1037/1076-898X.2.4.305.
33. Salthouse, T.A., Pink, J.E., Why is working memory related to fluid intelligence?. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 15 (2008), 364–371, 10.3758/PBR.15.2.364.
34. Sanbonmatsu, D.M., Strayer, D.L., Medeiros-Ward, N., Watson, J.M., Who multi-tasks and why? Multi-tasking ability, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. PLoS ONE, 8(1), 2013, e54402, 10.1371/journal.pone.0054402.
35. Schmiedek, F., Hildebrandt, A., Lövdén, M., Wilhelm, O., Lindenberger, U., Complex span versus updating tasks of working memory: The gap is not that deep. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 35 (2009), 1089–1096, 10.1037/a0015730.
36. Shipstead, Z., Lindsey, D.B., Marshall, R.L., Engle, R.W., The mechanisms of working memory capacity: Primary memory, secondary memory, and attention control. Journal of Memory and Language 72 (2014), 116–141, 10.1016/j.jml.2014.01.004.
37. St. Clair-Thompson, H., Ascending versus randomised list lengths in working memory span tasks. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 24 (2012), 335–341, 10.1080/20445911.2011.639760.
38. Tonidandel, S., LeBreton, J.M., RWA web: A free, comprehensive, web-based, and user-friendly tool for relative weight analyses. Journal of Business and Psychology 30:2 (2015), 207–216, 10.1007/s10869-014-9351-z.
39. Unsworth, N., Engle, R.W., Simple and complex memory spans and their relation to fluid abilities: Evidence from list-length effects. Journal of Memory and Language 54 (2006), 68–80, 10.1016/j.jml.2005.06.003.
40. Unsworth, N., Engle, R.W., 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 (2007), 1038–1066, 10.1037/0033-2909.133.6.1038.
41. Unsworth, N., Fukuda, K., Awh, E., Vogel, E.K., Working memory and fluid intelligence: Capacity, attention control, and secondary memory retrieval. Cognitive Psychology 71 (2014), 1–26, 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2014.01.003.
42. Unsworth, N., Redick, T.S., Heitz, R.P., Broadway, J.M., Engle, R.W., Complex working memory span tasks and higher-order cognition: A latent-variable analysis of the relationship between processing and storage. Memory 17 (2009), 635–654, 10.1080/09658210902998047.
43. Watson, J.M., Strayer, D.L., Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 17 (2010), 479–485, 10.3758/PBR.17.4.479.