Distinctiveness as a function of spatial expansion in verbal working memory: comment on Kreitz, Furley, Memmert, and Simons (2015)

In a recent study, Kreitz et al. (Psychological Research 79:1034–1041, 2015) reported on a relationship between verbal working memory capacity and visuo-spatial attentional breadth. The authors hinted at attentional control to be the major link underlying this relationship. We put forward an alternative explanation by framing it within the context of a recent theory on serial order in memory: verbal item sequences entering in working memory are coded by adding a spatial context that can be derived from reading/writing habits. The observation by Kreitz et al. (Psychological Research 79:1034–1041, 2015) enriches this framework by suggesting that a larger visuo-spatial attentional breadth allows for internal coding of the verbal items in a more (spatially) distinct manner–thereby increasing working memory performance. As such, Kreitz et al. (Psychological Research 79:1034–1041, 2015) is the first study revealing a functional link between visuo-spatial attentional breadth and verbal working memory size, which strengthens spatial accounts of serial order coding in working memory.