Abstract
The aim of the present research was to determine whether short-term memory and working memory could be distinguished. In two studies, 7- to 13-year-olds (N = 155,N = 132) were administered tasks thought to assess short-term memory as well as tasks thought to assess working memory. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses distinguished short-term memory tasks from working memory tasks. In addition, performance on working memory tasks was related to word decoding skill but performance on short-term memory tasks was not. Finally, performance on both short-term memory and working memory tasks were associated with age-related increases in processing speed. Results are discussed in relation to models of short-term and working memory.
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The research described in this article was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SBR-9413019). We thank Christina Conrad, René Kline, and Laura Curry for testing children; the staff and students of Otterbein Elementary School for their friendly cooperation; and Andy Conway for his help with the data analyses.
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Kail, R., Hall, L.K. Distinguishing short-term memory from working memory. Memory & Cognition 29, 1–9 (2001). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195735
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195735