Abstract
The present study examined the claim that secondary memory processes account for the correlation between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence via a latent variable analysis. In the present study, participants performed multiple measures of secondary memory, working memory capacity, and fluid intelligence. Structural equation modeling suggested that both secondary memory and working memory capacity account for unique variance in fluid intelligence. These results are inconsistent with recent claims that working memory capacity does not account for variance in fluid intelligence over and above what is accounted for by secondary memory. Rather, the results are consistent with models of working memory capacity that suggest that both maintenance and retrieval processes are needed to account for the substantial relation between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence.
Article PDF
References
Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 30–60.
Cowan, N. (2008). What are the differences between long-term, shortterm, and working memory? In W. Sossin, J.-C. Lacaille, V. F. Castellucci, & S. Belleville (Eds.), The essence of memory (pp. 323–338). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Cowan, N., Elliott, E. M., Saults, J. S., Morey, C. C., Mattox, S., Hismjatullina, A., & Conway, A. R. A. (2005). On the capacity of attention: Its estimation and its role in working memory and cognitive aptitudes. Cognitive Psychology, 51, 42–100.
Engle, R. W., & Kane, M. J. (2004). Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a two-factor theory of cognitive control. In B. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 44, pp. 145–199). New York: Elsevier.
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., & Conway, A. R. A. (2005). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs: Comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131, 66–71.
Mogle, J. A., Lovett, B. J., Stawski, R. S., & Sliwinski, M. J. (2008). What’s so special about working memory? An examination of the relationship among working memory, secondary memory, and fluid intelligence. Psychological Science, 19, 1071–1077.
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). New York: Oxford.
Raven, J. C., Raven, J. E., & Court, J. H. (1998). Progressive matrices. Oxford: Oxford Psychologists Press.
Unsworth, N., & Brewer, G. A. (in press). Examining the relationships among item recognition, source recognition, and recall from an individual differences perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition.
Unsworth, N., & Engle, R. W. (2006). Simple and complex memory spans and their relation to fluid abilities: Evidence from list-length effects. Journal of Memory & Language, 54, 68–80.
Unsworth, N., & Engle, R. W. (2007a). The nature of individual differences in working memory capacity: Active maintenance in primary memory and controlled search from secondary memory. Psychological Review, 114, 104–132.
Unsworth N., & Engle, R. W. (2007b). On the division of short-term and working memory: An examination of simple and complex spans and their relation to higher order abilities. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 1038–1066.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Unsworth, N., Brewer, G.A. & Spillers, G.J. There’s more to the working memory capacity—fluid intelligence relationship than just secondary memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 16, 931–937 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.16.5.931
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.16.5.931