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Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
Published on: June 12, 2017
Neuropsychological evidence for separating components of visuo-spatial working memory.
S Darling1, S Della Sala, R H Logie
1Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths' College, New Cross, London, UK.
Journal of Neurology
|August 13, 2005
Summary
Visuo-spatial working memory may involve separate systems for appearance and location. Brain injury data suggests distinct processing for visual features versus spatial arrangement.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuropsychology
Background:
- Growing evidence suggests visuo-spatial working memory is not a unitary system.
- The precise nature and segregation of these proposed subsystems remain largely undefined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential segregation of visual appearance and spatial location processing within working memory.
- To examine if differential processing is observable under controlled presentation styles.
Main Methods:
- Case study analysis of two brain-injured patients.
- Controlled presentation of stimuli (sequential vs. simultaneous) to assess working memory function.
Main Results:
- Data suggests distinct subsystems for retaining visual appearance information and spatial location information.
- Differential processing was evident when controlling for stimulus presentation style.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the hypothesis of separate cognitive subsystems for visual appearance and spatial location in working memory.
- This segregation has implications for understanding the architecture of human memory and attention.
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