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Related Concept Videos

Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Measuring the Switch Cost of Smartphone Use While Walking
07:00

Measuring the Switch Cost of Smartphone Use While Walking

Published on: April 30, 2020

Working memory costs of task switching.

Baptist Liefooghe1, Pierre Barrouillet, André Vandierendonck

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. baptist.liefooghe@ugent.be

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|May 1, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Task switching incurs a cost on working memory, impacting recall performance. This study provides evidence that switching tasks, not item maintenance, drives this working memory cost.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Cognition

Background:

  • Task switching is often linked to working memory demands.
  • Empirical evidence directly linking task switching to increased working memory load is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether task switching imposes additional demands on working memory.
  • To clarify the relationship between task switching, working memory, and performance costs.

Main Methods:

  • Task switching was implemented within continuous complex span tasks.
  • Strictly controlled time parameters were utilized across four experiments.
  • Recall performance was measured as a function of task switches and concurrent item maintenance load.

Main Results:

  • Recall performance significantly decreased with an increasing number of task switches.
  • The concurrent load of maintaining items did not affect task switching performance.
  • Task switching demonstrated a clear cost on working memory functioning.

Conclusions:

  • Task switching directly induces a cost on working memory capacity.
  • Findings challenge theories that solely attribute switch costs to working memory limitations.
  • Results have implications for understanding resource sharing in cognitive control.