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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: May 31, 2026

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

The stability of working memory: do previous tasks influence complex span?

M Karl Healey1, Lynn Hasher, Elena Danilova

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. healeym@sas.upenn.edu

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|July 20, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Prior tasks impact working memory span, but not due to depleted cognitive resources. The effect depends on stimulus similarity between tasks, suggesting domain-specific interference rather than general resource depletion.

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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
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Published on: July 16, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Prior research suggested depleted cognitive resources reduce working memory span after initial tasks.
  • The role of stimulus domain and task specificity in this effect remained unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether prior tasks affect working memory span due to general resource depletion or domain-specific interference.
  • To determine the influence of stimulus modality (verbal vs. spatial) in prior task effects on working memory.

Main Methods:

  • Participants completed a working memory span task (verbal or spatial) after performing a prior task involving either words or arrows.
  • A control task (antisaccade) was used to assess domain-general effects.

Main Results:

  • Ignoring words impaired verbal span task performance but not spatial span task performance.
  • Ignoring arrows impaired spatial span task performance but not verbal span task performance.
  • The antisaccade task did not affect performance on either span task.

Conclusions:

  • Working memory span is sensitive to preceding tasks, but this sensitivity arises from domain-specific interference, not general cognitive resource depletion.
  • Stimulus modality matching between prior tasks and span tasks is critical for observing performance decrements.