Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

134
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...
134

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Artificial intelligence as a partner in meta-analysis-Research agenda, user recommendations, and speed-accuracy tradeoffs: Commentary on Jansen et al. (2025).

Psychological bulletin·2026
Same author

Self-reported and task-based measures of attention control are distinct.

Behavior research methods·2026
Same author

Consistently mapped but consistently demanding: Predicting skilled performance.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same author

Task, person, and experiential characteristics drive the transfer of learning.

Communications psychology·2026
Same author

Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same author

Communicating science, not magic.

Communications psychology·2025
Same journal

Mind wandering during first- and foreign-language reading.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Lexical word processing is unaffected by rapid invisible frequency tagging in reading: Evidence from eye movements.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Anxiety modulates voluntary attentional orienting to emotional gaze cues: Eye movements for pro- and anti-saccades.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Faster key-press responses to front vowels than back vowels when matching heard vowels with represented vowels.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

Testing the interleaving effect without response bias: A forced-choice reevaluation of Kornell and Bjork (2008).

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same journal

The impact of social interaction on abstract concepts.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
09:05

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)

Published on: June 12, 2017

29.6K

Which "working memory" are we talking about? Complex span tasks versus N-back.

Alexander P Burgoyne1,2, David J Frank3, Brooke N Macnamara4,5

  • 1Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO), Alexandria, VA, 22314, USA. burgoyn4@gmail.com.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|December 5, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Complex span and n-back tasks measure working memory differently. Updating tasks, emphasizing disengagement from old information, show stronger links to fluid intelligence than working memory capacity tasks.

Keywords:
DisengagementFluid intelligenceMaintenanceUpdatingWorking memory capacity

More Related Videos

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

4.6K
Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity
10:43

Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity

Published on: July 1, 2014

15.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
09:05

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)

Published on: June 12, 2017

29.6K
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

4.6K
Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity
10:43

Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity

Published on: July 1, 2014

15.0K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Complex span and n-back tasks are commonly used to assess working memory capacity.
  • Evidence regarding the convergent validity of these tasks is inconsistent.
  • This inconsistency impacts interpretations in various psychological research fields.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the convergent validity between complex span and n-back tasks.
  • To examine the dissociation between working memory capacity and updating constructs.
  • To explore the relationship of these constructs with fluid intelligence.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited a large, diverse sample (N=1,272) across multiple sites.
  • Administered various working memory capacity, updating, and fluid intelligence tests.
  • Analyzed correlations at both observed and latent levels.

Main Results:

  • Found strong evidence for a dissociation between complex span and n-back tasks.
  • Observed modest correlations (r̄=.25) between complex span and n-back performance.
  • Identified unique variance in fluid intelligence explained by each task type, with updating measures showing stronger relations.

Conclusions:

  • Complex span and n-back tasks measure distinct aspects of cognition.
  • Working memory capacity and updating are dissociable factors.
  • Researchers should not use complex span and n-back tasks interchangeably for measuring working memory capacity or updating.