Working memory capacity

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Working memory capacity

Nelson Cowan

(Essays in cognitive psychology)

Psychology Press, 2005

  • : hbk

Available at  / 29 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-231) and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The idea of one's memory "filling up" is a humorous misconception of how memory in general is thought to work; it is actually has no capacity limit. However, the idea of a "full brain" makes more sense with reference to working memory, which is the limited amount of information a person can hold temporarily in an especially accessible form for use in the completion of almost any challenging cognitive task. This groundbreaking book explains the evidence supporting Cowan's theoretical proposal about working memory capacity, and compares it to competing perspectives. Cognitive psychologists profoundly disagree on how working memory is limited: whether by the number of units that can be retained (and, if so, what kind of units and how many?), the types of interfering material, the time that has elapsed, some combination of these mechanisms, or none of them. The book assesses these hypotheses and examines explanations of why capacity limits occur, including vivid biological, cognitive, and evolutionary accounts. The book concludes with a discussion of the practical importance of capacity limits in daily life. Incorporating the latest from the recent surge in research into working memory capacity limits and the remarkable new insights provided by neuroimaging techniques, this book serves as an invaluable resource for all memory researchers and is accessible to a wide range of readers.

Table of Contents

Preface. The Problem of Capacity Limits. The Processing System as a Context to Examine Capacity. Refinement of the Concept of Working Memory Capacity. Capacity Limits and the Measurement of Chunking. Further Evidence of a Constant Capacity. Other Views of Capacity Limits. Why the Capacity Limit?.

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Details

  • NCID
    BA74284972
  • ISBN
    • 9781841690971
  • LCCN
    2005007015
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    New York, NY
  • Pages/Volumes
    ix, 246 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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