Abstract
There is great interest in the relationships between memory span tasks and cognitive abilities. However, the causes underlying their correlation remain unknown. In the present article, five key data sets were reanalyzed according to two criteria: They must consider complex span tasks (so-called working memory [WM] tasks) and simple span tasks (so-called short-term memory [STM] tasks), and they must comprise cognitive ability measures. The obtained results offer several points of interest. First, memory span tasks should be conceived from a hierarchical perspective: They comprise both general and specific components. Second, the general component explains about four times the variance explained by the specific components. Third, STM and WM measures are closely related. Fourth, STM and WM measures share the same common variance with cognitive abilities. Finally, the strong relationship usually found between memory span tasks and cognitive abilities could be tentatively interpreted by the component shared by STM and WM—namely, the capacity for temporarily preserving a reliable memory representation of any given information.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., &Boyle, M. O. (2002). Individual differences in working memory within a nomological network of cognitive and perceptual speed abilities.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,131, 567–589.
Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., &Boyle, M. O. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs?Psychological Bulletin,131, 30–60.
Arbuckle, J. L. (2003). AMOS 5 [Computer software]. Chicago: Small-Waters.
Bayliss, D. M., Jarrold, C., Gunn, D. M., &Baddeley, A. D. (2003). The complexities of complex span: Explaining individual differences in working memory in children and adults.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,132, 71–92.
Byrne, B. M. (1998).Structural equation modeling with LISREL, PRELIS, and SIMPLIS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Carroll, J. B. (1991). No demonstration that g is not unitary, but there’s more to the story: Comment on Kranzler and Jensen.Intelligence,15, 423–436.
Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factoranalytic studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Colom, R., Abad, F. J., Rebollo, I., &Shih, P. C. (2005). Memory span and general intelligence: A latent-variable approach.Intelligence,33, 623–642.
Colom, R., Flores-Mendoza, C., &Rebollo, I. (2003). Working memory and intelligence.Personality & Individual Differences,34, 33–39.
Colom, R., Rebollo, I., Palacios, A., Juan-Espinosa, M., &Kyllonen, P. (2004). Working memory is (almost) perfectly predicted byg.Intelligence,32, 277–296.
Colom, R., &Shih, P. C. (2004). Is working memory fractionated onto different components of intelligence? A reply to Mackintosh and Bennett (2003).Intelligence,32, 431–444.
Conway, A. R. A., Cowan, N., Bunting, M. F., Therriault, D. J., &Minkoff, S. R. B. (2002). A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence.Intelligence,30, 163–184.
Cowan, N. (2004). Working memory capacity limits in a theoretical context. In C. Izawa & N. Ohta (Eds.),Human learning and memory: Advances in theory and application (pp. 155–175). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Detterman, D. K. (1989). The future of intelligence research.Intelligence,13, 199–203.
Embretson, S. (1995). The role of working memory capacity and general control processes in intelligence.Intelligence,20, 169–189.
Engle, R. W., &Kane, M. J. (2004). Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a two-factor theory of cognitive control. In B. H. Ross (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 44, pp. 145–199). New York: Elsevier.
Engle, R. W., Kane, M. J., &Tuholski, S. W. (1999). Individual differences in working memory capacity and what they tell us about controlled attention, general fluid intelligence, and functions of the prefrontal cortex. In A. Miyake & P. Shah (Eds.),Models of working memory (pp. 102–134). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., &Conway, A. R. A. (1999). Working memory, short-term memory, and general fluid intelligence: A latent-variable approach.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,128, 309–331.
Friedman, N. P., &Miyake, A. (2000). Differential roles for visuospatial and verbal working memory in situation model construction.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,129, 61–83.
Jensen, A. (1998).The g factor. Westport: Praeger.
Jensen, A., &Weng, L. (1994). What is a good g?Intelligence,18, 231–258.
Jöreskog, K. G. (1993). Testing structural equation models. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.),Testing structural equation models (pp. 294–316). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., &Engle, R. W. (2004). The generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,133, 189–217.
Kline, P. (1994).An easy guide to factor analysis. London: Routledge.
Kranzler, J. H., &Jensen, A. R. (1991). The nature of psychometric g: Unitary process or a number of independent processes?Intelligence,15, 397–422.
Kyllonen, P., &Christal, R. (1990). Reasoning ability is (little more than) working memory capacity?!Intelligence,14, 389–433.
Loehlin, J. C. (2004).Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural equation analysis (4th ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lohman, D. F. (2000). Complex information processing and intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.),Handbook of intelligence (2nd ed., pp. 285–340). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lubinski, D. (2004). Introduction to the special section on cognitive abilities: 100 years after Spearman’s (1904) “‘General intelligence,’ objectively determined and measured.”Journal of Personality & Social Psychology,86, 96–111.
Mackintosh, N. J., &Bennett, E. S. (2003). The fractionation of working memory maps onto different components of intelligence.Intelligence,31, 519–531.
Marsh, H. W., Balla, J. R., &McDonald, R. P. (1988). Goodness-offit indexes in confirmatory factor analysis: The effect of sample size.Psychological Bulletin,103, 391–410.
Miyake, A. (2001). Individual differences in working memory: Introduction to the special section.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,130, 163–168.
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Rettinger, D. A., Shah, P., &Hegarty, M. (2001). How are visuospatial working memory, executive functioning, and spatial abilities related? A latent-variable analysis.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,130, 621–640.
Oberauer, K., Lange, E., &Engle, R. W. (2004). Working memory capacity and resistance to interference.Journal of Memory & Language,51, 80–96.
Salthouse, T. A., Atkinson, T. M., &Berish, D. E. (2003). Executive functioning as a potential mediator of age-related cognitive decline in normal adults.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,132, 566–594.
Schmid, J., &Leiman, J. M. (1957). The development of hierarchical factor solutions.Psychometrika,22, 53–61.
Süß, H.-M., Oberauer, K., Wittmann, W. W., Wilhelm, O., &Schulze, R. (2002). Working memory capacity explains reasoning ability—and a little bit more.Intelligence,30, 261–288.
Turner, M. L., &Engle, R. W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent?Journal of Memory & Language,28, 127–154.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The research referred to in this article was supported by Grant BSO-2002-01455 from the Ministerio Español de Ciencia y Tecnología.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Colom, R., Rebollo, I., Abad, F.J. et al. Complex span tasks, simple span tasks, and cognitive abilities: A reanalysis of key studies. Memory & Cognition 34, 158–171 (2006). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193395
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193395