This volume offers a much-needed forum for comparing and contrasting existing models of working memory.

This volume offers a much-needed forum for comparing and contrasting existing models of working memory.

The idea of one's memory "filling up" is a humorous misconception of how memory in general is thought to work; it 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. This 10th anniversary Classic Edition will continue to be accessible to a wide range of readers and serve as an invaluable reference for all memory researchers.

Using the highly influential working memory framework as a guide, this textbook provides a clear comparison of the memory development of typically developing children with that of atypical children. The emphasis on explaining methodology throughout the book gives students a real understanding about the way experiments are carried out and how to critically evaluate experimental research. The first half of the book describes the working memory model and goes on to consider working memory development in typically developing children. The second half of the book considers working memory development in several different types of atypical populations who have intellectual disabilities and/or developmental disorders. In addition, the book considers how having a developmental disorder and/or intellectual disabilities may have separate or combined effects on the development of working memory. The Development of Working Memory in Children is for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in development/child psychology, cognitive development and developmental disorders.

'Working Memory, Thought, and Action' is the magnum opus of one of the most influential cognitive psychologists of the past 50 years. This new volume on the model he created (with Graham Hitch) discusses the developments that have occurred within the model in the past twenty years, and places it within a broader context. Working memory is a temporary storage system that underpins our capacity for coherent thought. Some 30 years ago, Baddeley and Hitch proposed a way of thinking about working memory that has proved to be both valuable and influential in its application to practical problems. This book updates the theory, discussing both the evidence in its favour, and alternative approaches. In addition, it discusses the implications of the model for understanding social and emotional behaviour, concluding with an attempt to place working memory in a broader biological and philosophical context. Inside are chapters on the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, the central executive and the episodic buffer. There are also chapters on the relevance to working memory of studies of the recency effect, of work based on individual differences, and of neuroimaging research. The broader implications of the concept of working memory are discussed in the chapters on social psychology, anxiety, depression, consciousness and on the control of action. Finally, Baddeley discusses the relevance of a concept of working memory to the classic problems of consciousness and free will. This new volume from one of the pioneers in memory research will doubtless emulate the success of its predecessor, and be a major publication within the psychological literature.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present themselves career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major theoretical and practical contributions. Alan Baddeley has an international reputation as an eminent scholar and pioneer in the field of human memory, and is principally known for the theory of working memory, devised with Graham Hitch. This model continues to be valuable today in recognising the functions of short-term memory. This volume includes a specially written introduction by Alan Baddeley which gives an overview of the start of his career and his entry into the field of Psychology. Throughout the book he also provides introductions to the selection of works included and contextualises them in relation to changes in the field during this time. Exploring Working Memory includes the author’s most influential publications on topics including short-term memory, the distinctions between short and long-term memory, the theory of working memory, the phonological loop, the concept of the central executive, and the episodic buffer. This exceptional selection concludes with an article giving a broad overview of the author’s current views on working memory and its relation to other theories in the field. Through his outstanding work Alan Baddeley has become known as a world-leading expert on human memory. Exploring Working Memory is a unique collection which will be of great interest to both students and researchers interested in human memory from psychology backgrounds.

Bringing together cutting-edge research, this Handbook is the first comprehensive text to examine the pivotal role of working memory in first and second language acquisition, processing, impairments, and training. Authored by a stellar cast of distinguished scholars from around the world, the Handbook provides authoritative insights on work from diverse, multi-disciplinary perspectives, and introduces key models of working memory in relation to language. Following an introductory chapter by working memory pioneer Alan Baddeley, the collection is organized into thematic sections that discuss working memory in relation to: Theoretical models and measures; Linguistic theories and frameworks; First language processing; Bilingual acquisition and processing; and Language disorders, interventions, and instruction. The Handbook is sure to interest and benefit researchers, clinicians, speech therapists, and advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in linguistics, psychology, education, speech therapy, cognitive science, and neuroscience, or anyone seeking to learn more about language, cognition and the human mind.