We examined the relationship between brain activities and task performance on working memory. A large-scale study was initially administered to identify good and poor performers using the operation span and reading span tasks. On the basis of those span scores, we divided 20 consenting participants into high- and low-span groups. In an fMRI study, the participants performed verification of arit...

The strategy-deficit hypothesis states that age differences in the use of effective strategies contribute to age-related deficits in working memory span performance. To evaluate this hypothesis, strategy use was measured with set-by-set strategy reports during the Reading Span task (Experiments 1 and 2) and the Operation Span task (Experiment 2). Individual differences in the reported use of ef...

Experimental research into children's working memory span has shown that retention duration contributes substantially to span performance, while processing efficiency need not be related to concurrent memory load (Towse, Hitch, & Hutton, 1998). These findings have been used to argue for a model of working memory span that emphasizes time-based forgetting rather than the popular resource-sharing...

This study determined if a relationship exists between individual differences in eye movements and working memory measures. The eye movement system can provide insight into processes that occur in the mind as well as a better understanding of the relationship between quantifiable aspects of eye movements and the more abstract inner workings of the mind. Recently, consistent and reliable individ...

Research shows neural efficiency of motor-related activity based on learning and expertise in a specific domain (e.g., guitar playing, sharp-shooting or a sport). However, it is unknown whether neural efficiency of motor-related activity, underlying action planning and maintenance, can be modulated by general cognitive ability alone. This study examined whether working memory span can influence...

In two experiments, we tested whether individual differences in strategy production account for individual differences in performance on a working memory span task. We measured the strategies used during a standard experimenter-paced operation span (OSPAN) task by having participants make both set-by-set reports of strategy use for individual item sets and global reports of strategy use. In Exp...

In two experiments, we tested whether individual differences in strategy production account for individual differences in performance on a working memory span task. We measured the strategies used during a standard experimenter-paced operation span (OSPAN) task by having participants make both set-by-set reports of strategy use for individual item sets and global reports of strategy use. In Exp...

While previous research has shown that working memory capacity (WMC) predicts sentence processing ability, the understanding of the relationship is limited as almost all studies have used the reading span task as their sole measure of WMC. The current study examined how the effects of garden-path sentences and filler-gap dependencies (as indexed by the P600) related to four measures of working ...