The work of Jacobsen and Fulton in the 1930s first showed that lesions to the PFC impaired spatial working memory performance in monkeys.
In 1935 and 1936, Carlyle Jacobsen and colleagues were the first to show the deleterious effect of prefrontal ablation on delayed response. == Theories == Numerous models have been proposed for how working memory functions, both anatomically and cognitively.
In 1935 and 1936, Carlyle Jacobsen and colleagues were the first to show the deleterious effect of prefrontal ablation on delayed response. == Theories == Numerous models have been proposed for how working memory functions, both anatomically and cognitively.
An early quantification of the capacity limit associated with short-term memory was the "magical number seven" suggested by Miller in 1956.
Working memory is a theoretical concept central to cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. == History == The term "working memory" was coined by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram, and was used in the 1960s in the context of theories that likened the mind to a computer.
In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin used the term to describe their "short-term store".
Of those, the two that have been most influential are summarized below. === The multicomponent model === In 1974, Baddeley and Hitch introduced the multicomponent model of working memory.
Daneman and Carpenter invented the first version of this kind of task, the "reading span", in 1980.
During the 1990s much debate has centered on the different functions of the ventrolateral (i.e., lower areas) and the dorsolateral (higher) areas of the PFC.
The sketchpad can be further broken down into a visual subsystem (dealing with such phenomena as shape, colour, and texture), and a spatial subsystem (dealing with location). In 2000, Baddeley extended the model by adding a fourth component, the episodic buffer, which holds representations that integrate phonological, visual, and spatial information, and possibly information not covered by the subordinate systems (e.g., semantic information, musical information).
Practicing memory skills such as these does not expand working memory capacity proper: it is the capacity to transfer (and retrieve) information from long-term memory that is improved, according to Ericsson and Kintsch (1995; see also Gobet & Simon, 2000). === Measures and correlates === Working memory capacity can be tested by a variety of tasks.
Other authors interpret the activity in parietal cortex as reflecting executive functions, because the same area is also activated in other tasks requiring attention but not memory. A 2003 meta-analysis of 60 neuroimaging studies found left frontal cortex was involved in low-task demand verbal working memory and right frontal cortex for spatial working memory.
The improvement of fluid intelligence by training with the n-back task was replicated in 2010, but two studies published in 2012 failed to reproduce the effect.
A meta-analytic summary of research with Klingberg's training program up to 2011 shows that this training has at best a negligible effect on tests of intelligence and of attention In another influential study, training with a working memory task (the dual n-back task) has improved performance on a fluid intelligence test in healthy young adults.
The improvement of fluid intelligence by training with the n-back task was replicated in 2010, but two studies published in 2012 failed to reproduce the effect.
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