title: Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user's guide.
abstract: Working memory (WM) span tasks-and in particular, counting span, operation span, and reading span tasks-are widely used measures of WM capacity. Despite their popularity, however, there has never been a comprehensive analysis of the merits of WM span tasks as measurement tools. Here, we review the genesis of these tasks and discuss how and why they came to be so influential. In so doing, we address the reliability and validity of the tasks, and we consider more technical aspects of the tasks, such as optimal administration and scoring procedures. Finally, we discuss statistical and methodological techniques that have commonly been used in conjunction with WM span tasks, such as latent variable analysis and extreme-groups designs.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA. aconway@princeton.edu
authors.forename: Andrew R A
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Conway
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bunting
authors.forename: D Zach
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Hambrick
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: Randall W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Engle
mesh_terms: D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011932:Reading