title: Individual differences in working memory capacity and episodic retrieval: examining the dynamics of delayed and continuous distractor free recall.
abstract: Two experiments explored the possibility that individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) partially reflect differences in the size of the search set from which items are retrieved. High- and low-WMC individuals were tested in delayed (Experiment 1) and continuous distractor (Experiment 2) free recall with varying list lengths. Across both experiments low-WMC individuals recalled fewer items than high-WMC individuals, recalled more previous list intrusions than high-WMC individuals, and recalled at a slower rate than high-WMC individuals. It is argued that low-WMC individuals' episodic retrieval deficits are partially due to the fact that these individuals search through a larger set of items than high-WMC individuals. Simulations based on a random search model were consistent with these general conclusions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3013, USA. nunswor@uga.edu
authors.forename: Nash
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Unsworth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*