title: Exploring age differences in visual working memory capacity: is there a contribution of memory for configuration?
abstract: Recent research has shown marked developmental increases in the apparent capacity of working memory. This recent research is based largely on performance on tasks in which a visual array is to be retained briefly for comparison with a subsequent probe display. Here we examined a possible theoretical alternative (or supplement) to a developmental increase in working memory in which children could improve in the ability to combine items in an array to form a coherent configuration. Elementary school children and adults received, on each trial, an array of colored spots to be remembered. On some trials, we provided structure in the probe display to facilitate the formation of a mental representation in which a coherent configuration is encoded. This stimulus structure in the probe display helped younger children, and thus reduced the developmental trend, but only on trials in which the participants were held responsible for the locations of items in the array. We conclude that, in addition to the development of the ability to form precise spatial configurations from items, the evidence is consistent with the existence of an actual developmental increase in working memory capacity for objects in an array.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Electronic address: cowann@missouri.edu.
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: J Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Saults
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Array memory; Chunking; Grouping; Memory Development; Visual short-term memory; Working memory
references.citation: Vision Res. 2003 Feb;43(4):393-404
references.pmid: 12535996
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014 Oct;143(5):1806-36
references.pmid: 24867488
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2006 Nov;42(6):1089-102
references.pmid: 17087544
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2012 Jul;15(4):528-39
references.pmid: 22709402
references.citation: Psychol Rev. 2013 Jan;120(1):85-109
references.pmid: 23230888
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 20;104(47):18766-71
references.pmid: 17998539
references.citation: Psychon Bull Rev. 2011 Apr;18(2):324-30
references.pmid: 21331668
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2011 May;47(3):898-904
references.pmid: 21417518
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Feb;21(2):316-32
references.pmid: 18510448
references.citation: Behav Brain Sci. 2001 Feb;24(1):87-114; discussion 114-85
references.pmid: 11515286
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2010 Jan 1;13(1):120-33
references.pmid: 20121868
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2009 Oct;104(2):252-65
references.pmid: 19539305
references.citation: Psychon Bull Rev. 2003 Mar;10(1):80-7
references.pmid: 12747493
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2013 Sep;39(5):1449-62
references.pmid: 23421509
references.citation: Child Dev. 1996 Dec;67(6):2763-79
references.pmid: 9071762
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2015 Apr;43(3):441-52
references.pmid: 25293690
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2000 Mar;75(3):191-227
references.pmid: 10666325
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2004 Mar;40(2):177-90
references.pmid: 14979759
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2000 May;26(3):683-702
references.pmid: 10855426
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2006 Dec;34(8):1754-68
references.pmid: 17489300
references.citation: Front Psychol. 2013 Jan 29;4:12
references.pmid: 23372556
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2007 Jun;11(6):236-42
references.pmid: 17475538
references.citation: Psychol Rev. 1956 Mar;63(2):81-97
references.pmid: 13310704
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2003 Mar;6(3):309-15
references.pmid: 12548289
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2015 Mar;41(2):325-47
references.pmid: 25089739
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2006 Dec;34(8):1704-19
references.pmid: 17489296
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2015 Jan;18(1):132-45
references.pmid: 24942111
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2013 May;39(3):731-47
references.pmid: 22905929
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2006 Sep;9(5):490-7
references.pmid: 16911451
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 May 25;101(21):8174-9
references.pmid: 15148381
references.citation: Nature. 1997 Nov 20;390(6657):279-81
references.pmid: 9384378
references.citation: Cogn Psychol. 2005 Aug;51(1):42-100
references.pmid: 16039935
references.citation: Biol Psychol. 2000 Oct;54(1-3):241-57
references.pmid: 11035225
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 2002 Mar;131(1):48-64
references.pmid: 11900102
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2011 Nov;110(3):469-79
references.pmid: 21664622
references.citation: Vision Res. 2005 Mar;45(7):891-900
references.pmid: 15644229
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 2014 Feb;123(1):248-57
references.pmid: 24661175
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2006 Jul;18(7):1045-58
references.pmid: 16839280
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2006 Sep;95(1):18-26
references.pmid: 16678845
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 1982 Dec;34(3):387-413
references.pmid: 7153702
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2013 Nov;41(8):1212-27
references.pmid: 23716004
references.citation: Br J Psychol. 1998 Aug;89 ( Pt 3):463-80
references.pmid: 9734301
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2011 Sep;14(5):1066-74
references.pmid: 21884322
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2009 Dec;35(6):1698-725
references.pmid: 19968430
references.citation: Educ Psychol Rev. 2014 Jun 1;26(2):197-223
references.pmid: 25346585