title: More is generally better: Higher working memory capacity does not impair perceptual category learning.
abstract: It is sometimes supposed that category learning involves competing explicit and procedural systems, with only the former reliant on working memory capacity (WMC). In 2 experiments participants were trained for 3 blocks on both filtering (often said to be learned explicitly) and condensation (often said to be learned procedurally) category structures. Both experiments (total N = 160) demonstrated that participants with higher WMC tended to be more accurate in condensation tasks, but not less accurate in filtering tasks. Furthermore, state-trace analysis did not find a differential influence of WMC on performance in these tasks. Finally, inspection of the mixture of response strategies at play across the 2 conditions and 3 blocks showed only a minor influence of WMC, and then only on later training blocks. The results provide no support for the existence of a "system" of category learning that is independent of working memory and are instead consistent with most single-system interpretations of category learning. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Syracuse University.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kalish
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales.
authors.forename: Ben R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Newell
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Adelaide.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult