2009/06/20 by Nash Unsworth, Thomas S. Redick, Richard P. Heitz +3 · 2 citations
Mathematics · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/09658210902998047
openalex publication_date 2009/06/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Complex span tasks, assumed by many to measure an individual's working memory capacity, are predictive of several aspects of higher-order cognition. However, the underlying cause of the relationships between "processing-and-storage" tasks and cognitive abilities is still hotly debated nearly 30 years after the tasks were first introduced. The current study utilised latent constructs across verbal, numerical, and spatial content domains to examine a number of questions regarding the predictive power of complex span tasks. In particular, the relations among processing time, processing accuracy, and storage accuracy from the complex span tasks were examined, in combination with their respective relationships with fluid intelligence. The results point to a complicated pattern of unique and shared variance among the constructs. Implications for various theories of working memory are discussed.