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1 TheQuarterlyJournalofExperimentalPsychologySectionA Publicationdetails,includinginstructionsforauthorsandsubscriptioninformation: Andrade,J.(Ed.).(2001).Workingmemoryinperspective.Hove,UK: PsychologyPressLtd.Pp.352.ISBN Price39.95(Hbk). AndrewR.A.Conway DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofIllinois,Chicago,IL,USA, Onlinepublicationdate:22September2010 TocitethisArticleConway,AndrewR.A.(2003)'Andrade,J.(Ed.).(2001).Working memoryinperspective.hove,uk: PsychologyPressLtd.Pp.352.ISBN Price39.95(Hbk).',The QuarterlyJournalofExperimental PsychologySectionA,56:4, TolinktothisArticle:DOI: / URL: Fulltermsandconditionsofuse: andconditions of access.pdf Thisarticlemaybeusedforresearch,teachingandprivatestudypurposes.Any substantialorsystematicreproduction,re distribution,re selling,loanorsublicensing,systematicsupplyordistributioninanyformtoanyoneisexpressly forbidden. Thepublisherdoesnotgiveanywarrantyexpressorimpliedormakeany representationthatthecontentswillbecompleteoraccurateoruptodate.the accuracyofanyinstructions,formulaeanddrugdosesshouldbeindependently verifiedwithprimarysources.thepublishershallnotbeliableforanyloss,actions, claims,proceedings,demandorcostsordamageswhatsoeverorhowsoevercaused arisingdirectlyorindirectlyinconnectionwithorarisingoutoftheuseofthis material.bookreview

drewR.A.Conway DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofIllinois,Chicago,IL,USA, Onlinepublicationdate:22September2010 TocitethisArticleConway,AndrewR.A.(2003)'Andrade,J.(Ed.).(2001).

2 Andrade,J.(Ed.).(2001).Workingmemoryinperspective.Hove,UK:Psychology Press Ltd.Pp.352.ISBN Price 39.95(Hbk). JackieAndrade sworkingmemoryinperspectiveisavaluableacademicexercisefor thewayinwhichitforcesresearcherstoturnthemicroscopeonthemselvesand questionfundamentalassumptionsmadeintheirscientificpursuits.thecentral question,posedtoagroupofresearcherswhoareclearlyinfluencedbyalan Baddeley swritings,isessentially, WilltheBaddeleymodelofworkingmemory survive?theanswerdoesnotcomedirectly.andradepreferstopresentthe strengthsandweaknessesofthemodelandleavejudgementtothereader.asshe states,thefutureofthemodeldependsonthebalanceofstrengthsandweaknesses andtheviabilityofalternativemodels.throughoutthebook,manystrengthsofthe modelarerevealed,suchastheintuitiveappealofthemodel,theapplicabilityto severalareasofresearch,thesimplicityoftheapproach,anditsabilitytowithstand empiricalinvestigationviaarangeofmethodologies(e.g.,dual taskexperiments, individualdifferencesstudies,computationalmodelling,neuropsychologicalstudies, andbrainimagingexperiments).atthesametime,manyweaknessesarerevealed, suchasthefailuretoadequatelyaccountfortheword lengtheffect(whichcallsinto questiontheentireconceptofthephonologicalloopandtheassumptionoftrace decay),theunspecifiednatureofthecentralexecutive(isitaunitaryconstructoran executivecommittee?),andquestionssurroundingthemeasurementofworking memorycapacityandthesource(s)ofindividualdifferencesinworkingmemory performance(especiallypertainingtoatypicaldevelopmentandaging).while Andraderefrainsfromimposingherownfinaljudgementinthesummarychapter, thetoneisoptimisticandtheunderlyinganswerseemstobe yes,themodelwill survive,onceweironoutsomeofthecurrentweaknesses. HereIsuggestalessoptimisticperspective,whichmighthaveemergediftwo additionalquestionswereaskedoftheauthors: 1.Istheconceptofworkingmemorynecessaryforyourresearch? 2.Arealternativemodelsofworkingmemorybetterforyourresearchthanthe Baddeleymodel? ThefirstquestionisabroaderonethananyofthoseposedbyAndrade.The questionsposedinthebook(e.g., WhatarethestrengthsoftheWMmodelforyour research? )allimplicitlyassumethattheconceptofworkingmemoryisnecessary foreachcontributor sresearchprogram.however,itisnotclearwhetherworking memoryisanecessaryconstructfortheseresearchersor,moregenerally,forthe fieldofpsychology.forinstance,themelton(1963)traditionofmemoryasaunitary construct,withinterferenceastheunderlyingmechanismofforgetting,isaliveand well(seenairne,2002).researcherssuchasnairneandneatharecomfortable

thecentral question,posedtoagroupofresearcherswhoareclearlyinfluencedbyalan Baddeley swritings,isessentially, WilltheBaddeleymodelofworkingmemory survive?theanswerdoesnotcomedirectly.

3 explainingspecificaspectsofshort termforgettingaswellasgeneralprinciplesof memoryandcognitionwithoutreferencetotheconceptofworkingmemory. Theirapproachiscompelling,andIurgestudentsoftheBaddeleytraditionto familiarizethemselveswiththisperspective. ThesecondquestionisamoredirectedformofAndrade s Howdoesit[the Baddeleymodel]comparewithcompetingmodelsinyourfield?Noneofthe contributor stookthisquestiontomean, HowdoestheBaddeleymodelcomparetoothermodelsofworkingmemory.This isunfortunate,becausethedaysofequating workingmemory with Baddeley s workingmemory aregone.withthepublicationofmiyakeandshah s(1999), ModelsofWorkingMemory,researchersnowhavenearlyadozenmodelsof workingmemorytochoosefromtoguidetheirwork.thus,itisconceivablethatthe conceptofworkingmemorywillpersist,butthebaddeleyperspectivewillnot.the leadingchallengerstothebaddeleytradition,atthispoint,appeartobeanderson s computationalmodelingarchitectureact R(Anderson&Lebiere,1998;Lovett, Reder,&Lebiere,1999),Cowan stheoreticalframeworkofmemoryandattention (Cowan,1988,1995,1999),Ericsson stheoryofknowledgeandlong termworking memory(ericsson&delaney,1999;ericsson&kintsch,1995;seealsomacdonald& Christiansen,2002),andEngle scontrolledattentionviewofworkingmemory (Engle,Kane,&Tuholski,1999;Engle,Tuholski,Laughlin,&Conway,1999;Kane, Bleckley,Conway,&Engle,2001).Whilesomeoftheseapproacheshaveagreatdeal incommonwiththebaddeleytraditionandinfactowemanyoftheirideasto BaddeleyandHitch s(1974)originalmodel,theyrepresentalternativewaysof thinkingabouttheconceptofworkingmemory.furthermore,astheseapproaches maketheirpresencefeltinotherdisciplines(e.g.,anderson sinfluenceonartificial intelligenceandhumanfactors,ericsson sinfluenceonlearningandeducation, Engle sinfluenceonpsychometricsandneuropsychology),theoverallimpactofthe Baddeleymodelwilldiminish. Insummary,JackieAndradeshouldbecommendedforaskingsomeverytough questionsofherukcolleagues.thechaptersareilluminatingwithrespecttothe strengthsandweaknessesofthebaddeleyapproachtoworkingmemory.however, thebookdoesnotseemtotakeseriouslymorerevolutionarypossibilities,suchas (1)workingmemorybeingignoredaltogetherinfavourofamoreprincipledunitary theoryofmemory(i.e.,nairne,2002),or(2)thebaddeleymodelbeingreplacedby othermodelsofworkingmemory(seemodelsinmiyake&shah,1999). ANDREWR.A.CONWAY DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofIllinois, Chicago,IL,USA

ThesecondquestionisamoredirectedformofAndrade s Howdoesit[the Baddeleymodel]comparewithcompetingmodelsinyourfield?

4 REFERENCES Anderson,J.R.,&Lebiere,C.(1998).Theatomiccomponentsofthought.Mahwah,NJ: LawrenceErlbaumAssociates, Inc. Baddeley,A.D.,&Hitch,G.(1974).Workingmemory.InG.A.Bower(Ed.),The psychologyoflearningandmotivation (Vol.8,pp.47 89).NewYork:AcademicPress. Cowan,N.(1988).Evolvingconceptionsofmemorystorage,selectiveattention,and theirmutualconstraintswithin thehumaninformationprocessingsystem.psychologicalbulletin,104, Cowan,N.(1995).Attentionandmemory:Anintegratedframework.NewYork: OxfordUniversityPress. Cowan,N.(1999).Anembedded processesmodelofworkingmemory.ina.miyake &P.Shah(Eds.),Modelsof workingmemory:mechanismsofactivemaintenanceandexecutivecontrol(pp ).NewYork:Cambridge UniversityPress. Engle,R.W.,Kane,M.J.,&Tuholski,S.W.(1999).Individualdifferencesinworking memorycapacityandwhatthey tellusaboutcontrolledattention,generalfluidintelligenceandfunctionsofthe prefrontalcortex.ina.miyake& P.Shah(Eds.),Modelsofworkingmemory:Mechanismsofactivemaintenanceand executivecontrol(pp ). NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress. Engle,R.W.,Tuholski,S.W.,Laughlin,J.E.,&Conway,A.R.A.(1999).Working memory,short termmemoryand generalfluidintelligence:alatentvariableapproach.journalofexperimental Psychology:General,128,

Evolvingconceptionsofmemorystorage,selectiveattention,and theirmutualconstraintswithin thehumaninformationprocessingsystem.psychologicalbulletin,104,163 191. Cowan,N.(1995).

5 Ericsson,K.A.,&Delaney,P.F.(1999).Long termworkingmemoryasanalternative tocapacitymodelsofworking memoryineverydayskilledperformance.ina.miyake&p.shah(eds.),modelsof workingmemory:mechanisms ofactivemaintenanceandexecutivecontrol(pp ).NewYork:Cambridge UniversityPress. Ericsson,K.A.,&Kintsch,W.(1995).Long termworkingmemory.psychological Review,102, Kane,M.J.,Bleckley,M.K.,Conway,A.R.A.,&Engle,R.W.(2001).Acontrolledattentionviewofworkingmemorycapacity.JournalofExperimentalPsychology: General,130, BOOKREVIEW767 DownloadedBy:[PrincetonUniversity]At:21:4921March2011Lovett,M.C.,Reder, L.M.,&Lebiere,C.(1999).Modelingworkingmemoryinaunifiedarchitecture.InA. Miyake &P.Shah(Eds.),Modelsofworkingmemory:Mechanismsofactivemaintenance andexecutivecontrol(pp ). NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress. MacDonald,M.C.,&Christiansen,M.H.(2002).Reassessingworkingmemory: CommentonJustandCarpenter (1992)andWatersandCaplan(1996).PsychologicalReview,109, Melton,A.W.(1963).Implicationsofshort termmemoryforageneraltheoryof memory.journalofverballearning andverbalbehavior,2,1 21. Miyake,A.,&Shah,P.(1999).Modelsofworkingmemory:Mechanismsofactive maintenanceandexecutivecontrol.new York:CambridgeUniversityPress. Nairne,J.S.(2002).Rememberingovertheshort term:thecaseagainstthestandard model.annualreviewof Psychology,53,53 81.

psychological Review,102,211 245. Kane,M.J.,Bleckley,M.K.,Conway,A.R.A.,&Engle,R.W.(2001).Acontrolledattentionviewofworkingmemorycapacity.JournalofExperimentalPsychology: General,130,169 183.

6 768BOOKREVIEW DownloadedBy:[PrincetonUniversity]At:21:4921March2011

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