Everything about Working memory
Cognitive system for temporarily holding information
Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, but some theorists consider the two forms of memory distinct, assuming that working memory allows for the manipulation of stored information, whereas short-term memory only refers to the short-term storage of information. Working memory is a theoretical concept central to cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Working memoryA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Working memory needs pointersInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Nineteen Eighty-FourThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Working MemoryCited 5,069 times
- Go sideways: Executive functionsA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Prefrontal cortexA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily.
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Working Memory
The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory?
Individual differences in working memory and reading
Working memory: looking back and looking forward
Working Memory: Theories, Models, and Controversies
N‐back working memory paradigm: A meta‐analysis of normative functional neuroimaging studies
The capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions
🆕 Influential since 2022
📚 Books worth reading
Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell · 1949
Du côté de chez SwannMarcel Proust · 1908
The Book ThiefMarkus Zusak, Alexandra Ernst · 1998
Mati ere et me moireHenri Bergson, Nancy Margaret Paul · 1896
The Glass MenagerieTennessee Williams · 1945
GileadMarilynne Robinson · 2004
The Go-BetweenL. P. Hartley · 1953
L'IgnoranceMilan Kundera · 2000
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
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- Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC or DLPFC) is an area in the prefrontal cortex of the primate brain. It is one of the most recently derived parts…
- Affective neuroscience Affective neuroscience is the study of how the brain processes emotions. This field combines neuroscience with the psychological study of personality,…
- Social cognitive neuroscience Social cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the biological processes underpinning social cognition. Specifically, it uses the tools of neuroscience…
- Inhibitory control Inhibitory control, also known as response inhibition, is a cognitive process – and, more specifically, an executive function – that permits an individual…
- Attentional control Attentional control, commonly referred to as concentration, refers to an individual's capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore…
- Ventromedial prefrontal cortex The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a part of the prefrontal cortex in the mammalian brain. The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal…