The role of working memory capacity in retrieval.
DOI: 10.1037//0096-3445.126.3.211
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This study investigates the role of individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity in strategic memory retrieval, specifically using the verbal fluency task. While WM capacity is known to predict performance in acquisition and learning tasks, its role in retrieval was less understood. The authors distinguish between associative retrieval, which is automatic, and strategic retrieval, which is effortful and controlled by the central executive. They hypothesized that strategic retrieval, such as generating category exemplars, relies on WM capacity, whereas automatic retrieval does not. Four experiments were conducted with undergraduate participants who were pre-screened and categorized into high- or low-WM groups based on an operation-span task. In Experiment 1, participants generated animal names for 15 minutes without a secondary task. High-WM participants retrieved significantly more names (mean 130 vs. 85) and clusters than low-WM participants, with faster inter-cluster retrieval times. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 introduced a concurrent mental load, such as tracking digits on a screen, to disrupt controlled attention. The primary finding from Experiment 2 was a significant interaction between WM span and load: the concurrent task reduced the number of names retrieved only for high-WM participants. Low-WM participants showed no significant decline in performance under load. This pattern held true even in the first minute of retrieval, indicating that the differences were not due to variations in knowledge base but rather in retrieval strategy. The results support a model of strategic retrieval that involves cue-based automatic activation, monitoring for errors, suppression of previously recalled items, and controlled strategic search. High-WM individuals utilize their capacity for these controlled processes, making their performance vulnerable to concurrent loads. In contrast, low-WM individuals appear to rely on more automatic retrieval processes throughout the task, rendering their performance unaffected by the secondary load. The study concludes that WM capacity is critical for strategic, effortful retrieval mediated by the frontal lobes, distinguishing it from automatic associative retrieval. These findings link individual differences in WM to broader cognitive functions and developmental changes in frontal lobe efficiency.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-07 |
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| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-09 |
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| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-08 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-07 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-09 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-09; verification: verified.
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