Working memory in the acquisition of complex cognitive skills

Logie, Robert H.; Baddeley, Alan; Mané, Amir; Donchin, Emanuel; Sheptak, Russell · 1989 · openalex

DOI: 10.1016/0001-6918(89)90005-x

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates the role of working memory in the acquisition and performance of complex cognitive skills, specifically using the computer game *Space Fortress*. Unlike traditional working memory studies that focus on simple cognitive tasks, this research examines a task requiring perceptual-motor skills, accurate timing, and strategic decision-making. The authors employed a secondary task methodology to analyze how concurrent cognitive loads interfere with game performance, aiming to determine whether specific components of working memory (verbal vs. visuo-spatial) and response timing mechanisms are critical at different stages of skill acquisition. The research comprised three experiments involving subjects with varying levels of expertise. Experiment 1 focused on expert players (minimum 20 hours of practice) to assess interference from secondary tasks categorized into response generation, timing, and memory load. Secondary tasks included vocal repetition, foot tapping, articulatory suppression, and word/sentence span tasks. Experiment 2 further examined expert performance under high verbal or visuo-spatial cognitive loads. Experiment 3 compared dual-task performance in novices (3 hours of practice) versus more trained players (8 hours total) to track changes in interference patterns during skill acquisition. Performance was measured via total game scores and specific microstructural components, such as shooting efficiency and mine avoidance. Results from Experiment 1 indicated that expert game performance was significantly impaired by concurrent paced response generation (slow and rapid tapping) and general working memory loads (word and sentence span), but not by simple reactive responses to external stimuli. Articulatory suppression impaired specific memory-related components but had less impact on overall score than tapping tasks. Experiment 2 found that expert performance was substantially disrupted by both high verbal and visuo-spatial secondary loads, suggesting that at high expertise levels, the specific modality of the secondary task mattered less than the general cognitive load. Experiment 3 revealed a shift in interference patterns with training. Novices showed little disruption from paced response generation but were significantly affected by visuo-spatial memory loads, which disrupted a wider range of performance components than verbal loads. With additional training, this differential interference diminished, and paced response generation began to have a small but noticeable effect, though less dramatic than in experts. Subjective difficulty ratings were poor predictors of actual performance decrements across all experiments. The findings suggest that general working memory load is a critical factor in performance at all skill levels. The increased disruption from paced responses in experts implies that precise response timing becomes a central component of expert performance. Furthermore, the reduction in differential interference from visuo-spatial tasks with training indicates that perceptual-motor tracking, which is demanding for novices, becomes highly automated in experts. These results support the utility of secondary task methodologies in analyzing complex skill acquisition and provide evidence for the functional components of working memory theory, particularly regarding the automation of perceptual-motor skills.

Key finding

Expert performance on a complex cognitive task is primarily disrupted by general working memory loads and paced response generation, whereas novice performance is more significantly impaired by visuo-spatial memory loads, indicating that perceptual-motor control becomes automated with expertise.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 6

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• cognitive capacity variation