This special issue ponders a detailed and contemporary analysis of the theoretical underpinnings of short-term and working memory. Articles focus on short-term memory for phonological, semantic, and spatial material, on executive function and on short-term forgetting. The empirical perspectives include the neuroimaging of short-term memory, short-term memory development and the neuropsychology and neurobiology of memory, in addition to laboratory-based experimental studies. Together, these articles identify significant current models and approaches to short-term and working memory, providing a broad set of perspectives which illustrate the wide impact of working memory on the understanding of human cognition.

The idea of one's memory "filling up" is a humorous misconception of how memory in general is thought to work; it actually has no capacity limit. However, the idea of a "full brain" makes more sense with reference to working memory, which is the limited amount of information a person can hold temporarily in an especially accessible form for use in the completion of almost any challenging cognitive task. This groundbreaking book explains the evidence supporting Cowan's theoretical proposal about working memory capacity, and compares it to competing perspectives. Cognitive psychologists profoundly disagree on how working memory is limited: whether by the number of units that can be retained (and, if so, what kind of units and how many), the types of interfering material, the time that has elapsed, some combination of these mechanisms, or none of them. The book assesses these hypotheses and examines explanations of why capacity limits occur, including vivid biological, cognitive, and evolutionary accounts. The book concludes with a discussion of the practical importance of capacity limits in daily life. This 10th anniversary Classic Edition will continue to be accessible to a wide range of readers and serve as an invaluable reference for all memory researchers.

The second symposium on processing visible language constituted a different "mix" of participants from the first. Greater emphasis was given to the design of language, both in its historical development and in its current display; and to practical questions associated with machine-implementation oflanguage, in the interactions of person and computer, and in the characteristics of the physical and environmental objects that affect the interaction. Another change was that a special session on theory capped the proceedings. Psychologists remained heavily involved, however, both as contributors to and as discussants of the work pre sented. The motivation of the conferences remains one of bringing together graphic designers, engineers, and psychologists concerned with the display and acquisition of visible language. The papers separately tended to emphasize the one of the three disciplines that mark their authors' field of endeavor, but are constructed to be general rather than parochial. Moreover, within the three disciplines, papers emphasized either the textual or the more pictorial aspects. For example, a session on writing systems ranged from principles that seem to characterize all such systems to specific papers on ancient Egyptian writing, modern Korean, and English shorthand. The complementary session on the nontextual media opened with a discussion of general principles of pictorial communication and included papers on communicating instructions, general information, or religious belief through designs and other pictorial forms, as well as a discussion. of misrepresentation.

This special issue of the International Journal of Psychology had its origins in the Quebec 98 Conference on Short-Term Memory, held in Quebec City, Canada, in June 1998. Following this conference, participants were invited to submit contributions based on, and expanding upon, their presentation at this conference. The enthusiastic response made it possible to collect the exciting selection of articles that you will find herein. It must be noted that because of the finite journal space available, the editors and reviewers were faced with the difficult problem of selecting only a limited number of the excellent articles that were submitted. The outcome of this process is this special issue, which we believe provides an up-to-date overview of current research on short-term/working memory, including the challenges, controversies, and recent theoretical advances in this field.

Dr Tracy Alloway has been awarded the prestigious Joseph Lister Award from the British Science Association. ′The authors have written a guide for practitioners that is both highly practical, and yet based upon sound theoretical principles....This book achieves a successful, yet often elusive, link between theory, research and practice, and deserves to have a high readership. I will have no hesitation in recommending it to a range of readers′ - Jane Mott, Support for Learning ′This book fulfils its aim to explain working memory and the limits it places on children′s classroom learning. For teachers it gives a very clear guide and fills a gap in understanding that can only lead to more child-centred approaches to teaching and learning′ - Lynn Ambler, Support for Learning ′A clear and accessible account of current theory and research, which is then applied to children′s learning in the classroom....The range of strategies...are well grounded in theory derived from research and sit within a coherent conceptual model′ - The Psychologist ′An easy to read yet informative book that explains the concepts clearly and offers practitioners ways to support those with poor working memory in the classroom′ - SNIP `The topic of working memory nowadays tends to dominate discussions with teachers and parents, and both groups can helpfully be directed to this easy-to-read but serious text ... (it) is likely to prove a turning-point in the management and facilitation of hard-to-teach children. In a situation muddied by ever-multiplying syndromes and disorders, this book delivers a clarifying and reassuring isolation of the major cognitive characteristic that cuts across all the boundaries and leaves the class teacher and SENCO empowered. I think very highly of the book and shall be recommending it steadily′ - Martin Turner, Child Center for Evaluation and Teaching, Kuwait Susan Gathercole is winner of the British Psychological Society′s President′s Award for 2007 A good working memory is crucial to becoming a successful learner, yet there is very little material available in an easy-to-use format that explains the concept and offers practitioners ways to support children with poor working memory in the classroom. This book provides a coherent overview of the role played by working memory in learning during the school years, and uses theory to inform good practice. Topics covered include: - the link between working memory skills and key areas of learning (such as literacy & numeracy) - the relationship between working memory and children with developmental disorders - assessment of children for working memory deficits - strategies for supporting working memory in under-performing children This accessible guide will help SENCOs, teachers, teaching assistants, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists to understand and address working memory in their setting.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Development brings together research on the development of working memory that arises within two quite different approaches.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present themselves career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major theoretical and practical contributions. Alan Baddeley has an international reputation as an eminent scholar and pioneer in the field of human memory, and is principally known for the theory of working memory, devised with Graham Hitch. This model continues to be valuable today in recognising the functions of short-term memory. This volume includes a specially written introduction by Alan Baddeley which gives an overview of the start of his career and his entry into the field of Psychology. Throughout the book he also provides introductions to the selection of works included and contextualises them in relation to changes in the field during this time. Exploring Working Memory includes the author’s most influential publications on topics including short-term memory, the distinctions between short and long-term memory, the theory of working memory, the phonological loop, the concept of the central executive, and the episodic buffer. This exceptional selection concludes with an article giving a broad overview of the author’s current views on working memory and its relation to other theories in the field. Through his outstanding work Alan Baddeley has become known as a world-leading expert on human memory. Exploring Working Memory is a unique collection which will be of great interest to both students and researchers interested in human memory from psychology backgrounds.