INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN WORKING-MEMORY CAPACITY - MORE EVIDENCE FORA GENERAL CAPACITY THEORY

The causes of the positive relationship between comprehension and meas ures of working memory capacity remain unclear. This study tests three hypotheses for the relationship by equating the difficulty, for 48 in dividual subjects, of processing demands in complex working memory tas ks. Even with difficulty of processing equated, the relationship betwe en number of words recalled in the working memory measure and comprehe nsion remained high and significant. The results favour a general capa city view. We suggest that high working memory span subjects have more limited-capacity attentional resources available to them than low spa n subjects and that individual differences in working memory capacity will have implications for any task that requires controlled effortful processing.