Development of working memory: Should the Pascual-Leone and the Baddeley and Hitch models be merged?

The data presented by Kemps, Dc Rammelaere, and Desmet (1000, this issue) a ppear to have some aspects that fit most readily into our own model (Baddel ey & Hitch, 1973), while others appear to support that of Pascual-Leone (19 70). We accept that our initial model said little about development and was better able to account for relatively simple memory-based tasks than more complex cognitive activities. More recent elaborations of the model are, ho wever, able to throw new light on the processes underlying cognitive develo pment, offering a better account than that provided by existing neo-Piageti an interpretations. Meanwhile, the addition of a fourth component to the mo del, namely the episodic buffer, offers a way of dealing with more complex cognitive activities. Given the major differences between our own model and that of Pascual-Leone in basic assumptions, and in theoretical style, we s uggest that any attempt to combine the two would be premature. (C) 2000 Aca demic Press.