A controlled-attention view of working-memory capacity

In 2 experiments the authors examined whether individual differences in wor king-memory (WM) capacity are related to attentional control. Experiment 1 tested high- and low-WM-span (high-span and low-span) participants in a pro saccade task, in which a visual cue appeared in the same location as a subs equent to-be-identified target letter, and in an antisaccade task, in which a target appeared opposite the cued location. Span groups identified targe ts equally well in the prosaccade task, reflecting equivalence in automatic orienting. However, low-span participants were slower and less accurate th an high-span participants in the antisaccade task, reflecting differences i n attentional control. Experiment 2 measured eye movements across a long an tisaccade session. Low-span participants made slower and more erroneous sac cades than did high-span participants. In both experiments, low-span partic ipants performed poorly when task switching from antisaccade to prosaccade blocks. The findings support a controlled-attention view of WM capacity.