Grounding Verbal Working Memory The Case of Serial Order

The maintenance of serial order in verbal working memory (WM) is a major unsolved puzzle in cognitive science. Here we review a series of studies showing that serial order in verbal WM closely interacts with spatial processing. Accordingly, we outline the “mental whiteboard hypothesis,” which postul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society Vol. 26; no. 5; pp. 429 - 433
Main Authors Abrahamse, Elger L., van Dijck, Jean-Philippe, Fias, Wim
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications, Inc 01.10.2017
SAGE Publications
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Self directed work teams
Short term
grounded cognition
spatial attention
verbal working memory
serial order
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Summary:The maintenance of serial order in verbal working memory (WM) is a major unsolved puzzle in cognitive science. Here we review a series of studies showing that serial order in verbal WM closely interacts with spatial processing. Accordingly, we outline the “mental whiteboard hypothesis,” which postulates that serial order in verbal WM is grounded in the spatial attention system. Specifically, serial context in verbal WM is provided by binding the memoranda to coordinates within an internal, spatially defined system within which (internal) spatial attention is at play to the purpose of searching for and retrieving information. Challenges and opportunities to be considered in future studies are discussed.
ISSN:0963-7214
1467-8721
DOI:10.1177/0963721417704404