Latest Issue of the MindBrainEd Think Tank + (ISSN 2434-1002) 3 MindBrained Bulletin Think Tank Work Mem Mar 1 2 | Page 12
Working memory capacity refers to our ability to keep information either in mind or
quickly retrievable, particularly in the presence of distraction. General fluid intelligence
is the ability to infer relationships, do complex reasoning, and solve novel problems…
So to recap, the APS study reported that, contrary to a hundred years beleiving
working memory capacity cannot be increased, the APS study found that it can be.
That is good news. And if you do a simple Google search, you will find other recent
studies making this claim as well. So, since working memory capacity can be
increased, that must mean fluid intelligence can also be increased, right? After all,
they are “highly correlated.” But, also according to the APS study, not so. They
found improvement in working memory had no effect on fluid intelligence.
Wait a minute. What is going on here? Some experts say working memory capacity
cannot be increased. Some say it can. Some say working memory includes the
manipulation of what is held in mind, some say it is just a different term for short-
term memory, and some say the notion is interchangeable with fluid intelligence.
Working memory capacity is highly correlated with fluid intelligence, but enhancing
the former does not improve the latter. No wonder Mike frowned.
So, I’m confused. Are you confused too? I figure a large part of the problem comes
from our inability to agree on what these concepts are. (In her piece, Caroline raises a
similar question.) So I wonder. These terms have been around for a long time. So
why the drift? And here is where I jump out of this discussion and into another.
When talking about memory, intelligence and other kinds of processing, there is
another perspective we must consider, one I was unaware of a couple years ago but
can’t stop seeing now. It hovers over me like a ghost. This perspective was
hammered into me by Spencer Robinson, a brilliant neuroscientist living in Japan.
The hammering consisted of only seven words: “So Curtis, show me where they are!”
It was another winter, not long ago. Adam Jenkins, another brain nerd, and I went
up to Fukui to spend a few days with Spencer, the only real native speaker
neuroscientist we had access to. We had some great discussions, but it was the
following one that changed my whole way of thinking.
We were eating lunch and I was going on about the role of
emotion in causing information to go from short-term memory
to long-term memory. Spencer gave me this serious look and
said, “What do you mean by short-term and long-term
memory?” An odd question I thought, and so I began to expel
the standard definitions. He quickly interrupted, “Short-term,
long-term memory; what are they?” I fell silent. “What do you
mean?” I asked, suddenly realizing something momentous was
in the works. He said, “So Curtis, show me where they are!
Open a brain and show me exactly where short-term and long-term memory are.” I
understood immediately.
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