ABSTRACT
Working memory is studied not simply because it relates to elementary cognitive tasks measured in the lab (Engle, 2002), but because it is extremely good at predicting how people will perform on a wide range of real-world tasks such as reasoning (Kyllonen & Christal, 1990), problem solving (Carpenter, Just, & Shell, 1990), and language comprehension (MacDonald, Just, & Carpenter, 1992). Despite working memory’s predictive power in the laboratory, the real world itself is not composed of subjects toiling away dispassionately at abstract cognitive puzzles. Rather, it contains real challenges, stacked with significant material and affective consequences for the people that engage them.
