ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter will be on how planning processes are shaped by and draw on working memory in response to problem situations. This issue appears to have first been raised in Miller, Galanter, and Pribram’s (1960) classic monograph, Plans and the structure of behavior, in which they propose “a ‘working memory’ where Plans can be retained temporarily when they are being formed, or transformed, or executed” (p. 207). Subsequently, a major role for memory in planning has often been proposed (e.g., Cohen, 1996; Owen, 1997) and Cohen argued in particular that working memory is important in formulating and revising plans. Although a number of different, specific models of working memory have been developed (see Andrade, 2001; Miyake & Shah, 1999), the concept common to a range of approaches is of working memory as a limited capacity system for the maintenance and manipulation of recently acquired information, whether originating from external or internal sources. Thus, working memory would surely be expected to play an important role as an internal work space for processes of developing, maintaining and executing plans. I will focus on planning “in the head”, without the use of external memory aids, so that the demands on working memory are likely to be high. Although use of external memory aids (e.g., paper and pencil, computer-assisted planning tools) is undoubtedly common in real-life planning, little research seems to have addressed how and when external memory aids are used in planning and this may be a fruitful area for future research.
