ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the main concepts of working memory (WM). It then discusses to what extent Cedric Boeckx's Unbounded Merge can accommodate these concepts by providing a computational description for them. WM models were born to explain the necessary connection that exists between paying attention, understanding and keeping things in short-term memory. The most influential WM account is the original multicomponent model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch, which the chapter introduces by taking into account its most recent incarnations to define a set of concepts. An important fact about the multicomponent model is that the function of storing content for short-term recall is performed in separate buffers. The multicomponent model of WM is a top-down approach, meaning that it is a model that was designed to account for behavioral performance in a series of experiments. Based on what people know about how the brain functions, it is also possible to propose bottom-up approaches to WM.
