ABSTRACT
The various conceptions of cognitive development in which working memory is assumed to play a key role manifestly use different acceptations of the term 'working memory'. The fractionation of working memory proposed by the multi-component model into separate systems dedicated to either the control of attention or the storage of different types of information had important consequences regarding further theorizing as well as empirical approaches for studying working memory development. R. W. Engle's conception of working memory is one that explicitly puts the emphasis on the central executive. A. D. Baddeley's model is the most popular model of working memory. Authors who refer to the concept of working memory have in minded the multi-component model proposed by Baddeley. The greater ability of individuals with high working memory capacities to control their attention is also apparent in their higher capacity to resist proactive interference or to block distracting information in a dichotic-listening task.
