PostleAndOberauer_OxfordHandbook

Working memory supports the guidance of current thoughts and actions with temporarily selected representations deriving from either long-term memory or information recently perceived in the environment. It is characterized by the rapid establishment of bindings between these representations and/or with representations of context to create new temporary structures, by the ability to manipulate these structures, and by the ability to shift flexibly between a maintenance mode and an updating mode. This chapter is organized around a framework proposed by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram in their 1960 book that introduced the concept of working memory to the then-nascent field of cognitive psychology. It emphasizes a distinction between “plans” – hierarchical sets of rules used to achieve a goal – and “data” – the contents of working memory. These map, respectively, onto the contemporary formulation of procedural and declarative working memory. From this perspective we consider the current state of theoretical and computational models, including: the distinction between memory-systems vs. state-dependent models; differing accounts of capacity limitations; the relation of working memory to long-term memory; and the relation of working memory to attention and cognitive control. We conclude with a consideration of the neural bases of working memory, emphasizing results from lesion and neurophysiological experiments, carried out with humans and nonhuman primates, that make contact with the theoretical and computational considerations introduced above. Important topics include the working-memory functions of the prefrontal cortex, the delay-period representation of information (including alternatives to sustained, elevated delay-period activity), and the neural bases of the control of working memory.