What does a verbal working memory task measure? The process-specific and age-dependent nature of attentional demands in verbal working memory tasks.

Abstract

Most models of verbal working memory (WM) consider attention as an important determinant of WM. The detailed nature of attentional processes and the different dimensions of verbal WM they support remains, however, poorly investigated. The present study distinguished between attentional capacity (scope of attention) and attentional control (control of attention) and examined their respective role for two fundamental dimensions of verbal WM: the retention of item versus serial order information and the simple versus complex nature of WM tasks. Three hundred four young and older adult participants performed simple or complex recall or reconstruction tasks involving the retention of item and/or serial order information, as well as attention tasks estimating scope and control of attention abilities. In young participants, scope of attention measures was most robustly associated with all WM tasks; control of attention measures were additionally involved when item and order information had to be maintained in more complex WM tasks. Older adult participants presented a similar pattern of results with, however, a tendency for increased reliance on control of attention already for the simple storage of information, and this most robustly for serial order information. These results reveal the task-dependent and partly age-dependent intervention of scope and control of attention in verbal WM measures, calling for dynamic models of verbal WM and attention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).