Abstract
The notion of capacity-limited processing systems is a core element of cognitive accounts of limited and variable performance, enshrined within the short-term memory construct. We begin with a detailed critical analysis of the conceptual bases of this view and argue that there are fundamental problems – ones that go to the heart of cognitivism more generally – that render it untenable. In place of limited capacity systems, we propose a framework for explaining performance that focuses on the dynamic interplay of three aspects of any given setting: the particular task that must be accomplished, the nature and form of the material upon which the task must be performed, and the repertoire of skills and perceptual-motor functions possessed by the participant. We provide empirical examples of the applications of this framework in areas of performance typically accounted for by reference to capacity-limited short-term memory processes.
Highlights
The notion of capacity-limited processing systems is a core element of cognitive accounts of limited and variable performance, enshrined within the short-term memory construct
We have described a wide variety of settings in which manipulations, from the classical view of limited capacity shortterm memory, would appear subtle or mere matters of input to and output from the limited capacity central system, but which from our dynamic object- oriented approach can be seen as the determinants, in combination, of performance
Since they play no explanatory role, there is no requirement within such a framework to determine what the putative static, discrete items might be in terms of which the limits to performance might be quantified – all the explanatory concepts are orthogonal to such concerns
Summary
The idea of a limitedcapacity, short-term memory system appears as an integral part in explanations of aspects of cognition as broad and diverse as the development and evolution of language (e.g., Baddeley et al, 1998; Wray, 2000), individual differences in intelligence (Hornung et al, 2011), distraction from task-irrelevant material (e.g., Lavie, 2005), mental arithmetic (e.g., Lee and Kang, 2002) and logical reasoning (e.g., Gilhooly, 2004) Embedded is this explanatory device that limited performance and limited capacity present themselves as inseparable, even identical, postulates.
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