Award Date

1-1-2001

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Educational Psychology

First Committee Member

Alice J. Corkill

Number of Pages

74

Abstract

Measurement of working memory span typically involves tasks designed to introduce stimuli to the unique slave systems. It is widely accepted that these isolated measurements indicate, at a relatively simple level, the span of the given working memory system. This study hypothesizes that separate working memory systems can be combined to enhance span length. To evaluate this hypothesis, the Corsi Block Task, a commonly used measure of spatial working memory, will be altered to include verbal information (colors). One hundred subjects completed the following typically used cognitive tasks to observe the relationship between verbal abilities in working memory and spatial abilities in working memory: (1) the Raven's Progressive Matrices, a standardized test of intelligence; (2) two forms of the Corsi Block Tapping Task, a test that measures the ability to maintain spatial information in working memory; (3) a word span task, a test that measure the ability to maintain verbal information in working memory; (4) and a color span task, a test that may measure the ability to maintain visual information in working memory. A comparison of these working memory span measurements was used to determine the extent to which verbal information may contribute to the enhancement of spatial working memory.

Keywords

Combination; Investigating; Relationship; Span; Spatial; Task; Verbal

Controlled Subject

Cognitive psychology

File Format

pdf

File Size

1740.8 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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