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Working memory capacity: the need for process task-analysis
We use working memory (WM) to follow directions, figure out how much things cost and keep up with a conversation. Keeping up with a conversation at the same time as summing up our groceries cost can be a taunting task for most of us. This is multi-tasking and there is a cognitive cost associated with it. Such cognitive challenge is in part due to limitations of WM capacity. The most widely accepted definition of WM is that it is an ability used to manipulate and hold information in mind for brief periods of time. What we clearly know about WM capacity is that it improves dramatically over childhood and adolescence. Researchers, however, are still engaged in a lively debate aiming to better understand how we should measure WM and what its limits are.