Working memory and intelligence

The correlation perspective shows that working memory (WM) is strongly related to psychometric intelligence. Although there are numerous psychometric abilities, there is a powerful single source of variance, namely, g. g Is evidenced by the positive correlation between all psychometric cognitive abilities. The construct of WM distinguishes contents (verbal, numerical, spatial) and operations (storage and processing). However, some studies found a high correlation between several diverse WM tasks, which supports the construct validity of the concept of WM as one general cognitive resource. This study explores the structure of WM drawing on the methodology of intelligence structure research. Then, WM is related to intelligence. One hundred and eighty-seven participants took part in the study. WM was assessed through eight computerized tasks, while intelligence was assessed through the Raven Matrices or the PMA-R. The results show that WM can be considered as one general cognitive resource and that this resource is strongly related with intelligence (r = +0.7). The statement that there is something underlying WM and intelligence is discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.