There is growing interest in understanding what constrains transfer following working memory (WM) training with recent studies investigating what limits transfer within and across different WM paradigms. The primary aim of the current study was to conduct a large-scale latent variable analysis to identify distinct properties between WM tasks to provide further insight into task features that might constrain transfer following training. A secondary aim was to explore how the resulting WM factor(s) were linked to Gf. Participants (N = 703) completed multiple web-based versions of n-back and backward recall tasks and a test of non-verbal reasoning. The memory tasks contained different memoranda that varied across (spatial or verbal material) and within (verbal digits or letters) domain, allowing the variance specific to task content and paradigm to be assessed. The data were best-captured by two distinct but related backward recall and n-back constructs, each linked to a separate reasoning factor, in comparison to other plausible model constructions (including a single WM factor, two-factor domain, and three-factor materials model). This suggests these WM tasks measure distinct paradigm-specific processes, but share common variance with one another and with a reasoning task. The benefits of cognitive training targeting a single paradigm are therefore likely to be limited to the same paradigm. For broader transfer it will be necessary to target what is shared across paradigms.
Working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, and the continued influence effect: A latent-variable analysis
