A Preliminary Investigation of the Running Digit Span As a Test of Working Memory

The objective of this study was to compare performance on different versions of the running span task, and to examine the relationship between task performance and tests of episodic memory and executive function. We found that the average capacity of the running span was approximately 4 digits, and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marjan Jahanshahi, T. Saleem, Aileen K. Ho, R. Fuller, Georg Dirnberger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2008-01-01
Series:Behavioural Neurology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-2008-0212
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The objective of this study was to compare performance on different versions of the running span task, and to examine the relationship between task performance and tests of episodic memory and executive function. We found that the average capacity of the running span was approximately 4 digits, and at long sequence lengths, performance was no longer affected by varying the running span window. Both episodic and executive function measures correlated with short and long running spans, suggesting that a simple dissociation between immediate memory and executive processes in short and long running digit span tasks may not be warranted.
ISSN:0953-4180
1875-8584