Decomposing adult age differences in working memory
Abstract
Two studies, involving a total of 460 adults between 18 and 87 years of age, were conducted to determine which of several hypothesized processing components was most responsible for age-related declines in working memory functioning. Significant negative correlations between age and measures of working memory (i.e., from -.39 to -.52) were found in both studies, and these relations were substantially attenuated by partialing measures hypothesized to reflect storage capacity, processing efficiency, coordination effectiveness, and simple comparison speed. Because the greatest attenuation of the age relations occurred with measures of simple processing speed, it was suggested that many of the age differences in working memory may be mediated by age-related reductions in the speed of executing elementary operations. Working memory is generally defined as the preservation of information while simultaneously processing the same or other information. It is distinguished from other forms of memory because the assumption that it reflects both processing and storage implies that it plays an important role in many cognitive tasks (e.g., Baddeley, 1986; Carpenter & Just, 1989; Salthouse, 1990). An illustration of the hypothesized functioning of working memory in one cognitive task, mental arithmetic, is presented in Figure 1. The left column in this figure indicates the operations to be performed, and the right column represents the intermediate products that must be temporarily stored w…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The decline of working memory in aging includes a reduction of working-memory capacity, which reduces the number of information elements that can be processed, undermining comprehension and learning of complex material.
“First, due to a reduction of the working-memory capacity (Salthouse & Babcock, 1991;Wingfield, Stine, Lahar, & Aberdeen, 1988), less information elements can be processed, which undermines comprehension and learning of complex material.”
From Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency (2002) · cites this paper as Salthouse & Babcock, 1991
Cognitive aging brings about declines in working memory that impede the acquisition of complex cognitive skills.
“cognitive aging brings about several declines of working memory, which impede the acquisition of complex cognitive skills.”
From Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency (2002) · cites this paper as Salthouse & Babcock, 1991
Working-memory abilities were assessed with Salthouse and Babcock's (1991) computation-span test, a variant of the reading-span test.
“Working-memory abilities were assessed with Salthouse and Babcock's (1991) computation-span test, which is a variant of the well-known reading-span test (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980).”
From Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency (2002) · cites this paper as Salthouse & Babcock, 1991
These results are in accordance with Salthouse and Babcock's (1991) study, in which a gradual age-related decrease of computation-span scores was found.
“These results are in accordance with Salthouse and Babcock's (1991) study, in which a gradual age-related decrease of computation-span scores was found.”
From Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency (2002) · cites this paper as Salthouse and Babcock's (1991)
Cites
Charness, N. (2008) · Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1518/001872008x312161 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition
Salthouse, T. A. (1996) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.103.3.403 · Cited by 5,568 · see citing works
Self-citationCzaja, S. J., Charness, N., Fisk, A. D., Hertzog, C., Nair, S. N., Rogers, W. A., & Sharit, J. (2006) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/0882-7974.21.2.333 · Cited by 2,113 · see citing works
Inverted-U–Shaped Dopamine Actions on Human Working Memory and Cognitive Control
Cools, R., & D'Esposito, M. (2011) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.03.028 · Cited by 1,673 · see citing works
Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Dual-Process Theories of the Mind.
Barrett, L. F., Tugade, M. M., & Engle, R. W. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.553 · Cited by 913 · see citing works
Processing speed as a mental capacity
Kail, R., & Salthouse, T. A. (1994) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/0001-6918(94)90003-5 · Cited by 850 · see citing works
Self-citationAge-Related Impairment in Executive Functioning: Updating, Inhibition, Shifting, and Access
Fisk, J. E., & Sharp, C. A. (2004) · Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/13803390490510680 · Cited by 634 · see citing works
Yuan, P., & Raz, N. (2014) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.02.005 · Cited by 608 · see citing works
Salthouse, T. A. (1991) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1991.tb00127.x · Cited by 615 · see citing works
Self-citationAging and verbal memory span: a meta-analysis
Bopp, K. L., & Verhaeghen, P. (2005) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences · doi:10.1093/geronb/60.5.p223 · Cited by 607 · see citing works
A meta-analysis on the relation between reading and working memory
Peng, P., Barnes, M., Wang, C., Wang, W., Li, S., Swanson, H. L., Dardick, W., & Tao, S. (2018) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000124 · Cited by 521 · see citing works
Unsworth, N., Redick, T. S., Heitz, R. P., Broadway, J. M., & Engle, R. W. (2009) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658210902998047 · Cited by 479 · see citing works
Dahlin, E., Nyberg, L., Bäckman, L., & Neely, A. S. (2008) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0014296 · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Salthouse, T. A. (1994) · Neuropsychology · doi:10.1037/0894-4105.8.4.535 · Cited by 455 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Impact of Sustained Engagement on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: The Synapse Project
Park, D. C., Lodi-Smith, J., Drew, L., Haber, S., Hebrank, A., Bischof, G. N., & Aamodt, W. (2014) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613499592 · Cited by 404 · see citing works
Working memory training in older adults: Evidence of transfer and maintenance effects.
Borella, E., Carretti, B., Riboldi, F., & De Beni, R. (2010) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0020683 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Working Memory Deficits of Reading Disabled Children
de Jong, P. F. (1998) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1006/jecp.1998.2451 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Speed mediation of adult age differences in cognition
Salthouse, T. A. (1993) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.29.4.722 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
Self-citationWorking Memory Capacity Predicts Dopamine Synthesis Capacity in the Human Striatum
Cools, R., Gibbs, S. E., Miyakawa, A., Jagust, W., & D'Esposito, M. (2008) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4475-07.2008 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Perrotin, A. (2012) · Archives of Neurology · doi:10.1001/archneurol.2011.666 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Jackson, J. J., Hill, P. L., Payne, B. R., Roberts, B. W., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. (2012) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0025918 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
DE JAGER, C. A., HOGERVORST, E., COMBRINCK, M., & BUDGE, M. M. (2003) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291703008031 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
The impact of diabetes on cognitive impairment and its progression to dementia
Dove, A., Shang, Y., Xu, W., Grande, G., Laukka, E. J., Fratiglioni, L., & Marseglia, A. (2021) · Alzheimer's & Dementia · doi:10.1002/alz.12482 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Working Memory Capacity and Fluid Intelligence: Maintenance and Disengagement
Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., & Engle, R. W. (2016) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691616650647 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Event segmentation ability uniquely predicts event memory
Sargent, J. Q., Zacks, J. M., Hambrick, D. Z., Zacks, R. T., Kurby, C. A., Bailey, H. R., Eisenberg, M. L., & Beck, T. M. (2013) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2013.07.002 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
A resource model of the neural basis of executive working memory
Bunge, S. A., Klingberg, T., Jacobsen, R. B., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2000) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.97.7.3573 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Does working memory training generalize?
Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2010) · Psychologica Belgica · doi:10.5334/pb-50-3-4-245 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Cerebral microbleeds, retinopathy, and dementia: The AGES-Reykjavik Study
Qiu, C., Cotch, M. F., Sigurdsson, S., Jonsson, P. V., Jonsdottir, M. K., Sveinbjrnsdottir, S., Eiriksdottir, G., Klein, R., Harris, T. B., van Buchem, M. A., et al. (2010) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e3182020349 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Ybarra, O., Burnstein, E., Winkielman, P., Keller, M. C., Manis, M., Chan, E., & Rodriguez, J. (2008) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167207310454 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Effects of working-memory training on striatal dopamine release
Bäckman, L., Nyberg, L., Soveri, A., Johansson, J., Andersson, M., Dahlin, E., Neely, A. S., Virta, J., Laine, M., & Rinne, J. O. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1204978 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Training Older Adults to Use Tablet Computers: Does It Enhance Cognitive Function?
Chan, M. Y., Haber, S., Drew, L. M., & Park, D. C. (2016) · The Gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/gnu057 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
“…even healthy older adults experience age-related declines across multiple facets of cognition (Park & Shaw, 1992; Park et al., 1996; Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991), one major goal of interventions is to improve or maintain cognition in order to promote independence and quality of life.”
BackgroundMethodSharit, J., Hernández, M. A., Czaja, S. J., & Pirolli, P. (2008) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/1352782.1352785 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency
Van Gerven, P. W. M., Paas, F. G. W. C., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Schmidt, H. G. (2002) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/s0959-4752(01)00017-2 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Developing a tool for measuring the decision-making competence of older adults.
Finucane, M. L., & Gullion, C. M. (2010) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0019106 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
From Theory to Practice: The Application of Cognitive Load Theory to the Practice of Medicine
Szulewski, A., Howes, D., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Sweller, J. (2021) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000003524 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Stefansdottir, H., Arnar, D. O., Aspelund, T., Sigurdsson, S., Jonsdottir, M. K., Hjaltason, H., Launer, L. J., & Gudnason, V. (2013) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/strokeaha.12.679381 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
A task-invariant cognitive reserve network
Stern, Y., Gazes, Y., Razlighi, Q., Steffener, J., & Habeck, C. (2018) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.033 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Saczynski, J. S., Jonsdottir, M. K., Garcia, M. E., Jonsson, P. V., Peila, R., Eiriksdottir, G., Olafsdottir, E., Harris, T. B., Gudnason, V., & Launer, L. J. (2008) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwn228 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Coronary Artery Calcium, Brain Function and Structure: The AGES-Reykjavik Study
Vidal, J.-S., Sigurdsson, S., Jonsdottir, M. K., Eiriksdottir, G., Thorgeirsson, G., Kjartansson, O., Garcia, M. E., van Buchem, M. A., Harris, T. B., Gudnason, V., et al. (2010) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/strokeaha.110.579581 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Working memory and bias in reasoning across the life span
Gilinsky, A. S., & Judd, B. B. (1994) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/0882-7974.9.3.356 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Bürki, C. N., Ludwig, C., Chicherio, C., & de Ribaupierre, A. (2014) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-014-0559-3 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
van Soest, A. P. M., Hermes, G. D. A., Berendsen, A. A. M., van de Rest, O., Zoetendal, E. G., Fuentes, S., Santoro, A., Franceschi, C., de Groot, L. C. P. G. M., & de Vos, W. M. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12113471 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Brain Network Modularity Predicts Exercise-Related Executive Function Gains in Older Adults
Baniqued, P. L., Gallen, C. L., Voss, M. W., Burzynska, A. Z., Wong, C. N., Cooke, G. E., Duffy, K., Fanning, J., Ehlers, D. K., Salerno, E. A., et al. (2018) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00426 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Contributions of Processing Ability and Knowledge to Verbal Memory Tasks across the Adult Life-Span
Hedden, T., Lautenschlager, G., & Park, D. C. (2005) · The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A · doi:10.1080/02724980443000179 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Training versus engagement as paths to cognitive enrichment with aging.
Stine-Morrow, E. A. L., Payne, B. R., Roberts, B. W., Kramer, A. F., Morrow, D. G., Payne, L., Hill, P. L., Jackson, J. J., Gao, X., Noh, S. R., et al. (2014) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0038244 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Jopp, D., & Hertzog, C. (2007) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/0882-7974.22.4.811 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Benefits of training visuospatial working memory in young-old and old-old.
Borella, E., Carretti, B., Cantarella, A., Riboldi, F., Zavagnin, M., & De Beni, R. (2014) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0034293 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Strong genetic overlap between executive functions and intelligence.
Engelhardt, L. E., Mann, F. D., Briley, D. A., Church, J. A., Harden, K. P., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2016) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/xge0000195 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Chen, T., & Li, D. (2007) · Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition · doi:10.1080/13825580600987660 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
W. M. Van Gerven, F. G. W. C. P. (2000) · Educational Gerontology · doi:10.1080/03601270050133874 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
An Internet study of prospective memory across adulthood.
Logie, R. H., & Maylor, E. A. (2009) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0015479 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Montgomery, C., Fisk, J. E., Murphy, P. N., Ryland, I., & Hilton, J. (2012) · Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental · doi:10.1002/hup.1268 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Gothe, N. P., Kramer, A. F., & McAuley, E. (2017) · The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine: Paradigm, Practice, and Policy Advancing Integrative Health · doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0185 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Working memory, intelligence and reading ability in children
de Jonge, P., & de Jong, P. F. (1996) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(96)00161-4 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Aalbers, T., Baars, M. A. E., Olde Rikkert, M. G. M., & Kessels, R. P. C. (2013) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.2860 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Role of Family History for Alzheimer Biomarker Abnormalities in the Adult Children Study
Xiong, C. (2011) · Archives of Neurology · doi:10.1001/archneurol.2011.208 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Does Strategy Training Reduce Age-Related Deficits in Working Memory?
Bailey, H. R., Dunlosky, J., & Hertzog, C. (2014) · Gerontology · doi:10.1159/000356699 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Processing speed, attentional capacity, and age-related memory change
Levitt, T., Fugelsang, J., & Crossley, M. (2006) · Experimental Aging Research · doi:10.1080/03610730600699118 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-Regulated Learning in Younger and Older Adults: Does Aging Affect Metacognitive Control?
Price, J., Hertzog, C., & Dunlosky, J. (2010) · Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition · doi:10.1080/13825580903287941 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Role of Verbal Working Memory in Complex Skill Acquisition
Perlow, R., Jattuso, M., & De Wayne Moore, D. (1997) · Human Performance · doi:10.1207/s15327043hup1003_4 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Erskine, J. A. K., Georgiou, G. J., Joshi, M., Deans, A., & Colegate, C. (2017) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2017.06.019 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Salthouse, T. A., & Babcock, R. L.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- Developmental Psychology
- Published
- 1991-09
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 763-776
- ISSN
- 0012-1649 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0599
- OpenAlex
- W2025642774
- Cited by
- 1,373
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 56 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 55
- FWCI
- 16.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- working memory, age-related decline, aging, processing efficiency, storage capacity, coordination effectiveness, processing speed, simple reaction time, mental arithmetic, cognitive aging
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
