Attention switching and working memory spans

Barrouillet and Camos () concluded from their developmental study on working memory that when performing complex span tasks, individuals maintain memory items by switching rapidly their attention from processing to storage while performing the concurrent task. Thus, a processing component that would require a continuous attentional focusing should have a highly detrimental effect on span. The present study verifies two predictions issuing from this hypothesis by comparing the classical self‐paced reading and operation span tasks with new computer‐paced tasks in adults. First, any increase in the pace at which the processing component of a working memory span task has to be performed impedes switching and then leads to lower spans. Second, when presented at a fast pace, even simple activities such as reading letters or adding and subtracting 1 to small numbers have an effect on spans as detrimental as complex activities like reading and understanding sentences or solving complex equations.