Attneave Lecture - Dr. Nelson Cowan, Presenter, Gerlinger Lounge, 3:30 p.m.

Attneave Lecture - Nelson Cowan, Presenter

The Control and Storage of Information in Human Working Memory

Fred Attneave was an early pioneer in the understanding of how people process information.  This year’s Attneave lecture explores how a small amount of information, the contents of working memory, is controlled and retained for the completion of cognitive tasks.  Although researchers agree that there is a relationship between working memory storage and executive control, the direction of causation is a matter of debate.  I will evaluate evidence that the primary variable in human thought is how well one can control what gets stored, and weigh it against other evidence that the primary variable is how much can be stored concurrently.  This comparison of hypotheses yields some new hypotheses for further testing.  The goal is a better understanding of the processes that help determine the quality and complexity of human thought.