My initial central research was categorization.
Since 1990 my core interest has moved towards the role
working memory
plays in cognition. This results in two kinds of research efforts.
-
Clarification of the notion and the mechanisms of working memory.
The working memory model of Baddeley & Hitch is taken as a heuristic
device for these efforts.
- First and foremost, the notion of central
executive needs
reconceptualization. Thinking of the central executive as a synonym
for executive functions, does not help because the concept of executive
functions is equally vague. Fractionation of the central executive
in a number of logically separate mechanisms may be a useful strategy.
In our group, we prefer still another strategy, namely the search for
processing components that require controlled processing for their
executive and can be considered as markers of executive control. Our
hypothesis is that response selection, input and output
monitoring, memory updating, response inhibition, interference
control, task set maintenance, are part of this set of
controlled processing components. Thus far, some evidence has been
collected supporting this hypothesis.
- The architecture of working memory
is also one of my concerns.
In particular, the nature of visuo-spatial working memory has been
a focus.
- Memory for order
seems to be an important aspect of working memory.
Coding of order, and whether it is modality-specific, or even
working-memory-specific is also a topic in our recent work.
Interrelationships of working
memory mechanisms with a variety of cognitive tasks.
In fact, working memory plays an important supportive and mediating
role in a wide range of cognitive tasks. My research group is
studying this role in
- reasoning
- mental arithmetic
- timing, in particular time estimation
- saccadic eye movements
- language comprehension
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