Editing Spatial memory (section)

== Spatial working memory ==
[[Working memory]] (WM) can be described as a limited capacity system that allows one to temporarily store and process information.<ref name = "Ang & Lee">{{cite journal | last1 = Ang | first1 = S. Y. | last2 = Lee | first2 = K. | year = 2008 | title = Central executive involvement in children's spatial memory | journal = Memory | volume = 16 | issue = 8| pages = 918–933 | doi = 10.1080/09658210802365347 | pmid = 18802804 }}</ref> This temporary store enables one to complete or work on complex tasks while being able to keep information in mind.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /> For instance, the ability to work on a complicated mathematical problem utilizes one's working memory.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

One influential theory of WM is the [[Alan Baddeley|Baddeley]] and Hitch [[Baddeley's model of working memory|multi-component model of working memory]].<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /><ref name = "Jones et al.">{{cite journal | last1 = Jones | first1 = D. | last2 = Farrand | first2 = P. | last3 = Stuart | first3 = G. | last4 = Morris | first4 = N.| year = 1995 | title = Functional equivalence of verbal and spatial information in serial short-term memory | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition | volume = 21 | issue = 4| pages = 1008–1018 | doi = 10.1037/0278-7393.21.4.1008 | pmid = 7673864 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> The most recent version of this model suggests that there are four subcomponents to WM: [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Phonological loop|phonological loop]], the [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Visuo-spatial working memory|visuo-spatial sketchpad]], the [[Executive functions|central executive]], and the [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Episodic buffer|episodic buffer]].<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /> One component of this model, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, is likely responsible for the temporary storage, maintenance, and manipulation of both visual and spatial information.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /><ref name = "Jones et al." />

[[File:The Working Memory Model.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Working Memory Model (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974, revised 2000)]]
In contrast to the multi-component model, some researchers believe that STM should be viewed as a unitary construct.<ref name = "Jones et al." /> In this respect, visual, spatial, and verbal information are thought to be organized by levels of representation rather than the type of store to which they belong.<ref name = "Jones et al." /> Within the literature, it is suggested that further research into the fractionation of STM and WM be explored.<ref name = "Jones et al." /><ref name = "Della Sala et al." /> However, much of the research into the visuo-spatial memory construct have been conducted in accordance to the paradigm advanced by Baddeley and Hitch.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /><ref name = "Jones et al." /><ref name = "Della Sala et al." /><ref name = "Mammarella et al.">{{cite journal | last1 = Mammarella | first1 = I. C. | last2 = Pazzaglia | first2 = F. | last3 = Cornoldi | first3 = C.| year = 2008 | title = Evidence for different components in children's visuospatial working memory | url = https://zenodo.org/record/895277| journal = British Journal of Developmental Psychology | volume = 26 | issue = 3| pages = 337–355 | doi = 10.1348/026151007X236061 |display-authors=etal| hdl = 11577/2440989 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name = "Kalakoski & Saariluoma">{{cite journal | last1 = Kalakoski | first1 = V. | last2 = Saariluoma | first2 = P. | year = 2001 | title = Taxi drivers' exceptional memory of street names | journal = Memory and Cognition | volume = 29 | issue = 4| pages = 634–638 | doi = 10.3758/BF03200464 | pmid = 11504011 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

===The role of the central executive===
Research into the exact function of the visuo-spatial sketchpad has indicated that both spatial [[short-term memory]] and working memory are dependent on executive resources and are not entirely distinct.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /> For instance, performance on a working memory but not on a short-term memory task was affected by [[articulatory suppression]] suggesting that impairment on the spatial task was caused by the concurrent performance on a task that had extensive use of executive resources.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /> Results have also found that performances were impaired on STM and WM tasks with executive suppression.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /> This illustrates how, within the visuo-spatial domain, both STM and WM require similar utility of the central executive.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" />

Additionally, during a spatial visualisation task (which is related to executive functioning and not STM or WM) concurrent executive suppression impaired performance indicating that the effects were due to common demands on the central executive and not short-term storage.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" /> The researchers concluded with the explanation that the central executive employs [[Cognitive style|cognitive strategies]] enabling participants to both encode and maintain mental representations during short-term memory tasks.<ref name = "Ang & Lee" />

Although studies suggest that the central executive is intimately involved in a number of spatial tasks, the exact way in which they are connected remains to be seen.<ref name = "Fisk et al.">{{cite journal | last1 = Fisk | first1 = J. E. | last2 = Sharp | first2 = C. A.| year = 2003 | title = The role of the executive system in visuo-spatial memory functioning | journal = Brain and Cognition | volume = 52 | issue = 3| pages = 364–381 | doi = 10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00183-0 | pmid = 12907181 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>