Working memory capacity and fluid abilities: Examining the correlation between Operation Span and Raven

The correlation between a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) (Operation Span) and a measure of fluid abilities (Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices) was examined. Specifically, performance on Raven problems was decomposed by difficulty, memory load, and rule type. The results suggest that the relation between Operation Span and Raven is fairly constant across levels of difficulty, memory load, and rule type. Thus, it appears something other than the number of things that can be held memory is important for the shared variance between these two tasks. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of attention control as a possible link between working memory capacity and fluid abilities.