On the Relation of Working Memory and Multitasking: Memory Span and Synthetic Work Performance

• Working memory predicts multitasking over-and-above other cognitive, personality, and experience-based variables.
• However, many previous studies selected tasks to measure working memory that were dual-tasks themselves.
• The current work indicates single- and dual-task memory span tasks equally predict individual differences in synthetic work.

Recent research has identified working memory as a critical component of multitasking ability. These studies showed that working memory accounted for multitasking variance over-and-above that predicted by other cognitive, personality, and experience-based variables. However, a limitation of these previous studies was that the tasks selected to measure working memory were dual-tasks themselves. The purpose of the current research was to determine if working memory measures must be dual-tasks to predict multitasking performance, or if other types of working memory measures that do not rely upon the dual-task methodology predict multitasking just as well, if not better. Three different serial order memory span tasks (one dual-task and two single-task) and one multitask were administered to a sample of healthy young adults. The results showed that single- and dual-task working memory measures predicted multitasking to a similar degree. The results indicate there is something fundamental about working memory's relationship with multitasking ability.