Working memory is a system for holding in mind information in the face of potentially distracting activity, and is often assessed using tasks in which participants maintain memory items while carrying out interleaved 'processing' activity. Performance on such tasks correlates well with measures of academic achievement in children and adults, and does so more strongly than performance on tasks that involve the storage of information without interleaved processing. Consequently, the addition of a processing aspect to a working memory task is important in determining its predictability of academic abilities, but what is less clear is why the addition of processing has this effect. The main aim of this project is to answer this question. This will be done by assessing why processing activities cause forgetting in working memory tasks. Specifically we will examine whether processing prevents individuals rehearsing information, whether it makes memory episodes less distinctive and therefore harder to remember, and whether it introduces the need to switch between different aspects of the task. By addressing these issues in samples of children and adults we will also be able to determine which of these features of working memory tasks are crucial to determining their ability to predict academic achievement.

The main data collection method was experimental. 6 standardised tasks were employed (purchased with appropriate permissions): Group Reading Test II (6-14): NFER-Nelson Progress in Maths 4-14: NFER-Nelson Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices: Pearson Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices: Pearson Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale: Pearson The Speed and Capacity of Language Processing Test: Thames Valley Test Company, Suffolk, UK The other measures were bespoke experimental tests designed by the grant-holders.