This study tested the dual-component model of
working memory (WM) against its unitary alternative. The
former account predicts that WM
consists of two functionally distinct mechanisms: a very accessible but capacity-limited
primary memory (PM) and a less accessible secondary memory
(SM). The latter account assumes only one long-term memory
component. We used a novel version of the Sternberg serial
recognition paradigm, which selectively impedes access to
either early or late items, by asking participants about the
location of a probe in relation to
either the end or the start of
encoded memory set, respectively. When locations matched
probes, our manipulation harmed recognition of early items,
while it left late items intact, in the case of both latency and
accuracy. However, in trials in which locations did not match
probes, such an effect regarded only latency but not accuracy.
This result suggests that a way of access to WM may depend on
the level of conflict among accessed memory items. Finally,
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed two distinct
sources of variance in recognition accuracy. In total, our
results are consistent with th
e dual-component view of WM,
and they implicate that early items were presumably held in
SM, while late items benefited from being held in PM
