Abstract
Working memory (WM) is a capacity-limited memory system that temporarily stores and manipulates information. So far, researchers have proposed a variety of WM models. These models are mainly verified by static stimuli such as objects, while leaving out dynamic stimuli such as events. The purpose of the current study is therefore to investigate the storage buffer of event information in WM. An event is defined as “a segment of time at a given location that is perceived by an observer to have a beginning and an end”. Given the spatiotemporal dynamic property, we hypothesized that events could be processed in a buffer dissociated from other types of information in WM. A group of 206 young adults completed nine change-detection tasks measuring WM capacity for different information, and four tasks tapping executive function. Then we tested 13 alternative models developed from Baddeley’s multi-component model and Cowan’s embedded model. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that events were stored independently from other types of information in WM. According to model comparison results, we suggest that WM consists of three correlated but separate modules: the event buffer, the object buffer, and the central executive. The event buffer is further divided into two sub-components, which store biological and non-biological motion information respectively. The object buffer is also divided into two sub-components: the visuospatial sketch pad (storing single feature) and the episodic buffer (storing bound information).