I’ve found that “working memory” was coined by Miller, so actually it seems pretty reasonable to apply that term to whatever he was measuring with his experiments, although other definitions seem quite reasonable as well.
Vastly more work has been done since then, including refined definitions of working memory. It measures what he thought he was measuring, so it is following his intent. But it’s still a bit of a chaotic shitshow, and modern techniques are unclear on what they’re measuring and don’t quite match their stated definitions, too.
When I took classes in cog sci, this idea of “working memory” seemed common, despite coexistence with more nuanced models. (IE, speaking about WM as 7±2 chunks was common and done without qualification iirc, although the idea of different memories for different modalities was also discussed. Since this number is determined by experiment, not neuroanatomy, it’s inherently an operationalized concept.) Perhaps this is no longer the case!
Why not just makeup a new word about the concept you’re actually talking about?
I’ve found that “working memory” was coined by Miller, so actually it seems pretty reasonable to apply that term to whatever he was measuring with his experiments, although other definitions seem quite reasonable as well.
Vastly more work has been done since then, including refined definitions of working memory. It measures what he thought he was measuring, so it is following his intent. But it’s still a bit of a chaotic shitshow, and modern techniques are unclear on what they’re measuring and don’t quite match their stated definitions, too.
When I took classes in cog sci, this idea of “working memory” seemed common, despite coexistence with more nuanced models. (IE, speaking about WM as 7±2 chunks was common and done without qualification iirc, although the idea of different memories for different modalities was also discussed. Since this number is determined by experiment, not neuroanatomy, it’s inherently an operationalized concept.) Perhaps this is no longer the case!