Modality-Specific Working Memory Systems Verified by Clinical Working Memory Tests

OBJECTIVE: This study was to identify whether working memory (WM) can be clearly subdivided according to auditory and visual modality. To do this, we administered the most recent and universal clinical WM measures in a mixed psychiatric sample. METHODS: A total of 115 patients were diagnosed on the basis of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and with MINI-Plus 5.0, a structured diagnostic interview. WM subtests of Korean version of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV and Korean version of Wechsler Memory Scale-IV were administered to assess WM. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to observe whether WM measures fit better to a one-factor or two-factor model. RESULTS: CFA results demonstrated that a two factor model fits the data better than one-factor model as expected. CONCLUSION: Our study supports a modality model of WM, or the existence of modality-specific WM systems, and thus poses a clinical significance of assessing both auditory and visual WM tests.