From task-general to task-specific cognitive operations in a few minutes: Working memory performance is an adaptive process

Measurement of cognitive functions is typically based on the implicit assumption that the mental architecture underlying cognitive task performance is constant throughout the task. In contrast, skill learning theory implies that cognitively demanding task performance is an adaptive process that progresses from effortful and task-general metacognitive and control processes to more automatic and task-specific performance. However, this hypothesis is rarely applied to the short time spans of traditional cognitive tasks such as working memory (WM) tasks. We utilized longitudinal structural equation models on two well-powered data sets to test the hypothesis that the initial stages of WM task performances load on a task-general g-factor and then diverge into factors specific to task structure. In line with the hypothesis, the first experiment (N = 296) indicated perfect correlation between latent factors in the beginning of the task, which then diverged into task-specific factors. The second experiment (N = 201) indicated unity between all except one latent factor in the beginning of the task, followed by divergence. These results can be interpreted in the skill learning framework as suggesting that the mental architecture underlying complex cognitive performance progresses rapidly from initial engagement of task-general cognitive processes towards task-specific ones. This has several important implications for the measurement of complex cognitive functions.