Social working memory: The past decade and future perspectives

Abstract

Working memory facilitates cognitive activities. Of the important cognitive activities within our daily lives, social activity has recently attracted attention in terms of the specific type of working memory; namely, social working memory. This paper reviews various findings from prior studies that emphasize both the neurological and behavioral differences between social and cognitive (canonical) working memory; findings that underscore the significance of the social working-memory construct. However, it is also evident that there has been a dearth of comprehensive perspectives to account for the findings from previous studies. More specifically, the review identifies four topics that have not been sufficiently addressed: (a) correlations among social working memory tasks; (b) theories concerning the relationship between social working memory and social cognition; (c) distinctions and/or similarities between affective versus social working memory; and (d) the nature of the representations within social working memory. Accordingly, this paper recommends tackling these issues as directions for future research. In focusing on these aspects, it is possible that future studies might elaborate the concept of social working memory and provide a perspective capable of integrating the diverse findings.