Abstract The term ‘working memory’ refers to the temporary storage of information in connection with the performance of other cognitive tasks such as reading, problemsolving or learning. It is here conceptualized as comprising a limited-capacity central processor, the central executive, which employs a number of subsidiary slave systems. Evidence for this view is presented, together with a more detailed account of two such systems: the articulatory loop, which stores and manipulates speech-based material, and the visuo-spatial scratch-pad, which is responsible for creating and maintaining visual imagery.