Alan Baddeley succeeded Donald Broadbent as Director of the APU in Cambridge. Some 20 years later he moved to Bristol University. He is now at University of York where he has re-established his old collaboration with Graham Hitch. His interests are in human memory in general and working memory more specifically, and in combining basic and applied research. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, of the European Academy and is a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received the APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, the Aristotle Prize for contributions to European Psychology, and was awarded the CBE for contributions to the study of memory.

• 1. Introduction and overview ; 2. Why do we need a phonological loop? ; 3. The phonological loop: challenges and growing points ; 4. Visuospatial short-term memory ; 5. Imagery and the visuospatial sketchpad ; 6. Recency retrieval and the constant ratio rule ; 7. Fractionating the central executive ; 8. Long-term memory and the episodic buffer ; 9. Exploring the episodic buffer ; 10. Individual differences in working memory ; 11. What limits working memory span ; 12. Neuroimaging working memory ; 13. Working memory and social behaviour ; 14. Working memory and emotion I: fear and craving ; 15. Working memory and emotion II: depression and the well-springs of action ; 16. Working memory and consciousness ; 17. Multilevel control of action ; 18. Working memory in context: life, the universe and everything

Who will want to read this book?...researchers looking for up-to-date research summaries will find the book rewarding...the accessable and amiable writing style will ensure that student readers will not be intimidated...in short, this is a book that deserves a wide readership.