Program lecture series Francqui Chair Steve Majerus

March 8, 2022 - 4pm (Auditorium 1, Campus Dunant, Henri Dunantlaan 2)

Working memory: a cognitive interface for the past, the present and the future

Inaugural lecture, please register until March 1 via https://eventmanager.ugent.be/Majerus

March 15, 2022 - 3pm-6pm (Auditorium 3, Campus Dunant, Henri Dunantlaan 2)

The many faces of working memory and its interactions with attention and long-term memory

March 22, 2022 - 3pm-6pm (Auditorium 3, Campus Dunant, Henri Dunantlaan 2) 

The role of working memory in learning and learning disorders

March 29, 2022 - 3pm-6pm (Auditorium 3, Campus Dunant, Henri Dunantlaan 2) 

Can we enhance working memory capacity?

Working memory allows for controlled, online processing of a limited amount of information and is one of the strongest determinants of intellectual efficiency. Understanding of working memory and its capacity limits has significantly changed over the past decades. In the first inaugural lecture, Steve Majerus, FRS-FNRS Research Director,  will situate working memory within the general human cognitive architecture and will present an overview of the theoretical advances over the past 50 years. In the second lecture, he will present recent integrated and emergentist theoretical frameworks of working memory, considering that working memory cannot be understood without taking into account its dependency on other cognitive systems such as long-term memory and attention. Also recent advances in our knowledge of the neural systems supporting working memory.  In the third lecture, Steve Majerus will examine the functional relevance of working memory, by addressing its implication in various learning disorders, as well as in learning more generally. Finally, in the fourth lecture, the concept of working memory plasticity  will be discussed in light of the recent boom and failures of working memory training research.