| Working memory (WM) implies a system for the temporary holding and manipulation ofinformation during the performance of a range of cognitive tasks such as comprehension,learning , and reasoning. Baddeley (1986) suggested the architecture of the WM systemcomprised three separated components: a central executive and two slave systems, thephonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The central executive is a limited-capacityattention system with controls and supervising functions. The phonological loop is responsiblefor the temporary storage of verbal material in a phonological code. The visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSSP) is involved in the temporary retention of visuo-spatial information.VSSP comprises two functional components: a passive visual cache and an active innerscribe. The visual cache is involved in the temporary maintaining of visual information, such aspatterns and color. The inner scribe is an active spatial rehearsal mechanism, which isresponsible for the storage, planning, and controlling spatial dynamic information.Psychologists generally investigated visuo-spatial working memory through the materials'complexity. Research on complexity judgements of matrix patterns has in fact shown that theconcept of complexity is determined by structure, quantitative and structure. Structurecomplexity is related to the redundancy of a stimulus. A stimulus is redundancy if parts of it canbe predicted from other parts. Gestalt factors including symmetry, good continuation, and otherforms of regularity constitute redundancy. Quantitative complexity includes aspects such as thenumber of elements in a stimulus, the size of a stimulus, etc. The complexity of the path isdetermined by the positions and spatial relationships among its constituent blocks. Dependingon the degree of redundancy evoked by the sequence of movements, the path will be more orless complex. Corsi Block test is a classical task measuring the capacity of visuo-spatialworking memory. The test presents sequentially visual stimulates which are random spatialpositions, with nonverbal encode, excluding the data noise from verbal working memory.There is individual difference during of each operation. Thus, individual difference is animportant factor affecting the performance of VSWM. Researchers have explored thepersonality variables affect the performance of VSWM, such as, blindness, sex and age.Cognitive style is an important variable to imply individual difference during cognitive process.The definition of FDI is corresponds to the two-component of working memory which arecentral executive system and visuo-spatial sketchpad. The level of psychological differentiationand cognitive the restructure of FD is higher than FI. FD individuals are inclined to processinformation positively and use a deep-analyse style. They are sensitive to the difference of thematerials and are good at finding rules in complex background. FI individuals are different. FDIis a style and not an ability. But there are some research indicated that FD individuals have highvisuo-spatial cognitive ability. Therefore, FDI cognitive styles certainly will affect visuo-spatialworking memory.Two experiments are reported to explore the effect of FDI cognitive on VSWM in differenttask-situation. The present research employs Corsi block test presenting by computer. Bymanipulating quantity, and the to-be remembered cubical sequence, quantitative, and pathcomplexity are induced. Experiment 1 focused on the effect of cognitive style, quantitativecomplexity and path complexity on VSWM, which adopted a 2 (cognitive style: FD;FI ) ×2(quantitative complexity: low;high)×2 (path complexity: simple;complex)mixed factorialdesign. Cognitive style and quantitative complexity are between-subjects variables. Pathcomplexity is within-subject variable. VSWM span is the depended variable. Experiment 2explored the effect of cognitive style, structural and quantitative complexity on VSWM, thedesign of experiment was a 2 (cognitive style: FD;FI ) ×2 (interference task: spatialsuppression;control ) ×2 (path complexity: simple;complex) mixed factorial design.Cognitive style and interference task are between-subjects variable and structural and pathcomplexity are within-subject variable. VSWM span is the depended variable.The results indicated: (1) Quantitative complexity and path complexity affected VSWMspan significantly. The interaction between quantitative complexity and path complexity wasvery significant. (2) FDI cognitive style affected VSWM span significantly. The interactionbetween cognitive style and quantitative complexity was very significant. (3) Interference taskaffected VSWM span significantly. The interaction between interference task and FDI cognitivestyle was very significant. In control situation, cognitive style didn't affected VSWM. In spatialsuppression, cognitive style affected VSWM.These findings have important implications for theory research and practical appliance. Intheory, they widen the field of VSWM and cognitive style research. In practice, they can helppeople improve the level of VSWM.
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