Working memory of cognitive systems: modes of existence, models, and evaluation criteria

The article is dedicated to a comprehensive study of working memory – the process of circulation and processing (transformation) of data necessary for performing current tasks of the cognitive system. The research also focuses on the specifics of working memory implementation in computational systems and the differences between this implementation and that of cognitive systems. Key questions addressed in the article include: the representation of the working memory process as a set of chains of events combined into streams of thought; the genesis of working memory existence as a process; the mechanisms through which working memory existence is ensured; qualitative differences in working memory as realized in cognitive and computational systems; and criteria for evaluating working memory that enable the determination of prospects for its improvement in artificial cognitive systems implemented on hardware networks and in computational systems. The methodology of the research presented in the article is based on the investigation of the mechanism of working memory existence, which consists of three components: the mechanism of data circulation between elements of the cognitive system; the attention mechanism; and the mechanism of constructing working memory as a sequence of chains of events. Clarification and detailing of the working memory representation are carried out based on the analysis of existing models of working memory. The scientific novelty of the study lies in: first, the formation of an author's extended model of the working memory process, based on three components of its existing mechanism; second, a critical analysis of existing working memory models, their integration and refinement; third, the expansion of the existing tools of the attention mechanism by introducing a new element – a librarian, performing the function of preliminary systematic (syntactic or semantic) indexing of data in long-term memory; and fourth, the formation of a new, more comprehensive set of criteria for evaluating the working memory process, which includes the bandwidth of working memory; the duration of data retention in short-term memory; the capacity of working memory; the degree of separation of thought streams; and the event toolkit in working memory. In turn, the criteria for evaluating the event toolkit are: the size of the utilized set of events; the degree of organization of the set of events; and the degree and nature of the mutual representation of events in working memory and changes in the cognitive system.