Final answer:
Reading requires working memory to hold information temporarily, allowing readers to process text and understand context by using attention, encoding, storing, and retrieving processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Working memory and reading are closely related because reading demands that some information be held in memory to provide a context for what is currently looked at. The functions of memory, according to one model, involve encoding, storing, and retrieving information. Reading requires the engagement of the working memory to maintain information about sentences and context as one progresses through a text. Attention is needed to focus on the reading material while the short-term memory retains the processed information so that the reader can make sense of the text. Both the selective attention test and the model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch, which includes the visuospatial sketchpad, the episodic buffer, and the phonological loop, support the notion that reading places demands on various cognitive resources, particularly when moving information from short-term to long-term memory.