The self-bias in working memory: the favorability of self-referential stimuli in resource allocation

Self-representations guide and shape our thoughts and behaviour. People usually exhibit inherent biases in perception, attention, and memory to favour the information associated with themselves over that associated with others. The present study explored the phenomenon of self-bias in working memory (WM), specifically how self-referential processing impacts WM precision. Four precision-based experiments were conducted to assess the recall precision of self-referential items and items associated with other social agents. The findings revealed a robust self-prioritisation effect in WM precision, wherein self-referential items were recalled with greater precision than items associated with other social agents. Additionally, increased precision for self-referential items did not decrease the precision for simultaneously remembered items. This effect was limited by the total amount of WM resources and not influenced by a perceptual distractor. The inherent self-bias in WM can serve as a proxy to access the role self-representation in goal-oriented cognitive processing, providing a means of exploring the interaction between self-reference and high-level cognitive function.