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Beyond Working Memory Capacity: Attention Control as the Underlying Mechanism of Cognitive Abilities
1School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
Journal of Intelligence
|February 26, 2026
Summary
Working memory capacity (WMC) may heavily rely on attention control (AC) rather than just storage. This review shows WMC effects often align with AC demands across various cognitive domains.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Individual Differences
Background:
- Working memory capacity (WMC) is a key measure of individual differences in complex cognition.
- Emerging research indicates attention control (AC) significantly influences WMC's predictive power.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence linking WMC and AC across diverse cognitive domains.
- To clarify the roles of storage and control in complex cognitive performance.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of findings from six research domains: perception, learning, cognitive control, memory retrieval, real-world performance, and clinical applications.
- Analysis of the alignment between WMC and AC demands.
Main Results:
- WMC-related effects frequently correlate with AC demands across reviewed domains.
- The strength and nature of the WMC-AC relationship vary depending on the specific cognitive domain.
Conclusions:
- Attention control is a critical component of working memory capacity.
- Future research should integrate reliable AC measures and employ latent-variable approaches to disentangle storage, control, and representational processes.
Keywords:
attention controlcognitive measurementexecutive attentionfluid intelligenceindividual differencesinterference controllatent-variable modelingworking memory capacityMore Related Videos
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