Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41745208›Full record

ReviewJournal of Intelligence2026

Beyond Working Memory Capacity: Attention Control as the Underlying Mechanism of Cognitive Abilities.

Yoonsang Lee, Randall Engle

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of Intelligence, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Yoonsang LeeSchool of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1843-4918
Randall EngleSchool of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0816-7406

Funding

Office of Naval Research N000142312768
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Working memory capacity (WMC) has long served as a central indicator of individual differences in complex cognition. However, growing evidence suggests that a substantial portion of its predictive power may reflect attention control (AC)-including goal maintenance, interference management, and inhibition-rather than storage capacity alone. This review synthesizes findings across six domains: (1) perception and sensory discrimination, (2) learning and problem solving, (3) cognitive control and decision making, (4) retrieval and memory performance, (5) multitasking and real-world performance, and (6) clinical applications. Across these areas, WMC-related effects frequently align with demands on AC, though the strength and nature of this alignment vary by domain. We highlight the importance of incorporating reliable AC measures and recommend latent-variable approaches to more clearly separate storage, control, and representational processes underlying complex performance.

Indexed as

attention controlcognitive measurementexecutive attentionfluid intelligenceindividual differencesinterference controllatent-variable modelingworking memory capacity

Identifiers

PMID41745208
PMCPMC12941818

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.