Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42637858›Full record

ArticlePsychonomic bulletin & review2026

Stable tendencies in spontaneous working memory usage during flexible behaviour.

Levi Kumle, Amy X Li, Joel Kovoor, Amelia G Rock, Emily Hesselink, Ellen Jones, Méadhbh B Brosnan, Anna C Nobre, Dejan Draschkow

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Psychonomic bulletin & review, 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
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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

9 authors.

Levi KumleDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. levi.kumle@psy.ox.ac.uk.
Amy X LiDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Joel KovoorDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Amelia G RockDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Emily HesselinkDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ellen JonesDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Méadhbh B BrosnanSchool of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Anna C NobreWu Tsai Institute and Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Dejan DraschkowDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Funding

Clarendon Fund Studentship to AXLClarendon Fund Studentship to LKWellcome TrustWellcome Trust Core Funding for Wellcome Centre for Integrative NWellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (104571/Z/14/Z)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Unlike standard working memory (WM) tasks, real-world settings allow individuals to spontaneously adapt how much information to use from WM before resampling the environment. Here, we considered whether individuals exhibit distinct, trait-like tendencies in their spontaneous use of WM. Across three studies (N = 220) using an Object Copying Task, we show that some participants consistently exhibited greater WM usage than others. These tendencies were reliable, stable across time, and predicted individuals' task efficiency and responses to changing task demands. Finally, spontaneous WM usage could only partially be explained by established measures of WM capacity and attentional control - two plausible predictors of natural WM usage. In summary, we find stable tendencies in individuals' spontaneous WM usage, despite the variable nature of self-structured natural behaviour. Our results position inter-individual variability as an important dimension in understanding natural, memory-guided behaviour, highlighting the need to investigate its broader determinants and behavioural consequences.

Indexed as

AttentionIndividualityMemory, Short-TermCognitive FlexibilityFemaleHumansMaleYoung AdultIndividual differencesNaturalistic behaviourSensorimnemonic decisionsVirtual realityWM usageWorking memory

Identifiers

PMID42637858
PMCPMC13503484

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.