Examining the relations among working memory capacity, attention control, and fluid intelligence from a dual-component framework

The current study examined the relations between working memory capacity, attention control, and general fluid intelligence. Participants performed multiple measures of each construct and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results suggested that attention control is an important component of the working memory and general fluid intelligence relation. Additionally, attention control accounted for unique variance in general fluid intelligence above and beyond working memory capacity. Consistent with the dual-component model of working memory, substantial independent variance was left over after accounting for attention control’s role in this relation. Therefore, other important mediating variables need to be accounted for to fully appreciate working memory’s ability to predict general fluid intelligence (e.g., retrieval from secondary memory).