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. 2025 Oct;25(5):1378-1399.
doi: 10.3758/s13415-025-01310-3. Epub 2025 Jun 2.

The latent structure of working memory: A large sample factor model of working memory capacity

Han Hao  1 , John C Williams #  2   3 , Philip N Tubiolo #  2   3 , Kacie Bauer  4 , Eilon Silver-Frankel  2   5 , Sam R Luceno  2 , Avery J Chan  2   6 , Zu Jie Zheng  2   7 , Kelly R Bobchin  2 , Roman Kotov  2 , Greg Perlman  2 , Andrew R A Conway  8 , Jared X Van Snellenberg  2   3   5
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The latent structure of working memory: A large sample factor model of working memory capacity

Han Hao et al. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

Working memory (WM) is an essential system of cognitive processes for a wide range of cognitive activities and is associated with diverse real-world outcomes. Despite extensive research in cognitive psychology, the complex multifaceted nature of WM is often overlooked in applied settings, such as clinical and neuroimaging research. This study investigated the latent structure of WM by examining a comprehensive set of WM tasks commonly used in both theoretical and applied research in cognitive psychology and psychiatric neuroimaging. A large sample of healthy, young adults (N = 608) completed a battery of WM tasks and other cognitive measures. Factor analyses and structural equation models revealed a three-factor structure: Storage, Executive Attention, and Updating. These factors were moderately correlated but contributed uniquely to explaining variance in intelligence measures. Furthermore, when the three factors were considered in a single model, only the Updating and Executive Attention factors had unique shared variance with intelligence. The findings support that WM is a multifaceted construct, with complex span and n-back tasks capturing important and distinct components related to real-world cognitive performance. This highlights the need for precise selection of measurement tools for WM in both theoretical and applied research contexts.

Keywords: Cognitive individual differences; Latent factor analysis; Structural equation modeling; Working memory.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Ethics approval: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Stony Brook University. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study. Participants were fully informed of the study's aims and procedures, and their right to withdraw at any time without penalty. Consent for publication: The authors consent to publication of the current study to Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience.

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