The purpose of this chapter is to apply insights from cognitive psychology on working memory to everyday self-regulation. We will first introduce contemporary views surrounding the multi-component-view of working memory. Our emphasis will be on the central executive as the component that is assumed to orchestrate perceptual, cognitive, and motor processes in the service of goal pursuit. We will then spell out in more detail how working memory may benefit self-regulation. Research pertaining to momentary fluctuations in working memory capacity will be reviewed, as well as research highlighting the role of working memory capacity in the control of attention, thought, emotion, and action. We conclude by discussing why in our view there is no simple mapping of working memory operations on the distinction between conscious and non-conscious processing.
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