The finding that working memory capacity was indirectly related to risk behavior initiation by virtue of its relation with impulsivity has not to our knowledge been previously observed. This finding suggests that youth with greater ability to manipulate information in working memory have greater control over sensation seeking and other impulsive drives. The finding is also consistent with research linking working memory performance with proxies for risky decision making, such as the IGT (Bechara et al., 1998; Bechara et al., 2001; Fellows & Farah, 2003, 2005). It is also consistent with interventions that find that improved working memory in children leads to reduced symptoms of impulsive behavior (Klingberg et al., 2005). The importance of working memory to the overall ability of PFC to exert control over behavior has often been noted (Fuster, 1997; Miller & Cohen, 2001) and is consistent with theories of PFC function that place particular emphasis on this ability. It is quite likely that youth who have limited ability to consider multiple and potentially conflicting goals are less likely to think before acting and to temper their
