Relying on the external world: Individuals variably use low- and medium-loading, but rarely high-loading, strategies when engaging visual working memory

In naturalistic environments, people typically rely on external sampling rather than fully using their visual working memory capacity. However, when sampling becomes costly, people memorize more (i.e., loading). To investigate individual differences in sampling versus loading strategy, participants (n=88) performed a copying task under low-cost (immediate accessibility) and high-cost (delayed accessibility) sampling conditions. Participants were categorized as low-loaders (sampling >1 per item), medium-loaders (loading ≥1 per inspection), and high-loaders (loading ≥3 per inspection). Both sampling cost and prior experience (low-cost first versus high-cost first) affected sampling frequency and category. Crucially, low- and medium-loading strategies were common, but individuals seldom exhibited a high-loading strategy that approached working memory capacity limits. Despite individual variation in their preferred strategy, participants flexibly adapted their sampling frequency to task demands without affecting performance. This suggests that while individuals show distinct working memory strategies, they can adjust these flexibly, balancing effort, goals, and prior experience.