Active maintenance in working memory reinforces bindings for future retrieval from episodic long-term memory.

Many theories assume that actively maintaining information in working memory (WM) predicts its retention in episodic long-term memory (LTM), as revealed by the beneficial effects of more WM time. In four experiments, we examined whether affording more time for intentional WM maintenance does indeed drive LTM. Sequences of four words were presented during trials of simple span (short time), slow span (long time), and complex span (long time with distraction; Experiments 1-2). Long time intervals entailed a pause of equivalent duration between the words that presented a blank screen (slow span) or an arithmetic problem to read aloud and solve (complex span). In Experiments 1-3, participants either serially recalled the words (intentional encoding) or completed a no-recall task (incidental encoding). In Experiment 4, all participants were instructed to intentionally encode the words, with the trials randomly ending in the serial-recall or no-recall task. To ensure similar processing of the words between encoding groups, participants silently decided whether each word was a living or nonliving thing via key press (i.e., an animacy judgment; Experiments 1 and 3-4) or read the words aloud and then pressed the space bar (Experiment 2). A surprise delayed memory test at the end of the experiment assessed LTM. Applying Bayesian cognitive models to disambiguate binding and item memory revealed consistent benefits of free time to binding memory that were specific to intentional encoding in WM. This suggests that time spent intentionally keeping information in WM is special for LTM because WM is a system that maintains bindings.

The benefits of memory control processes in working memory: Comparing effects of self-reported and instructed strategy use.

Working memory performance is often assumed to benefit from different maintenance control strategies such as rehearsal, refreshing, elaboration, and grouping. In studies assessing strategy self-reports, some strategies were indeed associated with better recall. Nevertheless, experimental studies assessing the effect of instructing maintenance strategies compared to a no-instruction baseline lend no evidence for the effectiveness of these strategies for working memory. Explanations for this contradiction could be that instruction implementation engenders dual-task costs or that strategy instructions reduce adaptive strategy switching. Across two experiments, we investigated the frequency and variability of strategy use with trial-wise self-reports in serial recall of word lists. Furthermore, we examined potential instruction costs by comparing performance in trials with self-reported versus instructed use of the same strategies. Self-reported strategy use varied from trial to trial, with elaboration and rehearsal being the most frequent. Self-reported elaboration was correlated with better performance than reading and rehearsal. For the most prevalent strategies-elaboration and rehearsal-there were no costs of instructed strategy implementation. Our results speak against dual-task costs and for the advantage of adaptively choosing one's own strategy from trial to trial. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

I remember it now, so I'll remember it later: Working memory strength guides predictions for long-term memory performance.

Judgments of learning (JOLs) are assumed to be made inferentially, based on cues. This cue-utilization approach substituted the theory that memory strength guides JOLs. The rejection of this theory ignores the existence of two memory systems: working memory (WM), which holds representations immediately accessible, and long-term memory (LTM), which is a permanent store. By manipulating and measuring WM strength, we tested a revised version of the memory-strength theory in which JOLs are guided by WM representations. In Experiment 1, participants memorized sequences of two or four colored objects, then they provided JOLs for an LTM test of these objects, and performed a WM test on the objects' colors. After learning 200 objects, the LTM test followed. Sequence-length affected WM, but not LTM performance. JOLs, however, were higher for sequences of two than for four objects and correlated higher with WM than LTM performance. We replicated these results with a simultaneous presentation of the objects (Experiment 2), in the absence of a WM test (Experiment 3), and in a word-pair task (Experiment 4). Overall, our findings are consistent with the revised memory-strength theory. WM strength should therefore be considered when examining the factors guiding JOLs.

Testing expectations and retrieval practice modulate repetition learning of visuospatial arrays.

One of the best-known demonstrations of long-term learning through repetition is the Hebb effect: Immediate recall of a memory list repeated amidst nonrepeated lists improves steadily with repetitions. However, previous studies often failed to observe this effect for visuospatial arrays. Souza and Oberauer (2022) showed that the strongest determinant for producing learning was the difficulty of the test: Learning was consistently observed when participants recalled all items of a visuospatial array (difficult test) but not if only one item was recalled, or recognition procedures were used (less difficult tests). This suggests that long-term learning was promoted by increased testing demands over the short term. Alternatively, it is possible that lower testing demands still lead to learning but prevented the application of what was learned. In four preregistered experiments (N = 981), we ruled out this alternative explanation: Changing the type of memory test midway through the experiment from less demanding (i.e., single item recall or recognition) to a more demanding test (i.e., full item recall) did not reveal hidden learning, and changing it from the more demanding to a less demanding test did not conceal learning. Mixing high and low demanding tests for nonrepeated arrays, however, eventually produced Hebb learning even for the less demanding testing conditions. We propose that testing affects long-term learning in two ways: Expectations of the test difficulty influence how information is encoded into memory, and retrieval consolidates this information in memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A diffusion model analysis of age and individual differences in the retro-cue benefit.

The limited capacity of working memory (WM) constrains how well we can think and act. WM capacity is reduced in old age, with one explanation for this decline being a deficit in using attention to control WM contents. The retro-cue paradigm has been used to examine the ability to focus attention in WM. So far, there are conflicting findings regarding an aging deficit in the retro-cue effect. The present study evaluated age-related changes and individual differences in the retro-cue effect through a well-established computational model that combines speed and accuracy to extract underlying psychological parameters. We applied the drift-diffusion model to the data from a large sample of younger and older adults (total N = 346) that completed four retro-cue tasks. Retro-cues increased the quality of the evidence entering the decision process, reduced the time taken for memory retrieval, and changed response conservativeness for younger and older adults. An age-related decline was observed only in the retro-cue boost for evidence quality, and this was the only parameter capturing individual differences in focusing efficiency. Our results suggest that people differ in how well they can strengthen and protect a focused representation to boost evidence-quality accumulation, and this ability declines with aging.

Psychological barriers moderate the attitude-behavior gap for climate change.

Behavioral change has been increasingly recognized as a means for combating climate change. However, being concerned about climate problems and knowing the importance of individual actions in mitigating them is not enough for greater adherence to a more sustainable lifestyle. Psychological barriers such as (1) finding change unnecessary; (2) conflicting goals; (3) interpersonal relationships; (4) lack of knowledge; and (5) tokenism have been proposed as an explanation for the gap between environmental attitudes and actions. Yet, so far, this hypothesis has remained untested. This study aimed to assess if psychological barriers moderate the association between environmental attitudes and climate action. A sample of Portuguese individuals (N = 937) responded to a survey measuring climate change beliefs and environmental concerns as an index of environmental attitudes, a scale of self-reported frequency of environmental action, and finally, the dragons of inaction psychological barrier scale. Our participants revealed generally elevated positive environmental attitudes. These attitudes were positively and moderately related to greater self-reported frequency of environmental action in areas such as reusing materials, reduced consumption of animal products, water and energy saving, and airplane use, but not driving less. Critically, the association between attitudes and behavior was negatively moderated by psychological barriers for the reuse, food, and saving domains, but not for driving or flying. In conclusion, our results corroborate the assumption that psychological barriers can partly explain the attitude-behavior gap in the climate action domain.

Should We Turn off the Music? Music with Lyrics Interferes with Cognitive Tasks.

People often listen to music while doing cognitive tasks. Yet, whether music harms or helps performance is still debated. Here, we assessed the objective and subjective effects of music with and without lyrics on four cognitive tasks. College students completed tasks of verbal and visual memory, reading comprehension, and arithmetic under three conditions: silence, instrumental music, and music with lyrics. Participants judged their learning during and after each condition. Music with lyrics hindered verbal memory, visual memory, and reading comprehension (d ≈ -0.3), whereas its negative effect (d = -.19) on arithmetic was not credible. Instrumental music (hip-hop lo-fi) did not credibly hinder or improve performance. Participants were aware of the detrimental impact of the lyrics. Instrumental music was, however, sometimes perceived as beneficial. Our results corroborate the general distracting effect of background music. However, faulty metacognition about music's interfering effect cannot fully explain why students often listen to music while studying.

Feature identity determines representation structure in working memory.

Visual working memory maintains both continuous-perceptual information and discrete-categorical information about memory items. Both types of information are represented in working memory, but the representation structure remains unknown. Continuous and categorical information about a single stimulus could be represented separately, in two different representations. Alternatively, continuous and categorical information could be represented jointly as a single representation. To investigate this, we fitted two different computational models to delayed estimation data assuming either separate or joint representations of continuous and categorical information in working memory, for three different, commonly used features (orientation, color, and shape). Across a set of nine experiments, model fits clearly show that feature identity drives the representation structure, with a joint-representation structure for orientation, but a separate-representations structure for color and shape. This pattern was remarkably invariant across a variety of task contexts. Existing models miss this distinction, leading to mischaracterization of memory precision. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Repetition learning is neither a continuous nor an implicit process.

Learning advances through repetition. A classic paradigm for studying this process is the Hebb repetition effect: Immediate serial recall performance improves for lists presented repeatedly as compared to nonrepeated lists. Learning in the Hebb paradigm has been described as a slow but continuous accumulation of long-term memory traces over repetitions [e.g., Page & Norris, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 364, 3737-3753 (2009)]. Furthermore, it has been argued that Hebb repetition learning requires no awareness of the repetition, thereby being an instance of implicit learning [e.g., Guérard et al., Mem. Cogn. 39, 1012-1022 (2011); McKelvie,  J. Gen. Psychol. 114, 75-88 (1987)]. While these assumptions match the data from a group-level perspective, another picture emerges when analyzing data on the individual level. We used a Bayesian hierarchical mixture modeling approach to describe individual learning curves. In two preregistered experiments, using a visual and a verbal Hebb repetition task, we demonstrate that 1) individual learning curves show an abrupt onset followed by rapid growth, with a variable time for the onset of learning across individuals, and that 2) learning onset was preceded by, or coincided with, participants becoming aware of the repetition. These results imply that repetition learning is not implicit and that the appearance of a slow and gradual accumulation of knowledge is an artifact of averaging over individual learning curves.

The fate of labeled and nonlabeled visual features in working memory.

Visual objects often contain several features. Previous studies showed that verbally labeling a visual feature boosts its retention in a continuous format in visual working memory. Yet, the fate of nonlabeled visual features remained unexplored. One hypothesis is that labeling induces tradeoffs in the allocation of working memory capacity across labeled and nonlabeled features. To test this, we asked participants to memorize multi-feature objects (varying in color, orientation, and spatial frequency), while labeling either its (a) color, (b) orientation, or (c) spatial frequency. To inhibit labeling, they repeated "bababa" aloud in a control condition. At the test, labeled and nonlabeled features were reproduced using a continuous scale. Across four experiments, labeling increased continuous memory for the labeled feature, even when labels were arbitrary. Labeling aftereffects on nonlabeled features were mixed: only sometimes guessing increased. These findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that labeling induces a capacity-allocation tradeoff. Rather, costs to nonlabeled features accrued when the labeling task was attentionally demanding (e.g., using less familiar or arbitrary labels). We conclude that labeling activates conceptual knowledge, thereby protecting and boosting continuous memory of the labeled feature; yet the attentional demands imposed by labeling itself can lead to the forgetting of nonlabeled features. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The interplay of long-term memory and working memory: When does object-color prior knowledge affect color visual working memory?

Elaboration enriches newly encoded information by connecting it to prior knowledge. Here, we tested if prior knowledge about object-color associations improves visual working memory (VWM) for colors. A sequence of four colored objects was presented in four screen locations for a continuous color reproduction test. Object-color associations were either congruent with prior knowledge (e.g., red tomato) or incongruent (e.g., blue tomato). In Experiments 1 and 2, congruency had no effect on memory irrespective of memoranda format (images or words), encoding time (1,500 vs. 4,500 ms), and an instruction to elaborate. In Experiment 3, the object was also tested with a three-alternative forced-choice before or after probing color memory. We also included neutral objects (no color association) and abstract shapes and tested VWM and episodic memory. Congruent items were remembered better than in all other conditions, which did not systematically differ. In Experiment 4, we assessed the congruency effect when only color or both color and object were tested. Congruent objects were remembered better only when both features were tested. Hence, prior knowledge boosts VWM only when this knowledge is relevant at test. Our results suggest that retrieval manipulations can be critical for promoting the use of long-term memory knowledge. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The developing impact of verbal labels on visual memories in children.

The capacity limitations of visual working memory may be bypassed by verbal labeling. In adults, labeling increases estimates of both quantity and quality of visual working memory. However, we do not know when children begin to use labeling and whether labeling similarly benefits visual memories of children under and over age 7. We assessed whether children benefit from prompted and spontaneous labeling opportunities, examining how labeling affects the storage of categorical (prototypical) and continuous (fine-grained) color information. Participants memorized colored candies for a continuous reproduction test either while remaining silent, labeling the colors aloud, or saying irrelevant syllables (discouraging verbal labeling). Mixture modeling confirmed that both categorical and continuous representations increased with age. Our labeling manipulation showed that spontaneous labeling increased with age. For the youngest children, prompted labeling especially boosted categorical memory, whereas labeling benefited categorical and continuous memory similarly in the older age groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The eyes don't have it: Eye movements are unlikely to reflect refreshing in working memory.

There is a growing interest in specifying the mechanisms underlying refreshing, i.e., the use of attention to keep working memory (WM) contents accessible. Here, we examined whether participants' visual fixations during the retention interval of a WM task indicate the current focus of internal attention, thereby serving as an online measure of refreshing. Eye movements were recorded while participants studied and maintained an array of colored dots followed by probed recall of one (Experiments 1A and 1B) or all (Experiment 2) of the memoranda via a continuous color wheel. Experiments 1A and 2 entailed an unfilled retention interval in which refreshing is assumed to occur spontaneously, and Experiment 1B entailed a retention interval embedded with cues prompting the sequential refreshment of a subset of the memoranda. During the retention interval, fixations revisited the locations occupied by the memoranda, consistent with a looking-at-nothing phenomenon in WM, but the pattern was only evident when placeholders were onscreen in Experiment 2, indicating that most of these fixations may largely reflect random gaze. Furthermore, spontaneous fixations did not predict recall precision (Experiments 1A and 2), even when ensuring that they did not reflect random gaze (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1B, refreshing cues increased fixations to the eventually tested target and predicted better recall precision, which interacted with an overall benefit of target fixations, such that the benefit of fixations decreased as the number of refreshing cues increased. Thus, fixations under spontaneous conditions had no credible effect on recall precision, whereas the beneficial effect of fixations under instructed refreshing conditions may indicate situations in which cues were disregarded. Consequently, we conclude that eye movements do not seem suitable as an online measure of refreshing.

Promoting visual long-term memories: When do we learn from repetitions of visuospatial arrays?

Repeated exposure is assumed to promote long-term learning. This is demonstrated by the so-called "Hebb-effect": when short lists of verbal or spatial materials are presented sequentially for an immediate serial recall test, recall improves with list repetition. This repetition benefit, however, is not ubiquitous. Previous studies found little or no performance improvement for repetitions of visuospatial arrays (e.g., arrays of colored squares). Across eight experiments with college students and Prolific samples, we investigated which factors promote visuospatial learning by testing all combinations of variables distinguishing between visual-array tasks (brief + simultaneous presentation + a single recognition test) and tasks showing the Hebb effect (slow + sequential presentation + recall test probing all items). Participants profited from repetitions when all items were tested with a recall procedure, but not if the test consisted of recognition. Hence, the key to promote long-term learning is to recall all of the memorized information over the short-term. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Tracking attentional states: Assessing the relationship between sustained and selective focused attention in visual working memory.

Attention has multiple influences on visual working memory (VWM). Fluctuations in sustained attention predict VWM performance. Furthermore, focusing selective attention in VWM by retro-cuing the to-be-tested item during maintenance boosts retrieval. So far, we lack knowledge how the ability to focus selective attention relates to the state of sustained attention during the VWM trial. Here, we combined a retro-cue task and a self-rated attention protocol to test whether focusing selective attention via retro-cues: (1) mitigates spontaneous attention fluctuations, in which case retro-cues should be more helpful under low levels of self-rated attention; (2) depends on an optimal state of sustained attention, in which case retro-cue benefits should be largest under high levels of self-rated attention; or (3) is independent of sustained attention, in which case retro-cue benefits and self-rated attention effects should be additive. Our data supported the additive hypothesis. Across four experiments, self-rated attention levels predicted continuous reproduction of colors. Retro-cue trials produced better recall and higher rated attention. Critically, retro-cues improved recall to a similar extent across all levels of self-rated attention. This indicates that attention has multi-faceted and independent contributions to VWM.

Individual differences in updating are not related to reasoning ability and working memory capacity.

Previous research assumes that executive functions such as inhibition, shifting, and updating explain individual differences in cognitive abilities. Of these three executive functions, updating was previously found to relate most strongly to fluid intelligence. However, this relationship could be a methodological artifact: Measures of inhibition and shifting usually isolate the contribution of this executive function to performance by contrasting conditions with high and low demands on these processes, whereas updating is measured by overall accuracy in working memory tasks involving updating. This updating measure conflates updating-specific individual differences (e.g., removal of outdated information) with variance in working memory maintenance. Reanalyzing data (N = 111) from von Bastian et al. (2016), we separated updating-specific variance from working memory maintenance variance. Updating contributed only 15% to individual differences in performance in the updating tasks, and it correlated neither with fluid intelligence nor with independent working memory measures reflecting storage and processing or relational integration. In contrast, the working memory maintenance component of the updating task correlated with both abilities. These findings challenge the view that updating contributes to variance in higher cognitive abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Why does the probe value effect emerge in working memory? Examining the biased attentional refreshing account.

People are able to prioritize more valuable information in working memory. The current study examined whether this value effect is due to the items of greater value being refreshed more than lower-value items during maintenance. To assess this possibility, we combined a probe value manipulation with a guided-refreshing procedure. Arrays of colored shapes were presented, and after a brief delay, participants reported the color of one randomly probed shape on a continuous color wheel. To manipulate probe value, one item was indicated as more valuable than the rest prior to encoding (i.e., worth more notional points), or all items were indicated as equally valuable. To guide refreshing, in some trials, two arrows were presented during maintenance, each arrow cueing the spatial location of one item. Participants were told to "think of" (i.e., refresh) the cued item. If value boosts are driven by attentional refreshing, cueing an item to be refreshed should enhance performance for items that are of low or equal value, but not items of high value, as these items would be refreshed regardless of the cue. This pattern of outcomes was observed, providing support for the hypothesis that attentional refreshing at least partially accounts for probe value effects in working memory.

Verbal descriptions improve visual working memory but have limited impact on visual long-term memory.

How do verbal descriptions affect visual memory over the short and long term? Here we show for the first time that verbal labeling can boost visual memories, but the source of this benefit depends on whether representations are maintained over the short term in visual working memory or over the long term in visual long-term memory. Across three experiments, we contrasted color memory of randomly colored objects when participants labeled (a) the color, (b) the object, or (c) the color-object binding, to memory under an articulatory suppression condition inhibiting labeling. Memory was tested at two time points: after three objects (visual working memory) and at the end of the experiment (visual long-term memory). In Experiment 1, color labeling improved, whereas object labeling impaired, visual working memory in comparison to suppression. Visual long-term memory remained unchanged across conditions. Experiment 2 tested whether this was attributable to poor overall long-term learning by repeating the colored objects over three successive working memory trials. This increased performance over the short and long term, yet labeling did not change learning rate over repetitions or delayed memory performance, showing no long-term memory benefit. In Experiment 3, a labeling benefit was observed when the color-object binding was labeled both over the short and long term. Mixture modeling indicated that color-labeling benefits in visual working memory resulted from an increase of detailed visual memory, whereas long-term memory benefits accrued from categorical representations. Our findings point to dissociations on the role of language in visual working memory and visual long-term memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing the robustness of feature-based selection in visual working memory.

Visual working memory (VWM) is a capacity-limited system to temporarily maintain visual information. Attending to information in VWM conveys a benefit, as revealed by the retro-cue effect. For example, when the location of one memory item is retro-cued during VWM maintenance, memory accuracy for that item improves. Attentional selection in VWM can also be feature-based: One feature (e.g., shape) may serve as a retrieval cue for another feature (e.g., color) of the same item. Here, we assessed the scope of feature retro-cue benefits with continuous report of colors and orientations. Across six experiments, we observed robust feature retro-cue benefits with manipulations of the cued and recalled feature dimensions, as well as against different baselines controlling for temporal and interference effects. Furthermore, we replicated with continuous report the hallmark of external feature-based attention-concurrent selection of multiple items. Mixture modeling indicated that feature retro-cue benefits increased recall probability and sometimes precision, paralleling findings on spatial attention. Importantly, cuing multiple items did not produce costs, indicating that concurrently attended items did not interfere with each other. Lastly, manipulation constraining spatial location to a single position suggested that feature retro-cue benefits persist even when spatial context is not singular, but take longer to emerge. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

No evidence that self-rated negative emotion boosts visual working memory precision.

Emotion is assumed to change how people process information by modulating attentional focus. Two recent studies (Spachtholz et al., 2014; Xie & Zhang, 2016) reported that self-reported negative emotion boosted the precision with which information was stored in visual working memory. Here we attempted and failed to replicate these findings across seven studies conducted in four countries. Emotion was induced by presenting emotional images (negative, neutral, and positive) before each trial of a visual working memory task (six experiments) or the images were combined with emotional music during a 3-min induction phase (one experiment) occurring prior to the memory task. In the visual working memory task, participants stored (emotionally neutral) continuously varying colored dots or oriented triangles. At test, the color or orientation of a probed item was reproduced. Although participants reported changes in their emotional state commensurate with the manipulations, six experiments showed substantial evidence against changes in visual working memory precision (and quantity) under negative (and positive) emotion in comparison with neutral, whereas one condition, in one study, showed increased precision under both negative and positive emotion compared with neutral. These results challenge the view that emotion modulates visual working memory quality and quantity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).