The McCabe effect (McCabe, 2008) refers to an advantage in episodic memory (EM) retrieval for memoranda studied in complex span versus simple span tasks, particularly for memoranda presented in earlier serial positions. This finding has been attributed to the necessity to refresh memoranda during complex span tasks that, in turn, promotes content-context binding in working memory (WM). Several frameworks have conceptualized WM as being embedded in long-term memory. Thus, refreshing may be less efficient when memoranda are not wellestablished in long-term semantic memory (SM). To investigate this, we presented words and non-words on simple and complex span trials in order to manipulate the long-term semantic representations of the memoranda with the requirement to refresh the memoranda during WM. A recognition test was administered that required participants to make a Remember-Know decision for each memorandum recognized as old. The results replicated the McCabe effect, but only for words, and the beneficial effect of refreshing opportunities was exclusive to recollection. These results extend previous research by indicating that the predictive relationship between WM refreshing and long-term EM is specific to recollection, and, furthermore, moderated by representations in long-term SM. This supports the predictions of WM frameworks that espouse the importance of refreshing in content-context binding, but also those that view WM as being an activated subset of and, therefore, constrained by the contents of long-term memory.Keywords: working memory, long-term memory, episodic memory, recollection, Remember-Know Paradigm LONG-TERM SEMANTIC REPRESENTATIONS AFFECT REFRESHING 3 Working memory (WM) and long-term memory have typically been considered distinguishable but related constructs (but see Nairne, 2002). WM is the immediate memory system responsible for maintaining and processing information in the service of ongoing cognition and task goals. Long-term memory refers to the retention of information no longer in WM and is commonly divided into distinct sub-systems including semantic memory (SM; e.g., factual knowledge, vocabulary) and episodic memory (EM; e.g., autobiographical memory).Given models suggesting that WM represents an activated subset of long-term memory (e.g., Cowan, 1999), recent research has further explored this relationship by examining long-term memory factors that affect WM functioning (e.g., Loaiza, Rhodes, & Anglin, 2013). The following study examined the influence of long-term semantic representations on WM maintenance and its consequences for attentional refreshing as a predictor of EM retrieval.WM is often tested using complex span tasks (e.g., operation span) that interleave the presentation of memoranda (e.g., words) with distracting tasks (e.g., solving arithmetic problems). Complex span tasks have been considered distinguishable from other immediate memory tasks, such as simple span tasks (e.g., word span), in that participants must maintain memoranda despite distraction. EM ta...

No abstract