Three experiments are reported that addressed the nature of processing in working memory by investigating patterns of delayed cued recall and free recall of items initially studied during complex and simple span tasks. In Experiment 1, items initially studied during a complex span task (i.e., operation span) were more likely to be recalled after a delay in response to temporal-contextual cues, relative to items from subspan and supraspan list lengths in a simple span task (i.e., word span). In Experiment 2, items initially studied during operation span were more likely to be recalled from neighboring serial positions during delayed free recall than were items studied during word span trials. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the number of attentional refreshing opportunities strongly predicts episodic memory performance, regardless of whether the information is presented in a spaced or massed format in a modified operation span task. The results indicate that the contentcontext bindings created during complex span trials reflect attentional refreshing opportunities that are used to maintain items in working memory. Keywords Working memory . Episodic memory . Span tasks . Serial position effectsUnderstanding the underlying processes that support immediate memory has considerable implications for the fundamental questions of how once-transient information becomes accessible over the long term. Research investigating working memory (WM) has focused on the particular mechanisms that support the maintenance of different representations and task goals (Barrouillet, Bernardin, & Camos, 2004;Cowan, 1999;McCabe, 2008;Oberauer, 2002). One method of understanding encoding processes in WM is to examine long-term episodic memory for information originally studied in different types of WM tasks. Specifically, in the present study, we employed a comparison of simple and complex span tasks to investigate the long-term consequences of encoding processes in WM. Complex span tasks test WM capacity by requiring participants to maintain and manipulate information effectively (Conway, Kane, Bunting, Hambrick, Wilhelm, & Engle, 2005;Engle, 2002). For example, the operation span task (Turner & Engle, 1989) requires participants to solve an arithmetic problem (e.g., 7 × 4 = 28?) and then to maintain a word that is presented after the problem. This problem-word sequence is typically repeated two to six times per trial, until a cue is given to recall all words from that trial. Thus, operation span assesses WM capacity by requiring a cognitively demanding processing component (i.e., the arithmetic problem) along with temporary maintenance of information (i.e., recall of the words). Conversely, simple span tasks likely require only brief storage of information. In the word span task, for example, between two and eight successive words are presented, followed by a cue to recall the words. Engle (2006, 2007) showed that longer list lengths in a simple span load onto a separable factor and more strongly predict fluid intelligence than ...

Working memory is one of the most important topics of research in cognitive psychology. The cognitive revolution that introduced the computer metaphor to describe human cognitive functioning called for this system in charge of the temporary storage of incoming or retrieved information to permit its processing. In the past decades, one particular mechanism of maintenance, attentional refreshing, has attracted an increasing amount of interest in the field of working memory. However, this mechanism remains rather mysterious, and its functioning is conceived in very different ways across the literature. This article presents an up-to-date review on attentional refreshing through the joint effort of leading researchers in the domain. It highlights points of agreement and delineates future avenues of research.

We investigated age-related changes in two proposed mechanisms of maintenance in working memory, articulatory rehearsal, and attentional refreshing, by examining the consequences of manipulating the opportunity for each on delayed recall. Both experiments utilized modified operation span tasks to vary the opportunity for articulatory rehearsal (Experiment 1) and attentional refreshing opportunities (Experiment 2). In both experiments, episodic memory was tested for items that had been initially studied during the respective operation span task. Older adults' episodic memory benefited less from opportunities for refreshing than younger adults. In contrast, articulatory rehearsal opportunities did not influence episodic memory for either age group. The results suggest that attentional refreshing, and not articulatory rehearsal, is important during working memory in order to bind more accessible traces at later tests, which appears to be more deficient in older adults than younger adults.

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...

These findings show that elderly individuals benefit from the memory-enhancing effects of curiosity. This may lead to the implementation of learning strategies that target and stimulate curiosity in aging.