Effects of divided attention at encoding on specific and gist representations in working and long-term memory

• Published in: Journal of memory and language Vol. 126; p. 104340
• Main Authors: Greene, Nathaniel R., Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Divided attention; Fuzzy-trace theory; Long-term memory; Working memory; Long-term memory; Fuzzy-trace theory; Working memory; Divided attention
• ISSN: 0749-596X; 1096-0821
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2022.104340

•Divided attention (DA) at encoding impairs associative long-term memory (LTM).•Disruptions during initial or late processing stages may account for these effects.•Results show that specific representations are disrupted early in working memory.•Gist representations are only disrupted during later processing into LTM.•Differential rates of forgetting of specific and gist memory not observed under DA. Divided attention (DA) at encoding disrupts specific and gist representations for complex associations in episodic long-term memory. Competing mechanisms may account for these deficits, including impairments in forming specific or gist representations during initial encoding, or in consolidating these representations over time into long-term memory. Using a continuous associative recognition procedure, coupled with multinomial-processing-tree model analyses, we compared the effects of DA versus full attention at encoding on specific and gist representations in both working and long-term memory in 107 young adults. Early effects of DA on specific memory representations emerged in working memory, whereas effects on gist memory manifested only in long-term memory. Thus, DA differentially impacts initial and late stages of processing at distinct levels of representation. Additionally, regarding the rate at which specific and gist information is forgotten over time, under DA at encoding, both types of information are forgotten at comparable rates, whereas gist memory is forgotten at a slower rate under full attention.