Self-Reported attention to changes and associations with episodic memory updating

Successfully navigating changing environments requires updating memories. The present experimental and individual differences study examined associations between attention while encoding changes and subsequent memory updating. Participants studied word pairs with responses that changed from first (A-B) to more recent (A-D) appearances. Participants were intermittently probed about their attentional state, with “on task” indicating attentive study, and then attempted to recall responses and if the responses changed. Within- and between-subject associations between task reports and recall were highly consistent. On-task reports for A-D pairs were positively associated with recent-response (D) recalls when participants were on task for A-B pairs. Additionally, on-task reports for A-B pairs were positively associated with first-response (B) recalls only when participants were on task for A-D pairs. Finally, first- (B) and recent-response (D) recalls were positively associated. These correlational findings are consistent with the causal proposal that attention to A-D pairs enables retrieval of A-B pairs during study, which presents opportunities for associative encoding that counteracts proactive interference.