Using the Maintenance Rehearsal Paradigm to Explore the Attentional Boost Effect

TL;DRAbstract

Recent investigations into the allocation of attentional resources found evidence that engaging in a visual detection task (requiring an overt response to target identification) whilst simultaneously encoding a series of images into memory enhanced performance on subsequent recognition tasks. This memory enhancement was labelled the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE). These recently uncovered results provide contradictions to longstanding evidence that divided attention harms memory performance. The purpose of the current experiment was to look for this attentional boost effect when utilising a memory paradigm that uses a low level of learning (the Maintenance Rehearsal Paradigm). A visual detection task was incorporated alongside traditional methods (digit recall, word rehearsal and single item recognition) in the maintenance rehearsal paradigm. 62 participants were randomly assigned to participate in the attentional boost condition (who completed an additional visual detection task) or c

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