Free time benefits working memory and long-term memory differently

Abstract

Giving people more time between encoding information elements into working memory improves immediate (i.e., working memory) and delayed (i.e., long-term memory) retrieval. This free-time benefit is often assumed to arise from processes that counteract forgetting of the just encoded item in working memory, suggesting that time has a retroactive effect. Contrary to these predictions, a few studies showed that free time between two items in a serial recall task benefits only the subsequent (to-be-encoded) items, yielding a proactive bene Show more