Barel Efrat, Tzischinsky Orna
Department of Behavioral Sciences, The Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel, Emek Yezreel 19300, Israel.
Brain Sci. 2020 Mar 4;10(3):145. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10030145.
The role of attention allocation in object-location memory has been widely studied through incidental and intentional encoding conditions. However, the relation between sustained attention and memory encoding processes has scarcely been studied. The present study aimed to investigate performance differences across incidental and intentional encoding conditions using a divided attention paradigm. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine the relation between sustained attention and incidental and intentional object-location memory performance. Based on previous findings, an all women sample was recruited in order to best illuminate the potential effects of interest. Forty-nine women participated in the study and completed the psychomotor vigilance test, as well as object-location memory tests, under both incidental and intentional encoding divided attention conditions. Performance was higher in the incidental encoding condition than in the intentional encoding condition. Furthermore, sustained attention correlated with incidental, but not with intentional memory performance. These findings are discussed in light of the automaticity hypothesis, specifically as it regards the role of attention allocation in encoding object-location memory. Furthermore, the role of sustained attention in incidental memory performance is discussed in light of previous animal and human studies that have examined the brain regions involved in these cognitive processes. We conclude that under conditions of increased mental demand, executive attention is associated with incidental, but not with intentional encoding, thus identifying the exact conditions under which executive attention influence memory performance.
注意力分配在物体位置记忆中的作用已通过附带和有意编码条件得到广泛研究。然而，持续注意力与记忆编码过程之间的关系几乎未被研究。本研究旨在使用分心范式调查附带和有意编码条件下的表现差异。此外，该研究旨在检验持续注意力与附带和有意物体位置记忆表现之间的关系。基于先前的研究结果，招募了全女性样本，以便最好地阐明感兴趣的潜在影响。四十九名女性参与了该研究，并在附带和有意编码分心条件下完成了心理运动警觉性测试以及物体位置记忆测试。附带编码条件下的表现高于有意编码条件。此外，持续注意力与附带记忆表现相关，但与有意记忆表现无关。根据自动性假设对这些发现进行了讨论，特别是关于注意力分配在编码物体位置记忆中的作用。此外，根据先前研究这些认知过程中涉及的脑区的动物和人类研究，讨论了持续注意力在附带记忆表现中的作用。我们得出结论，在心理需求增加的情况下，执行性注意力与附带编码相关，但与有意编码无关，从而确定了执行性注意力影响记忆表现的确切条件。
