Behavioral evidence of spontaneous decay in verbal working memory.

Abstract

Understanding the forgetting mechanisms in working memory is a considerable challenge for cognitive psychologists. Traditional views attribute forgetting in working memory to interference and decay, but whether verbal working memory undergoes spontaneous decay is still debated. In the present study, we examined this issue by asking participants to simultaneously memorize visual and verbal items, but requiring them to prioritize the visual materials. If spontaneous decay occurs in verbal working memory, and if the potential antiforgetting mechanisms (e.g., attentional refreshing) are primarily engaged in slowing the decay of visual information, then we should see a gradual decline in performance on verbal memory tasks over the retention interval, even in the absence of any new interfering stimuli during the retention interval (note, interference alone would not predict performance change over time). In Experiment 1, participants prioritized memorizing handwriting styles while retaining two Chinese names. Results showed a time-based decline in name recall accuracy. Experiment 2 replaced names with alphanumeric strings and manipulated the visual memory load. A spontaneous decline in verbal memory performance was found again. In addition, by isolating the influence of item errors and binding errors on task performance, the results of Experiment 2 additionally reveal an attentional mechanism capable of specifically counteracting the decay of binding strength. Experiment 3 further ruled out insufficient consolidation time as the cause of the declines. These results provide evidence for spontaneous decay in verbal working memory, modulated by attentional resource allocation, supporting the dynamic balance view between decay and active antidecay mechanisms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).