Sustained attention and spatial attention distinctly influence long-term memory encoding

deBettencourt, Megan T.; Williams, Stephanie D.; Vogel, Edward K.; Awh, Edward · 2020 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1101/2020.09.14.297341

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Summary

This study investigates whether sustained attention and spatial attention exert distinct or overlapping influences on long-term memory encoding. Prior research often treated attention as a monolithic construct, leaving it unclear whether memory failures result from convergent lapses in multiple attentional systems or from independent failures of specific subcomponents. The authors propose a "composite model," wherein sustained attention (trial-by-trial fluctuations in alertness) and spatial attention (covert orienting to specific locations) independently constrain memory formation. To test this, the researchers conducted three experiments using behavioral tasks and electroencephalography (EEG) to disentangle these processes. In Experiment 1, participants performed a continuous report task, reporting the spatial location of objects after a delay. The design included validly cued trials, where spatial attention was directed to the target, and invalidly cued or neutral trials. Results showed that spatially cued items were remembered with higher fidelity than uncued items, confirming the role of spatial attention. Crucially, however, trial-by-trial fluctuations in working memory performance predicted long-term memory accuracy for both cued and uncued items. This indicates that sustained attention operates in an item-general manner, affecting the encoding of all items in a display regardless of spatial prioritization. Experiment 1b replicated these findings using neutral cues to control for visual presentation effects, further establishing that sustained attention fluctuations broadly impact memory for the entire display. Experiment 2 utilized EEG to identify neural signatures of these attentional states prior to stimulus onset. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed distinct neural markers for sustained attention and spatial attention. Notably, the neural representation of the spatially attended location remained robust even during moments of low sustained attention. This dissociation demonstrates that the two attentional systems operate independently; a lapse in sustained alertness does not necessarily degrade the spatial prioritization of a target. The study concludes that long-term memory encoding is influenced by a composite of distinct attentional processes. Sustained attention and spatial attention predict unique variance in memory performance across individuals, supporting a taxonomy where these subcomponents have robust but independent effects. These findings challenge unified models of attention and memory, suggesting that memory failures can arise from either poor sustained alertness or misallocated spatial attention, or both. This framework provides a more nuanced understanding of how attentional mechanisms constrain what we remember.

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• long term semantic memory