Electrophysiological correlates of saving‐enhanced memory: Exploring similarities to list‐method directed forgetting

Abstract

People regularly outsource parts of their memory onto external memory stores like computers or smartphones. Such cognitive offloading can enhance subsequent memory performance, as referred to the saving‐enhanced memory effect (Storm & Stone, 2015). The cognitive mechanisms of this effect are not clear to date, however similarities to list‐method directed forgetting (LMDF) have been stated. Here, we examined in 52 participants the electrophysiological (EEG) correlates of the saving‐enhanced memory effect and compared our results to earlier LMDF findings (Hanslmayr et al., 2012). For this purpose, EEG alpha power and alpha phase synchrony during the encoding of two word lists were compared as a function of saving or no‐saving. We hypothesised that if saving‐enhanced memory was related to LMDF, saving in comparison to no‐saving between lists should reduce alpha power and alpha phase synchrony during List 2 encoding, two effects that have been related to List 2 encoding benefits and List 1 inhibition in the earlier LMDF work. The results showed no statistically significant saving‐enhanced memory effect and no significant effects in EEG alpha power or alpha phase synchrony. Possible explanations for and implications of these non‐significant findings are discussed.

An investigation of the saving‐enhanced memory effect: The role of test order and list saving

“…Furthermore, offloading List B did not enhance recall for List A. Previous research has suggested that the saving-enhanced memory effect aligns with the phenomena of LMDF (Runge et al, 2020(Runge et al, , 2021Storm & Stone, 2015), such as the enhanced encoding explanation and the reduced interference at recall hypothesis (Bjork & Bjork, 1996). According to the first account, saving information frees cognitive resources, which would otherwise be utilized for rehearsing that information.…”

“…Speculations have been made about the mechanisms underlying the saving‐enhanced memory effect which parallel the phenomena of list method directed forgetting (LMDF; Runge et al, 2020, 2021), where cueing participants to forget a previously studied list (List A) and remember a new list instead (List B) also leads to the forgetting of the first list and enhanced memory of the second (see Bäuml et al, 2010; Sahakyan et al, 2013 for a review). Previous studies in the LMDF field have documented various processes that contribute to the memory enhancement effect.…”

Age‐related advantage for recall of complex naturalistic information following cognitive offloading

“…This approach is typically used in studies where access to offloaded information at test is not manipulated, as not explicitly mentioning the availability of notes at test may help to avoid the incorrect inference that the researchers will eventually take away notes at some later point in the experimental session. Moreover, similar lines of research (e.g., the savings enhanced memory effect) that permit participants to save information during encoding but do not permit the use of saved information at test have specifically instructed participants when notes will be available for restudy before the test but not during the test (Bohay et al, 2011;Runge et al, 2019Runge et al, , 2021Storm & Stone, 2015). That is, rather than specifying whether offloaded information will be available at test, researchers tend to provide explicit instructions only when offloaded information will not be available at test.…”

An Investigation of the Saving-Enhanced Memory Effect: The Role of Test Order and List Saving

“…Speculations have been made about the mechanisms underlying the saving-enhanced memory effect which parallel the phenomena of list method directed forgetting (LMDF; Runge et al, 2020Runge et al, , 2021, where cueing participants to forget a previously studied list (List A) and remember a new list instead (List B) also leads to the forgetting of the first list and enhanced memory of the second (see Bäuml et al, 2010;Sahakyan et al, 2013 for a review). Previous studies in the LMDF field have documented various processes that contribute to the memory enhancement effect.…”