# Long-term effects of working memory retrieval from prioritized and deprioritized states

## TL;DR

Testing working memory improves long-term memory, particularly for less prioritized items, when retrieval involves self-generated reports.

## Contribution

Shows that WM testing enhances LTM for deprioritized items more than prioritized ones, depending on retrieval format.

## Key findings

- LTM benefits occurred for both prioritized and deprioritized working memory contents after retrieval.
- The LTM benefit was stronger for deprioritized information across different experiments.
- Continuous recall tests, not simple comparisons, led to LTM improvements after WM retrieval.

## Abstract

Which factors determine whether information temporarily held in working memory (WM) can later be remembered from long-term memory (LTM)? Previous work has shown that retrieving (“testing”) memories from LTM can benefit their future LTM recall. Here, we examined the extent to which a benefit for subsequent LTM may also occur after retrieval from WM, depending on whether the WM contents were retrieved from a prioritized or deprioritized state. In three experiments (n = 383 participants), we combined variants of a visual WM paradigm with a subsequent surprise LTM recall test. We found a LTM benefit of WM testing both for prioritized and deprioritized WM contents, which, interestingly, was stronger for the deprioritized information. This pattern showed similarly across experiments with different priority manipulations. Subsequent LTM benefits generally occurred after WM testing with a recall-like test format (continuous report), but not after simple WM comparisons against a probe. The surprisingly larger LTM benefit for deprioritized WM contents may reflect enhanced encoding of the participants’ own subjective WM report – as opposed to the originally presented sample information – into LTM.

Testing items in working memory improves long-term memory, especially for deprioritized items. This benefit shows when WM retrieval requires continuous recall, suggesting self-generated reports strengthen subsequent memory.