Work

Leveraging semantics in working memory to maintain bindings and modulate the impact of age

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: It is well established that semantics influence verbal working memory (WM). The present study addressed two unresolved questions: Could semantic strategies help compensate for the age-related deficit in WM? And how do they influence the maintenance of bindings? Across two experiments using a complex span task, opportunities to rely on semantic strategies were manipulated in two ways: passively, through the intrinsic features of the to-be-remembered stimuli (word concreteness), and actively, through the disruption of phonological strategies (articulatory suppression in Experiment 1 and a phonological distracting task in Experiment 2). To assess memory performance for both item identity and item-item bindings, young and older adults completed immediate and delayed recognition tests in which they had to reconstruct previously presented word pairs. In the second experiment, participants also reported their memory strategies on a trial-by-trial basis. Except for the articulatory suppression manipulation, which failed to promote the use of semantic strategies, the main results revealed that both passive and active semantic strategies enhanced WM performance for both item identity and bindings. Moreover, the findings emphasized that encouraging passive semantic strategies was more beneficial for older adults than for young adults, reducing age-related differences in WM, whereas encouraging active semantic strategies did not modulate these differences. Thus, distinguishing semantic strategies by their cognitive cost appears essential for understanding cognitive aging in verbal WM. These findings are discussed in light of the potential cognitive mechanisms underlying the observed semantic effects in verbal WM.

Source: Journal of Memory and Language

DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2026.104765

Authors: Inès Leproult, Benoît Lemaire, Aliénor Faucheron, Sophie Portrat

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes

Language: English

Topic: Cognitive Abilities and Testing

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,670

Funders: Markham Stouffville Hospital, Université Grenoble Alpes