Can irrelevant self-related information in working memory be actively suppressed?

Abstract

To utilize the resource of working memory efficiently, the brain actively suppresses irrelevant information to focus cognitive resources on the task at hand. However, whether task-irrelevant self-related information can be suppressed is still an open question. This study explores the inhibitory effects of various types of identity-associated information (self, friend, stranger) with an irrelevant distracting paradigm, in which participants are required to memorize the color while ignoring the shape during a memory array. In the subsequent test array, participants are asked to judge whether the color of the test item is the same as the memorized one, while the ignored shape features could also change. The results are as follows. (1) Self-associated information survived the inhibitory effect no matter whether the interstimulus interval (ISI) was short or long. (2) Stranger-associated information remained inhibitory effect in a long ISI (3000 ms). The results indicate that self-associated information can bypass the executive system and remain active in working memory processing.