Memorability effects emerge in incidental visual working memory.

Abstract

Memorability denotes a stimulus-intrinsic property that results in stimuli being more likely to be remembered or forgotten. The effect is generally consistent across observers and can be measured in various stimuli such as faces and scene images. Long-term memory paradigms have been used to measure memorability with studies demonstrating long-term memorability effects via incidental and intentional encoding mechanisms. The present study examines whether memorability modulates the ability to unexpectedly report an image at short intervals. Three sets of experiments (using faces and scenes) with replications used an attribute amnesia paradigm to measure the effect of memorability on incidental visual working memory processes while controlling attentional priorities. When participants had to identify the target image in the immediate trial unexpectedly, we observed that memorable targets yielded a higher accuracy compared to forgettable targets, showing that people incidentally remember more information about memorable stimuli even across very short intervals. This memorability benefit was observed for both stimulus types but was greater for faces compared to scenes. Moreover, follow-up experiments suggested this memorability effect was not due to enhanced attentional capture by the high-memorability item or differences in target-foil contrast. Thus, memorability modulates incidental memory even without the need to retrieve from long-term memory. These results expand our understanding of the mechanisms behind memorability effects and how attentional filters impact memory traces. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).