Spatial rehearsal in working memory: Spatial selective attention, executive processes, or both

This paper proposes two experiments designed to investigate the nature of spatial rehearsal. The first experiment compared verbal and spatial versions of a matrix task to investigate the effects of order on recall. Results establish the validity of the spatial matrix task as being independent from verbal memory and suggest that the effect of order on recall is related to executive processes. Experiment 2 provided a direct test of two theories of spatial rehearsal: attention-based rehearsal and decision load. There was limited evidence that spatial attention mediates rehearsal and no evidence that decision making mediates rehearsal. The effects of order influenced spatial memory across rehearsal conditions. It is argued that selective attention and executive processes are both involved in spatial rehearsal.