The Attentional Boost Effect In Conceptual Implicit Memory

The attentional boost effect was first discovered by swallow et al.(2010).It means that when subjects were asked to finish both an encoding task and a target detection task at the same time,the memory result of background information presented with the target items is better than the background information presented with the distracting items.Previous studies have shown that the ABE was mainly due to the enhancement of perceptual processing of background information by target detection,but we also have found a lot of experimental evidence that contradicts the perceptual processing enhancement hypothesis.It is shown that target detection may not only enhance the perceptual processing of background information.This study speculates that the short-term enhancement generated by target detection not only enhances the perceptual processing of background information,but also conceptual processing.This enhancement depends on whether the cognitive processing type in encoding phase is consistent with the cognitive processing type required by the subsequent test.In this study,three experiments are carried out to verify this hypothesis step by step.In Experiment 1,chinese words are used as background stimuli to investigate whether reading loudly has different effects on ABE in perceptual or conceptual implicit tests.The results show that when subjects read loudly in encoding phase,ABE is found in perceptual implicit test but not in conceptual implicit test.It preliminarily verifies our hypothesis that target detection affects ABE in implicit test depends on whether the processing type of background information in encoding phase is consistent with the cognitive processing type required by the subsequent test.In Experiment 2,the cognitive processing of background information is further distinguished between perceptual and conceptual processing types,and whether different processing types have different effects on ABE in conceptual implicit test was discussed.The results show that when the background information is conceptual processed in the encoding phase,the ABE appears in conceptual implicit test,and the perceptual processing of the background information in the encoding phase will not produce the ABE in conceptual implicit test.In experiment 3,the lexical background material is replaced with the picture background material,and the effect of target detection on background information promotion is further investigated,which isinfluenced by the consistency of encoding and test.The results show that when the image is conceptual processed,ABE appears in the conceptual implicit test,but the perceptual encoding of the picture does not produce the ABE in conceptual implicit test.In conclusion,the short-term enhancement produced by target detection can not only promote the perceptual processing of background information,but also enhance the conceptual processing of background information.It mainly depends on whether the cognitive processing type of background information in encoding phase is consistent with the cognitive processing required by subsequent tests.