Conditioned features are selectively encoded into working memory

While the influence of reward on working memory has been explored extensively, it remains unclear how reward and punishment affect working memory encoding when people are not intentionally encoding their experiences. This study aimed to address this question by integrating reward and aversive conditioning into the attribute amnesia task, which investigates working memory through a surprise test. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to report the location of a color-singleton letter. The reward group experienced associations between color and reward, while the no-outcome group completed the same task without any reward feedback. The results showed that, when unexpectedly asked to report the identity of the color-singleton letter on the surprise trial, the reward group showed no better performance than the no-outcome group, despite the color singleton being rendered in the high-value color. Additionally, the reward group showed lower accuracy in reporting the identity of the color singleton in the trial immediately following the surprise trial, where the color singleton was again presented in the high-value color, compared with the no-outcome group. Experiment 2 replicated these results with a different group of participants undergoing aversive conditioning with electric shock during the attribute amnesia task (shock group). These findings suggest a limitation in the ability of stimulus valence to enhance working memory encoding. Moreover, encoding a valent stimulus feature may interfere with the encoding of other stimulus features. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).