Consequences of value-directed remembering in working memory on memory strength and memory interference

Critical details are important to remember, whereas trivial information is not. The present research examined whether there were differences in relative susceptibility to proactive interference (PI) for high-value, low-value, zero-value, or negative-value information within working memory (WM) in younger adults. PI occurs when previously learned information disrupts current performance. Across four experiments, participants (N = 255) completed a recent probes WM task, where verbal memoranda were arbitrarily assigned point values after encoding and memory was tested after a 3-s delay. A surprise long-term memory recognition test was also administered. Results revealed similar magnitudes of PI for high-, low-, and zero-value information. In contrast, there was significantly less PI for negative-value relative to high-value memoranda. Moreover, negative-value cues resulted in worse long-term memory relative to high-value cues, whereas long-term memory was comparable among zero-, low-, and high-value memoranda. These data inform theories of value-directed remembering and the removal of information from WM, including how only negative-value cues resembled directed forgetting in WM, whereas participants tended to maintain high-, low-, and zero-value memoranda in WM when there was no externally apparent harm to retain the items. Thus, evidence demonstrates that individuals tend to maintain information in WM unless explicitly told to remove it or informed that it will be detrimental to retain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).