Elaborative strategies contribute to the long-term benefits of time in working memory

The current experiments investigated the long-term advantage for words studied during complex span versus simple span, i.e., the McCabe effect. According to the covert retrieval account, the McCabe effect occurs because complex span affords covert retrieval opportunities that facilitate episodic memory (EM). Conversely, the time-in-working-memory (WM) hypothesis asserts that the time items spend in WM predicts EM, irrespective of any opportunity for covert retrieval. We investigated whether time specifically allows for elaboration in WM by considering the influence of reported and instructed strategies during simple span, complex span, and slow span, where for the latter, a pause of equivalent duration to the distraction in complex span interleaved the memoranda. The results indicated that (i) elaboration is just as frequent during complex span as slow span and (ii) spontaneous elaboration accentuates the advantage of complex span and slow span over simple span, commensurate with the elaboration account of the time-in-WM hypothesis.