Self-prioritization in working memory gating

Working memory (WM) refers to the ability to select and temporarily maintain goal-relevant information (i.e., maintenance), and to replace this information as goals change (i.e., updating). The balance between maintenance and updating is regulated by an input-gating mechanism that determines which information should enter WM and which should be kept out. Previous research indicates that information relevant to or associated with oneself is prioritized in WM, but it is unclear exactly which component process of WM is modulated by self-relevance (e.g., maintenance vs. updating vs. gate opening/closing). Here, we tested which of these processes are modulated by self-relevance. Participants (N = 46) first performed an associative learning task in which they associated two neutral shapes with two social labels (i.e., “you” vs “stranger”), respectively. Immediately after they performed the reference-back paradigm, a well-established WM task that disentangles processes such as WM updating, gate opening, and gate closing. Crucially, the shapes that were previously associated with the self or a stranger served as target stimuli in the reference-back task. We replicated the basic reference-back finding of a repetition benefit when consecutive trials require opening the gate to WM. However, this facilitation of gate opening was eliminated when self-associated stimuli were recently gated into WM and then immediately needed to be replaced by stranger-associated stimuli. Tentatively, this suggests gate opening became more effortful when you-associated stimuli were recently gated into WM. Our results corroborate and extend previous findings showing prioritization of self-relevant stimuli in WM.