Attentional requirements for object-location priming

The purpose of the present experiments was to investigate whether a verbal and a spatial secondary task would disrupt priming for object-location asso ciations. Symbols were placed one at a time in one of nine locations in a r ectangle. Implicit memory was tested with a reaction time (RT) task. All sy mbols were placed in the same location of the rectangle across 10 trial blo cks; then, all their locations were changed. Responses were made on the num eric keypad, which corresponded to the spatial locations used in the rectan gle. A decrease in RTs across the first 10 trial blocks followed by an incr ease in RTs when the symbols changed locations would indicate priming for t he associations. The results were that implicit memory for object-location associations was obtained under single-, but not under dual-task conditions . We have interpreted the results in terms of a working memory model that p osits that implicit memory will suffer when cognitive resources are limited .