Attending to unrelated targets boosts short-term memory for color arrays

► Detecting a letter target at fixation improves short-term memory of color arrays. ► Contrary to dual-task interference, increasing attention to one task boosts memory. ► This boost was observed when the target letter occurred during memory encoding. ► The boost was absent when the target letter occurred during maintenance or retrieval. ► Detecting goal-relevant events produces an attentional boost effect.