The benefits of stimulus-driven attention for working memory encoding

•Encoding information into working memory may benefit from stimulus-driven attention.•Boosting stimulus-driven attention to letters improved performance.•Both similar- and dissimilar-sounding letters benefit from stimulus-driven attention.•Stimulus-driven attention is beneficial as well as detrimental to working memory.

The present study investigates how stimulus-driven attention to relevant information affects working memory performance. In three experiments, we examine whether stimulus-driven attention to items can improve retention of these items in working memory. Lists of phonologically-similar and dissimilar items were presented at expected or unexpected locations in Experiment 1. When stimulus-driven attention was captured by items presented at unexpected locations, similar items were better remembered than similar items that appeared at expected locations. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 using contingent capture to boost stimulus-driven attention to similar items. Experiment 3 demonstrated that stimulus-driven attention was beneficial for both similar and dissimilar items when the latter condition was made more difficult. Together, these experiments demonstrate that stimulus-driven attention to relevant information is one mechanism by which encoding can be facilitated.