Verbal working memory performance and proactive interference are largely unaffected by matching font color reinstatement

The present set of five experiments assessed whether context-dependent memory effects were evident within verbal working memory. Participants completed an item-recognition verbal working memory task at a set size of 4, where test probes were presented in the studied color or in a different color. Experiments 1–3 varied the manner in which color context was implemented. Experiments 4 and 5 additionally induced proactive interference by presenting occasional recent probes that originated from the prior trial as opposed to the current trial. Recency-based proactive interference was present but was not influenced by context reinstatement. Indeed, across the 5 experiments and 19 total assessments of context reinstatement, only two statistical tests supported context-dependent working memory facilitation. Instead, the overwhelming majority of evidence indicated that response times, accuracy, and proactive interference were not significantly different when the study/test color contexts matched or mismatched within working memory. Thus, these findings suggest that long-term memory contextual influences are stronger than those operating within working memory for meaningful verbal memoranda.