Memory for temporal order and spatial position information: Tests of the automatic-effortful distinction

Information about the temporal and spatial context of events has been postulated by Hasher and Zacks in 1979 to accumulate in memory via processes that are relatively unaffected by subject variables like age and ability, or task variables such as instructions or practice. These “automatic” processes have been distinguished from “effortful” processes, which are affected by these variables. To evaluate these predictions, we tested memory for temporal order and spatial position in groups of young adults recovering from traumatic brain injuries, normal elderly, and normal young adults, using a design that allowed examination of the effects of practice and instructions. Our results indicate that both traumatic brain injury and aging reduce performance on tasks tapping retention of temporal and spatial information if the subject is asked for a relatively precise estimate of the requested information. These effects tend to disappear when estimation tasks are designed, or errors are analyzed, in a way that allows subjects full credit for only partial information about an item’s temporospatial context of presentation. The presence of these task and analysis effects that can eliminate existing differences, calls for reevaluation of those studies in which Hasher and Zacks' criteria for automaticity were satisfied.