Abstract: This study used real-life images as experimental stimuli within the Visual-Spatial Working Memory (VSWM) paradigm to investigate the animacy effect in three types of memory. Experiment 1 revealed the differential impact of animacy on various memory tasks. Specifically, in the item memory task, recall accuracy was significantly higher for animate images (e.g., animals) than for inanimate images (e.g., objects), demonstrating a positive role of the animacy effect. However, in the item-location binding memory task, the recall rate for inanimate images surpassed that for animate images, indicating a negative influence of animacy. In addition, no significant difference was observed between animate and inanimate images in the location memory task. Taken together, these results validated the stability of the animacy effect when using image-based stimuli and identified its instability in location memory and detrimental effect in item-location binding memory, hinting at a potential associative impairment associated with animacy in visuospatial memory tasks.
To delve deeper into these findings, Experiment 2 integrated scene priming paradigms into the framework established in Experiment 1. This experiment examined the influence of the social and natural attributes inherent in animate and inanimate stimuli on memory, as well as how these attributes manifest under natural and social scene priming conditions. Based on the categorization of image attributes in Experiment 1, two sub-experiments were conducted to assess the animacy effect on VSWM performance under natural scene and social scene priming, respectively.
The results of Experiments 2a and 2b affirmed the fundamental similarity in visuospatial working memory patterns across diverse scene contexts. Notably, associative strength had a significant influence on item memory recall. Across both scene priming conditions, objects strongly associated with the scene exhibited a pronounced advantage in item memory, whereas this advantage did not extend to location memory or item-location binding memory. Moreover, the recall patterns for animate and inanimate objects with varying degrees of associative strength were largely consistent across both scene contexts in terms of item memory, location memory, and item-location binding memory, with only subtle differences observed in item memory. These findings underscore the dynamic nature of the animacy effect, which fluctuates in response to changes in environmental contexts.
Overall, the present study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay among animacy, memory processes, and environmental cues. It highlights the importance of considering contextual factors when investigating cognitive phenomena such as memory and underscores the potential for future research to unravel the physiological mechanisms underlying these observations. By providing empirical evidence for the conditional nature of animacy effects, this study paves the way for developing targeted interventions to enhance memory performance in various real-world applications.

Key words: animacy effect, visual-spatial working memory, memory integration