Items with high value are often remembered better than those with low value. It is not clear, however, whether this value effect extends to the binding of associative details (e.g., word colour) in episodic memory. Here, we explored whether value enhances memory for associative information in two different scenarios that might support a more effective process of binding between identity and colour. Experiment 1 examined incidental binding between item and colour using coloured images of familiar objects, while Experiment 2 examined intentional learning of word colour. In both experiments, increasing value led to improvements in memory for both item and colour, and these effects persisted after approximately 24 hours. Experiment 3a and Experiment 3b replicated the value effect on intentional word-colour memory from Experiment 2 while also demonstrating this effect to be less reliable when word colour is incidental to the encoding phase. Thus, value-directed prioritization can facilitate episodic associative memory when conditions for binding are optimized through the use of appropriate to-be remembered materials and encoding conditions.

具有高价值的项目通常比低价值的项目更容易被记住。然而，尚不清楚这种价值效应是否扩展到情景记忆中联想细节（例如，单词颜色）的结合。在这里，我们探讨了在可能支持身份和颜色之间更有效绑定过程的两种不同场景中，价值是否增强了对关联信息的记忆。实验 1 使用熟悉物体的彩色图像检查了项目和颜色之间的偶然结合，而实验 2 则检查了单词颜色的有意学习。在这两个实验中，增加的值导致对项目和颜色的记忆改善，并且这些影响在大约 24 小时后持续存在。实验 3a 和实验 3b 复制了实验 2 中对有意单词颜色记忆的价值效应，同时也证明了当单词颜色与编码阶段无关时，这种效应不太可靠。因此，当通过使用适当的待记忆材料和编码条件优化绑定条件时，价值导向的优先排序可以促进情景联想记忆。