More Than Storage of Information: What Working Memory Contributes to Visual Abductive Reasoning

Klichowicz, Anja; Rosner, Agnes; Krems, Josef F.

doi:10.5709/acp-0366-1

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…For example, maybe internal coupling is effective for people with low working memory capacity or low spatial or object imagery skills. Recent studies found that lower working memory capacity (Klichowicz et al, 2022), lower cognitive resources (Wynn et al, 2019), and lower spatial imagery skills were associated with more looking-at-nothing behavior (Johansson et al, 2011). Similarly, in a 3D setting, one study found that lower object imagery skills are related to more looks back to now blank spaces when trying to imagine a previously seen object (Chiquet et al, 2022).…”

Section: No Effect Of Workloadmentioning

confidence: 96%

Preprint: How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory

Walcher,

Korda,

Körner

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The eyes are active during memory recall and visual mental imagery. However, the current understanding of the qualities, and factors governing these internally coupled eye movements, particularly in unrestricted gaze conditions, remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a study with 50 participants to investigate the factors contributing to internal coupling in imagined movements including workload, the availability of visual information, and the direction of imagined movement. We designed a visuospatial working memory task in which participants mentally shifted a black patch in a matrix based on auditory direction cues (up, down, left, right). We varied workload by adjusting matrix size, manipulated availability of visual information by presenting either a blank screen (requiring participants to rely solely on their mental representation of the matrix) or relevant visual information in the form of an empty matrix, and contrasted active task performance to two control conditions involving only active or passive listening. We found that eye movements consistently aligned with the imagined movement of the patch in the matrix and, importantly, this coupling effect was not merely the result of auditory or semantic processing of the direction cues. Intriguingly, while workload influenced pupil diameter, perceived demand, and performance, it had no observable impact on internal coupling. Notably, the availability of visual information, in the form of an empty matrix vs. a blank screen, strengthened the coupling of eye movements. This enhancement manifested through increased frequency, better precision, and reduced vulnerability to noise and horizontal bias in coupled saccades. In summary, our results suggest that eye movements naturally align with imagined movements during visuospatial working memory tasks. This coupling is more efficient when supported by relevant visual information and likely occurs intrinsically, and not just as a strategy to alleviate workload.

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Section: No Effect Of Workloadmentioning

confidence: 96%

Preprint: How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory

Walcher,

Korda,

Körner

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, mental rotation and prefrontal analysis also demand significant levels of relational reasoning, but prefrontal synthesis and abstract inference will always involve a larger amount of information to be handled since it is positively influenced by the number of asynchronous NEs involved. Furthermore, associative inference and future-oriented thought (Table 1) demonstrate the predictive nature of mental imagery, being capable of exploring available (but absent) possibilities (Cahart-Harris & Friston, 2010;Klichowicz et al, 2021Klichowicz et al, , 2022Spalding et al, 2018), while abstract inference and deductive reasoning (Table 1) display the intangible nature of relational reasoning, which allows it to generate knowledge beyond past (and thus expected) experiences (Halford, Wilson, & Phillips, 2010;Holyoak & Lu, 2021;Wu, Jung & Zhang, 2016). It's important to note that similar categorizations of imagination have been previously suggested by other researchers (Sassenberg et al, 2023;Vyshedskiy, 2019).…”

Section: Role Of Large-scale Brain Network In Imaginationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As previously mentioned, associative processes (e.g. free associations, daydreaming and associative inference; Table 1) are also predictive and, hence, involve an automatic exploration of available possibilities (Cahart-Harris & Friston, 2010;Klichowicz et al, 2021Klichowicz et al, , 2022Spalding et al, 2018) that opposes the objective of generating uncorrelated ideas proposed by the DT method. For example, if someone is daydreaming about going to a grocery store, imaginative experiences elicited by associative processing will be the result of the merging of past experiences and knowledge in a sort of abductive process, such as a blackout happening in that place (which is contextually coherent and useful for narrative development), rather than generating completely unprecedented ideas, like imagining yourself as being in the referred food market in the absence of gravity (Table 1).…”

Section: Individual Differences In Mental Imagery and Relational Reas...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinguishing the roles of mental imagery and relational reasoning in creativity: a review and methodological proposal

Ferreria

2024

Preprint

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The majority of research on creativity ignores the individual differences in fluency and originality scores of divergent thinking (DT) tasks, most commonly using their mean value. Nonetheless, studies also indicate the existence of distinct patterns of performance in these two variables, since some people can be very prolific in originality but have a low frequency of ideas, or fluency, of responses, and vice versa. Corroborating this hypothesis, research shows that these DT variables are modulated by two distinct cognitive mechanisms (mental imagery and relational reasoning) that also present significant variations between people, but its theoretical implications for creativity are still unknown. In this review, we present evidence from neuroscience and behavioral studies demonstrating that the distinct patterns of performance in DT tasks concerning fluency and originality described by other studies are probably a result of the different cognitive profiles that rise from the individual differences in mental imagery and relational reasoning capacities, suggesting the existence of two distinct subordinate categories of creative abilities (i.e. associative creativity and relational creativity). For last, we propose a new experimental paradigm for measuring these individual differences in the creative capacity using two perceptual inference tasks, each demanding distinct levels of associative and executive abilities.

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How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory

Walcher,

Korda,

Körner

et al. 2024

Cognition

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More Than Storage of Information: What Working Memory Contributes to Visual Abductive Reasoning

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Preprint: How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory

Preprint: How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory

Distinguishing the roles of mental imagery and relational reasoning in creativity: a review and methodological proposal

How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory

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