Simultaneous Control of Attention by Multiple Working Memory Representations

Beck, Valerie; Hollingworth, Andrew; Luck, Steven J.

doi:10.1177/0956797612439068

Cited by 172 publications

(205 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Consistent with this alternative, Beck et al (2012) demonstrated that visual search can be concurrently guided by two target templates in VWM, potentially indicating VWM-based facilitation by multiple representations. Those researchers examined eye movements in a visual search task and noted that, when selectively attending to only one of two colors in an array, observers searched consecutive items in one color before switching.…”

Section: Implications For Theories Of Vwm-guided Attentionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…Can VWM support both processes simultaneously? Such an ability would have implications for models of how VWM guides attentional selection, and in particular the ongoing debate about whether guidance is limited to a single item in memory (Houtkamp & Roelfsema, 2006;Olivers, Peters, Houtkamp, & Roelfsema, 2011), or whether the full contents of VWM can be used to bias attention (see Beck, Hollingworth, & Luck, 2012, for evidence in support of this view). Thus, in the present study we aimed to identify whether or not VWM can be used to simultaneously support processes of facilitation and inhibition.…”

Section: Abstract Visual Search Visual Working Memory Inhibitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it has been shown numerous times that accessory items do not guide facilitation during search (Downing & Dodds, 2004;Houtkamp & Roelfsema, 2006;; although see Beck et al, 2012), perhaps it is the case that accessory representations have the opposite effect. That is, whereas search is guided toward stimuli matching the active representation, search may be concurrently guided away from stimuli matching the accessory representations.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual working memory simultaneously guides facilitation and inhibition during visual search

Dube

Basciano

Emrich

et al. 2016

Atten Percept Psychophys

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During visual search, visual working memory (VWM) supports the guidance of attention in two ways: It stores the identity of the search target, facilitating the selection of matching stimuli in the search array, and it maintains a record of the distractors processed during search so that they can be inhibited. In two experiments, we investigated whether the full contents of VWM can be used to support both of these abilities simultaneously. In Experiment 1, participants completed a preview search task in which (a) a subset of search distractors appeared before the remainder of the search items, affording participants the opportunity to inhibit them, and (b) the search target varied from trial to trial, requiring the search target template to be maintained in VWM. We observed the established signature of VWM-based inhibition-reduced ability to ignore previewed distractors when the number of distractors exceeds VWM's capacity-suggesting that VWM can serve this role while also representing the target template. In Experiment 2, we replicated Experiment 1, but added to the search displays a singleton distractor that sometimes matched the color (a task-irrelevant feature) of the search target, to evaluate capture. We again observed the signature of VWM-based preview inhibition along with attentional capture by (and, thus, facilitation of) singletons matching the target template. These findings indicate that more than one VWM representation can bias attention at a time, and that these representations can separately affect selection through either facilitation or inhibition, placing constraints on existing models of the VWM-based guidance of attention.

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Section: Implications For Theories Of Vwm-guided Attentionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Abstract Visual Search Visual Working Memory Inhibitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Visual working memory simultaneously guides facilitation and inhibition during visual search

Dube

Basciano

Emrich

et al. 2016

Atten Percept Psychophys

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“…Olivers et al [21] claimed that only one object or feature at a time can be maintained in an active state that controls perceptual selection (see also [32]). However, recent evidence suggests that attention can be guided simultaneously by multiple feature values [33]. In this study, participants searched for a target defined by two colour values (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between visual working memory and attention: retention of precise colour information in the absence of effects on perceptual selection

Hollingworth

Hwang

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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113

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We examined the conditions under which a feature value in visual working memory (VWM) recruits visual attention to matching stimuli. Previous work has suggested that VWM supports two qualitatively different states of representation: an active state that interacts with perceptual selection and a passive (or accessory) state that does not. An alternative hypothesis is that VWM supports a single form of representation, with the precision of feature memory controlling whether or not the representation interacts with perceptual selection. The results of three experiments supported the dual-state hypothesis. We established conditions under which participants retained a relatively precise representation of a parcticular colour. If the colour was immediately task relevant, it reliably recruited attention to matching stimuli. However, if the colour was not immediately task relevant, it failed to interact with perceptual selection. Feature maintenance in VWM is not necessarily equivalent with feature-based attentional selection.

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“…In some circumstances, such as when searching for colour targets, overall speed decreases and accuracy falls when searching for two targets compared with single-target search, but both targets can be found with accuracy levels above chance. Indeed, much of the previous research on searching for multiple targets suggests that separate mental representations of all targets can be maintained successfully (Barrett & Zobay, 2014;Beck, Hollingworth, & Luck, 2012;Grubert & Eimer, 2015, 2016Irons, Folk, & Remington, 2012;Wolfe, 2012).…”

Section: Dual-target Cost In Visual Search For Multiple Unfamiliar Facesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual-target cost in visual search for multiple unfamiliar faces.

Mestry

Menneer

Cave

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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The efficiency of visual search for one (single-target) and either of two (dual-target) unfamiliar faces was explored to understand the manifestations of capacity and guidance limitations in face search. The visual similarity of distractor faces to target faces was manipulated using morphing (Experiments 1 and 2) and multidimensional scaling (Experiment 3). A dual-target cost was found in all experiments, evidenced by slower and less accurate search in dual- than single-target conditions. The dual-target cost was unequal across the targets, with performance being maintained on one target and reduced on the other, which we label “preferred” and “non-preferred” respectively. We calculated the capacity for each target face and show reduced capacity for representing the non-preferred target face. However, results show that the capacity for the non-preferred target can be increased when the dual-target condition is conducted after participants complete the single-target conditions. Analyses of eye movements revealed evidence for weak guidance of fixations in single-target search, and when searching for the preferred target in dual-target search. Overall, the experiments show dual-target search for faces is capacity- and guidance-limited, leading to superior search for 1 face over the other in dual-target search. However, learning faces individually may improve capacity with the second face.

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Simultaneous Control of Attention by Multiple Working Memory Representations

Cited by 172 publications

References 36 publications

Visual working memory simultaneously guides facilitation and inhibition during visual search

Visual working memory simultaneously guides facilitation and inhibition during visual search

The relationship between visual working memory and attention: retention of precise colour information in the absence of effects on perceptual selection

Dual-target cost in visual search for multiple unfamiliar faces.

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