Visual Working Memory Capacity Load Does Not Modulate Distractor Processing

Separating the effects of visual working memory load and attentional zoom on selective attention.

“…Roper and Vecera (2013) proposed that brief presentation of a flanker array increases encoding demands, which could be confounded with perceptual load. In their experiment, distractor interference was not reduced even under high perceptual load when the duration of a flanker display was extended (however, see Guo et al, 2019; Konstantinou et al, 2014; Lee & Yi, 2018). These results imply that the interaction between memory load and perceptual load can produce different outcomes depending on experimental parameters.…”

“…Previous studies on the effect of VWM load on attentional selection revealed mixed results. While some studies asserted that VWM load strengthens selective attention (Konstantinou et al, 2014; Roper & Vecera, 2014), others found that VWM load weakens selective attention or sometimes does not have any effects (Guo et al, 2019; Lee & Yi, 2018; Zhang & Luck, 2015). These studies used different item sizes and arrangements, which made it difficult to directly compare the effects of attentional zoom and VWM load across studies (see Table 1).…”

“…However, other studies found inconsistent results that high VWM load does not modulate attentional selection and sometimes increases distractors processing (Guo et al, 2019; Lee & Yi, 2018; Zhang & Luck, 2015). In Zhang and Luck (2015), participants were more interfered by distractors in a flanker task when they maintained more colors in VWM.…”