Visual working memory for connected 3D objects: effects of stimulus complexity, dimensionality and connectivity

Abstract

Visual working memory (VWM) is typically measured using arrays of two-dimensional isolated stimuli with simple visual identities (e.g., color or shape), and these studies typically find strong capacity limits. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experts are tasked with reasoning with representations of three-dimensional (3D) connected objects, raising questions about whether those stimuli would be subject to the same limits. Here, we use a color change detection task to examine working memory capacity for 3D objects made up of differently colored cubes. Experiment 1a shows that increasing the number of parts of an object leads to less sensitivity to color changes, while change-irrelevant structural dimensionality (the number of dimensions into which parts of the structure extend) does not. Experiment 1b shows that sensitivity to color changes decreases similarly with increased complexity for multipart 3D connected objects and disconnected 2D squares, while sensitivity is slightly higher with 3D objects. Experiments 2a and 2b find that when other stimulus characteristics, such as size and visual angle, are controlled, change-irrelevant dimensionality and connectivity have no effect on performance. These results suggest that detecting color changes on 3D connected objects and on displays of isolated 2D stimuli are subject to similar set size effects and are not affected by dimensionality and connectivity when these properties are change-irrelevant, ruling out one possible explanation for scientists’ advantages in storing and manipulating representations of complex 3D objects.

Capacity and selection in immersive visual working memory following naturalistic object disappearance

“…Here, we deliberately used simple colored shapes in a simple working memory task to mimic seminal work by ample laboratory studies before us (e.g., Luck & Vogel, 1997 ; Vogel & Machizawa, 2004 ). Doing so, we were able to confirm a capacity estimate of around 3 using such shapes also in our static VR condition, allowing a critical bridge to a long tradition of laboratory studies before us that used 2D displays (for a complementary comparison of 2D vs. 3D objects, see also He, Gunalp, Meyerhoff, Rathbun, Stieff, Franconeri, & Hegarty, 2022 ). Having established that bridge, we asked whether the capacity estimate observed with this type of visual shapes and task may be different when objects disappear from view gradually in a more naturalistic manner.…”

Capacity and selection in immersive visual working memory following naturalistic object disappearance

“…[13,14]). Doing so, we were able to confirm a capacity of around 3 using such shapes also in our static VR condition, allowing a critical bridge to a long tradition of laboratory studies before us that used 2D displays (see also [41] for a complementary comparison of 2D vs. 3D objects). Having established that bridge, we asked whether the capacity observed with this type of visual shapes and task may be different when objects disappear from view gradually in a more naturalistic manner.…”