Working memory and the guidance of visual attention: Consonance-driven orienting

Huang, Liqiang; Pashler, Harold

doi:10.3758/bf03194042

Cited by 71 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The effect of WM on unconscious processing cannot be attributed to a bottom-up perceptual priming mechanism, because we failed to observe priming effects when cues were only perceptually identified but not actively held in WM. The present work goes beyond previous studies, which focused on the effects of WM on attentional selection (e.g., Chen & Tsou, 2011;Huang & Pashler, 2007;Olivers, Meijer, & Theeuwes, 2006;Pan, Xu, & Soto, 2009;Soto, Heinke, Humphreys, & Blanco, 2005;Woodman & Luck, 2007) or on conscious awareness (Soto & Humphreys, 2006;Soto et al, 2010). Here, we demonstrate that when a brief masked stimulus among multiple stimuli in the visual field matches the contents of WM, perceptual processing of its unconscious features can be facilitated by WM.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Working memory can enhance unconscious visual perception

2012

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We demonstrate that unconscious processing of a stimulus property can be enhanced when there is a match between the contents of working memory and the stimulus presented in the visual field. Participants first held a cue (a colored circle) in working memory and then searched for a brief masked target shape presented simultaneously with a distractor shape. When participants reported having no awareness of the target shape at all, search performance was more accurate in the valid condition, where the target matched the cue in color, than in the neutral condition, where the target mismatched the cue. This effect cannot be attributed to bottomup perceptual priming from the presentation of a memory cue, because unconscious perception was not enhanced when the cue was merely perceptually identified but not actively held in working memory. These findings suggest that reentrant feedback from the contents of working memory modulates unconscious visual perception.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Working memory can enhance unconscious visual perception

2012

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“…Moreover, several other studies have provided converging evidence showing that WM-driven attention can also influence perceptual processing (e.g., Huang & Pashler, 2007;Pashler & Shiu, 1999;Soto & Humphreys, 2006;Soto, Wriglesworth, Balani, & Humphreys, 2010). For example, a recent study using signal detection analysis by Soto et al (2010) demonstrated that WM-driven attention shifts can enhance visual perception of stimuli matching the contents of WM.…”

Section: Abstract Working Memory Prior Entry Attention Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do working memory-driven attention shifts speed up visual awareness?

Pan

Cheng

2011

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Previous research has shown that content representations in working memory (WM) can bias attention in favor of matching stimuli in the scene. Using a visual priorentry procedure, we here investigate whether such WMdriven attention shifts can speed up the conscious awareness of memory-matching relative to memory-mismatching stimuli. Participants were asked to hold a color cue in WM and to subsequently perform a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task by reporting either of two different-colored circles (presented to the left and right of fixation with a variable temporal interval) as having the first onset. One of the two TOJ circles could match the memory cue in color. We found that awareness of the temporal order of the circle onsets was not affected by the contents of WM, even when participants were explicitly informed that one of the TOJ circles would always match the WM contents. The null effect of WM on TOJs was not due to an inability of the memory-matching item to capture attention, since response times to the target in a follow-up experiment were improved when it appeared at the location of the memory-matching item. The present findings suggest that WM-driven attention shifts cannot accelerate phenomenal awareness of matching stimuli in the visual field.

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“…matching stimuli in the visual field, even when there is no explicit intention for observers to voluntarily shift attention to those stimuli (e.g., Calleja & Rich, 2013;Carlisle & Woodman, 2011;Downing, 2000;Han, 2015a;Huang & Pashler, 2007;Olivers, Meijer, & Theeuwes, 2006;Pan, 2010;Soto, Heinke, Humphreys, & Blanco, 2005;. This memory-driven attentional capture cannot be attributable to the mechanism of bottom-up priming by stimulus repetition, as mere priming is usually not sufficient to guide attentional deployment (e.g., Olivers et al, 2006;Pan & Soto, 2010;Soto et al, 2005) and distinct neural mechanisms have been found for attentional biases by working memory and repetition priming (Soto, Humphreys, & Rotshtein, 2007;Soto, Llewelyn, & Silvanto, 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

Working memory-driven attention improves spatial resolution: Support for perceptual enhancement

Pan

Luo

Cheng

2016

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Previous research has indicated that attention can be biased toward those stimuli matching the contents of working memory and thereby facilitates visual processing at the location of the memory-matching stimuli. However, whether this working memory-driven attentional modulation takes place on early perceptual processes remains unclear. Our present results showed that working memory-driven attention improved identification of a brief Landolt target presented alone in the visual field. Because the suprathreshold target appeared without any external noise added (i.e., no distractors or masks), the results suggest that working memory-driven attention enhances the target signal at early perceptual stages of visual processing. Furthermore, given that performance in the Landolt target identification task indexes spatial resolution, this attentional facilitation indicates that working memory-driven attention can boost early perceptual processing via enhancement of spatial resolution at the attended location.

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Working memory and the guidance of visual attention: Consonance-driven orienting

Cited by 71 publications

References 13 publications

Working memory can enhance unconscious visual perception

Working memory can enhance unconscious visual perception

Do working memory-driven attention shifts speed up visual awareness?

Working memory-driven attention improves spatial resolution: Support for perceptual enhancement

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