A concurrent working memory load task does not impair visual selective attention: A meta-analysis

Quirós-Godoy, María; Botella, Juan; Liaño, Beatriz Gil-Gómez de

doi:10.1167/17.10.967

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…We did not find memory effects either on the target factor or the set size factor, replicating previous findings in adulthood again (Downing and Dodds, 2004;Woodman and Luck, 2007;Quirós-Godoy et al, 2017). The interaction between target and set size is consistent with previous developmental studies (Donnelly et al, 2007;Michael et al, 2013;Woods et al, 2013;Brennan et al, 2017;Gil-Gómez de Liaño et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Since to our knowledge this is the first study manipulating how working memory load can modulate visual search during childhood, we avoided any potential overlapping of images between working memory and visual search tasks. Under these circumstances, our results essentially show that the efficiency of visual search is not affected by the concurrent working memory load at any age from kindergarten to college, replicating previous findings in adulthood (Downing and Dodds, 2004;Woodman and Luck, 2007;Quirós-Godoy et al, 2017). Surprisingly, even for our youngest children, the load of a concurrent visual working memory task did not make an essential difference in visual search efficiency.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Moreover, Gil-Gómez de Liaño et al (2016) showed again similar "lack of effects" results non-replicating previous studies in a set of experiments increasing power and pointing toward the necessity of replication studies to increase the reliability of studies in the field. That study led to a meta-analysis (Quirós-Godoy et al, 2017) concluding that working memory load did not interact with visual search (and other attentional tasks like the flanker task or Stroop-like tasks) and supporting again that lack of interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

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I can look for it! Modulation of a concurrent Visual Working Memory task in Visual Search in development

2022

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Daily classroom activities that require children to perform visual search (VS) tasks are common across all educational levels: from searching for a missing piece of a puzzle in kindergarten to solving equations in college. However, VS tasks are often not performed in isolation, but rather students are maintaining information related to an ongoing task that loads working memory (WM). Unfortunately, it is still unclear how these processes interact and evolve in development. The present work aims to study how a concurrent visual WM (VWM) load can modulate VS performance based on the Developmental Model of Endogenous Mental Attention (Pascual-Leone and Johnson, 1999, 2005, 2021). A sample of kindergarten, elementary (2nd and 4th grades), middle school (6th grade), and college students looked for real-world photorealistic targets while maintaining similar objects in VWM in a dual-task paradigm. VWM load was manipulated using high and low memory load conditions. Additionally, looking for potential modulations related to individual differences, we studied the relationship between IQ, VWM span, and executive functions with VS efficiency. Finally, we also registered reported measures of potential strategies employed during the VS task. The results from a large sample of 147 participants between 5 and 25 years old revealed that even the youngest children could efficiently perform a VS task with a concurrent VWM load, replicating previous results found in adulthood. However, we found a slight increase in false alarms and commission errors when memory was highly loaded for all the participants regardless of age. As expected, we found positive correlations between VS efficiency and IQ and VWM span measures. Interestingly, the proportion of participants who used tracking organization strategies increased with age in all cases. However, although cognitive strategies to remember the target became more complex as age increased, it was only significant under the low VWM load conditions. The results seem relevant to understanding the development of VS based on the Model of Endogenous Mental Attention and the design of training programs to improve attention. The implications in educational contexts are discussed and are especially relevant for students with learning disabilities or attention problems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

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I can look for it! Modulation of a concurrent Visual Working Memory task in Visual Search in development

2022

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“…Beck and Hollingworth [31] used a gaze-contingent search paradigm to manipulate selection history directly and examine the competition between multiple cue-matching saccade target objects. Quiros' et al conducted A meta-analysis to explore a concurrent working memory load task that does not impair visual selective attention [41]. These works can also provide inspiration to adjust visual information.…”

Section: Design Guideline and Its Practical Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Role of Distraction in Weak Flow–Performance Link Based on VR Searching Tasks

Liu

Zhou

et al. 2021

Applied Sciences

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The weak association between flow experience and task performance (also known as weak flow-performance link) can reduce the positive effect of virtual reality (VR) applications. Distraction caused by incongruence between the primary task and interactive artifacts may be a direct factor leading to the weak link, but it has still not been tested. To empirically test this assumption and explore approaches to alleviate it, we developed the ‘VR searching paradigm’ and a prototype VR system, based on which three comparative experiments were conducted. Study 1 tested the effect of distraction and proved that high levels of distraction caused by incongruence can lead to the weak link (β =0.198, p = 0.391). Next, two common design guidelines were proposed to deal with distraction. Study 2 tested the effect of reducing conspicuous but task-irrelevant distractors (guideline 1) on flow-performance link. Study 3 tested the effect of providing visual cues (utilizing distractors to achieve task-oriented selective attention), which is guideline 2, on flow-performance link. The results of studies 2 and 3 revealed that both guidelines helped enhance the task performance without damaging flow experience, alleviating the weak link problem (β = 0.351, p = 0.031; β = 0.255, p = 0.041). Our results provide the first piece of evidence that directly proves the effect of distraction on weak flow-performance link, which helps improve the explanation of the mechanism. Moreover, this paper is the first that proves the effectiveness of two easy approaches to alleviating the weak link by way of guiding the user’s task-relevant attention.

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A concurrent working memory load task does not impair visual selective attention: A meta-analysis

Cited by 2 publications

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I can look for it! Modulation of a concurrent Visual Working Memory task in Visual Search in development

I can look for it! Modulation of a concurrent Visual Working Memory task in Visual Search in development

Exploring the Role of Distraction in Weak Flow–Performance Link Based on VR Searching Tasks

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