Memory-driven capture occurs for individual features of an object

Sasin, Edyta; Fougnie, Daryl

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76431-5

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 76 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…On the other hand, information voluntarily activated in WM can guide external selection (Gazzaley & Nobre, 2012 ; Wolfe, 2021 ; Wolfe & Horowitz, 2004 ). These findings are consistent with the idea that attention and memory are intertwined processes, supporting each other in a reciprocal fashion (Olivers et al, 2011 ; Sasin & Fougnie, 2020 ).…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

“…Thus, an exploration of whether WM capture is improved by training can help to constrain theoretical frameworks by better understanding the rigidness or flexibility of attentional capture. Moreover, previous studies showed that allowing participants to drop information from memory results in reduced capture if that information is used as search distractors (Sasin & Fougnie, 2020 ; Sasin et al, 2017 ). Importantly, the instruction to remove an item from memory may reduce but not eliminate capture (Sasin et al, 2017 ; but see Olivers et al, 2006 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Training modulates memory-driven capture

Sasin

Sense

Nieuwenstein

et al. 2022

Atten Percept Psychophys

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Attention is captured by information matching the contents of working memory. Though many factors modulate the amount of capture, there is surprising resistance to cognitive control. Capture occurs even when participants are instructed either that an item would never be a target or to drop that item from memory. Does the persistence of capture under these conditions reflect a rigidity in capture, or can properly motivated participants learn to completely suppress distractors and/or completely drop items from memory? Surprisingly, no studies have looked at the influence of extensive training of involuntary capture from working memory items. Here, we addressed whether training leads to a reduction or even elimination of memory-driven capture. After memorizing a single object, participants were cued to remember or to forget this object. Subsequently, they were asked to execute a search task. To measure capture, we compared search performances in displays that did and did not contain a distractor matching the earlier memorized object. Participants completed multiple experimental sessions over four days. The results showed that attentional capture by to-be-remembered distractors was reduced, but not eliminated in subsequent sessions compared with the first session. Training did not impact capture by to-be-forgotten objects. The results suggest observable, but limited, cognitive control over memory-driven capture.

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 90%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Training modulates memory-driven capture

Sasin

Sense

Nieuwenstein

et al. 2022

Atten Percept Psychophys

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, if selecting a visual feature from an object stored in working memory also involved motor planning (or the selection of an associated motor code), we should observe stronger suppression of oscillatory mu and beta power with an estimated source in the premotor cortex contralateral (but not ipsilateral) to the to-be-executed response for the selective cue conditions relative to the neutral condition. This effect should occur together with a stronger suppression of alpha power over posterior visual areas following the selective cues that was already observed in the context of the retrospective selection of visual object features (see Hajonides et al, 2020;Niklaus et al, 2017;Sasin & Fougnie, 2020;Ye et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 67%

Preparing for the unknown: How working memory provides a link between perception and anticipated action

Rösner

Sabo

Klatt

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What mechanisms underlie the transfer of a working memory representation into a higher-level code for guiding future actions? Electrophysiological correlates of attentional selection and motor preparation processes within working memory were investigated in two retrospective cuing tasks. In the first experiment, participants stored the orientation and location of a grating. Subsequent feature cues (selective vs. neutral) indicated which feature would be the target for later report. The oscillatory response in the mu and beta frequency range with an estimated source in the sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the responding hand was used as correlate of motor preparation. Mu/beta suppression was stronger following the selective feature cues compared to the neutral cue, demonstrating that purely feature-based selection is sufficient to form a prospective motor plan. In the second experiment, another retrospective cue was included to study whether knowledge of the task at hand is necessary to initiate motor preparation. Following the feature cue, participants were cued to either compare the stored feature(s) to a probe stimulus (recognition task) or to adjust the memory probe to match the target feature (continuous report task). An analogous suppression in the mu frequency range was observed following a selective feature cue, even though the task at hand was not specified yet. Further, a subsequent selective task cue again elicited a mu/beta suppression, which was stronger after a continuous report task cue. This indicates that working memory is able to flexibly store different types of information in higher-level mental codes to provide optimal prerequisites for all required action possibilities.

show abstract

“…For objects with more than a single feature, the precision of individual features may improve through dimension-specific retro-cueing (Heuer & Schubö, 2017; Niklaus et al, 2017; Park et al, 2017; Ye et al, 2016). As a consequence, memory-based attentional capture may increase for the cued feature (Sasin & Fougnie, 2020). Conversely, it may also be possible to decrease the priority of representations in memory according to the relevance for the experimental task.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attentional guidance by irrelevant features depends on their successful encoding into working memory.

Kerzel¹,

Cong²

2021

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Attentional selection is guided by templates of the target in working memory. It has been proposed that attentional templates integrate target features (e.g., purple chair) to guide attention in an object-based fashion. Alternatively, it may be that attentional templates are established for each target feature individually (e.g., purple and chair). To provide support for the latter account, we used a task where participants memorized a target shape while ignoring an irrelevant color. In the combined condition, the shape was shown in the irrelevant color. In the separate condition, the irrelevant color was spatially separate from the shape. After the initial presentation and a blank retention interval, participants were asked to make a saccade to the initially viewed shape, which was shown together with a distractor. Attentional guidance by the irrelevant color was strongly reduced with separate presentation, suggesting that guidance is object-based. However, it may be that irrelevant color was less reliably encoded with separate presentation. Therefore, we asked participants to store the irrelevant color for later recall. With the additional memory task, guidance by irrelevant color occurred regardless of whether it was presented as part of an object or separately. Thus, effects of irrelevant features are easier to observe with combined presentation because all features of an object are automatically encoded into working memory, where they form integrated feature templates. Nonetheless, guidance by separate features is possible, but the poor encoding of irrelevant features with separate presentation makes it more difficult to observe. Public Significance StatementThis study shows that any irrelevant feature stored in visual working memory can interfere with attentional selection of the target object. Interference is not limited to situations where the irrelevant feature is part of the target object.

show abstract

Memory-driven capture occurs for individual features of an object

Cited by 14 publications

References 76 publications

Training modulates memory-driven capture

Training modulates memory-driven capture

Preparing for the unknown: How working memory provides a link between perception and anticipated action

Attentional guidance by irrelevant features depends on their successful encoding into working memory.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About