Object-based attention underlies the rehearsal of feature binding in visual working memory.

Abstract

Feature binding is a core concept in many research fields, including the study of working memory (WM). Over the past decade, it has been debated whether keeping the feature binding in visual WM consumes more visual attention than the constituent single features. Previous studies have only explored the contribution of domain-general attention or space-based attention in the binding process; no study so far has explored the role of object-based attention in retaining binding in visual WM. We hypothesized that object-based attention underlay the mechanism of rehearsing feature binding in visual WM. Therefore, during the maintenance phase of a visual WM task, we inserted a secondary mental rotation (Experiments 1-3), transparent motion (Experiment 4), or an object-based feature report task (Experiment 5) to consume the object-based attention available for binding. In line with the prediction of the object-based attention hypothesis, Experiments 1-5 revealed a more significant impairment for binding than for constituent single features. However, this selective binding impairment was not observed when inserting a space-based visual search task (Experiment 6). We conclude that object-based attention underlies the rehearsal of binding representation in visual WM.

Bindings in working memory: The role of object-based attention

“…Second, researchers directly examined the role of space-based attention in retaining bindings by manipulating the amount of available space-based attention during the maintenance phase of WM. In contrast to the prediction of the resource-demanding view, there was no larger influence on the binding performance relative to the constituent features (Delvenne, Cleeremans, & Laloyaux, 2010;Gajewski & Brockmole, 2006;Johnson et al, 2008;Shen, Huang, & Gao, 2015;Yeh, Yang, & Chiu, 2005;Zokaei, Heider, & Husain, 2014). For instance, Johnson et al (2008) inserted a secondary visual search task, which requires sequential shifts of space-based attention, during the maintenance phase of a WM task.…”

“…Gao, Bentin, & Shen, 2015;Z. Gao et al, 2010;Kiyonaga & Egner, 2013, 2014Lu et al, 2016;Mayer et al, 2007;Shen et al, 2015). Therefore, it is possible that more resource is required in retaining bindings in WM, but is limited to objectbased attention.…”

Executive control of stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention in visual working memory

“…How might we characterize the nature of the executive control mechanism that drives this active prioritization in working memory? One possibility is that executive control serves a general role in overseeing effective item rehearsal, ensuring that more specialized resources (e.g., space-based and object-oriented attention; see Shen, Huang, & Gao, 2015) are appropriately allocated. Along similar lines, executive control may support a process of active and sustained visualization (e.g., Phillips, 1983) that serves to maintain older items in the face of RI from incoming stimuli.…”

New perspectives on binding in visual working memory

“…A specific susceptibility of feature bindings to interference from subsequent distractor stimuli has also been observed (Allen, Castellà, Ueno, Hitch, & Baddeley, ; Ueno, Allen, Baddeley, Hitch, & Saito, ), but only if these distractors were similar to the sample items. And while most attention‐demanding concurrent tasks do not cause a selective binding deficit, such a deficit has been observed for concurrent tasks that strongly tax visuo‐spatial or object‐based attention, including demanding multi‐object tracking (Fougnie & Marois, ), mental rotation (Shen, Huang, & Gao, ), or visual search (Zokaei, Heider, & Husain, ; but see Johnson, Hollingworth, & Luck, for an earlier study that failed to find a selective effect of visual search on feature binding).…”