Properties of iconic and visuospatial working memory in pigeons and humans using a location change-detection procedure

Abstract

Tests of visuospatial memory following short (<1 s) and medium (1 to 30 s) delays have revealed characteristically different patterns of behavior in humans. These data have been interpreted as evidence for different memory systems operating during short (iconic memory) and long delays (working memory). Leising et al. (2019, Behavioural Processes, 169, Article 103957 ) found evidence for both systems in pigeons and humans completing a location change-detection task using a visual mask that disrupted accuracy following a short (100 ms), but not a long (1,000 ms) delay. Another common finding is that adding to-be-remembered items should disrupt accuracy after a long, but not short, delay. Experiments 1a and 1b reported this memory system crossover effect in pigeons and people, respectively, tested on location change detection with delays of 0, 100, and 1,000 ms and displays of two to 16 items. Experiments 2a and 2b reported that the color of the items had little (pigeons) or no (humans) effect on change-detection accuracy. Pigeons tested in Experiment 3 with longer delays (2,000, 4,000, and 8,000 ms) and large set sizes demonstrated the crossover effect with most displays but did not demonstrate an abrupt drop in accuracy characteristic of iconic memory. In Experiment 4, accuracy with novel types of change (color, shape, and size) was better after a 0-ms delay and above-chance levels on color and shape trials. These data demonstrate the memory system crossover effect in both humans and pigeons and expand our knowledge of the properties of memory systems across species.