Reorganization of spatial configurations in visual working memory: A matter of set size?

Abstract

Humans process single objects in relation to other simultaneously maintained objects in visual working memory. This interdependence is called spatial configuration. Humans are able to reorganize global spatial configurations into relevant partial configurations. We conducted three experiments investigating the process underlying reorganization by manipulating memory set size and the presence of configurations at retrieval. Participants performed a location change detection task for a single object probed at retrieval. At the beginning of each trial, participants memorized the locations of all objects (set size: 4, 8, 12, or 16). During maintenance, a valid retro cue highlighted the side containing the object probed at retrieval, thus enabling participants to reorganize the memorized global spatial configuration to the partial cued configuration. At retrieval, the object probed was shown together with either all objects (complete configuration; Experiment 1a), the cued objects only (congruent configuration; all Experiments), the non-cued objects only (incongruent configuration, all Experiments) or alone (no configuration; Experiment 1b). We observed reorganization of spatial configurations as indicated by a superior location change detection performance with a congruent partial configuration than an incongruent partial configuration across all three experiments. We also observed an overall decrease in accuracy with increasing set size. Most importantly, however, we did not find evidence for a reliable impairment of reorganization with increasing set size. We discuss these findings with regard to the memory representation underlying spatial configurations.

(Re-)organisation of spatial configurations in visual working memory: The fate of objects rendered relevant or irrelevant by selective attention

“…We have added to this research by showing a stable memory advantage based on global spatial configurations across all our three experiments. More recent research has provided initial evidence that a reorganisation of inter-object relations in VWM can occur for both locations and features (Bae & Luck, 2017; Timm & Papenmeier, 2019a, 2019b). Experiment 1 extends those findings by showing that reorganisation is indeed triggered by the retro cue and not by an artefact of other influence factors such as distance.…”

“…The importance of inter-object relations for representations in visual working memory (VWM) was demonstrated by a great deal of research in the past years, both for locations in the form of spatial configurations (Jiang et al, 2000; Papenmeier et al, 2012) or object features such as colour or shape (Blalock & Clegg, 2010; Boduroglu & Shah, 2009, 2014; Brady & Alvarez, 2011; Hollingworth, 2007; Lin & He, 2012; Papenmeier & Huff, 2014; Phillips, 1974; Wang et al, 2016, 2017; Woodman et al, 2012). Only recently, however, has research turned to investigating inter-object relations not only as a property of storage but also whether those relations can be flexibly adjusted during maintenance in VWM based on informative retro cues rendering a subset of encoded information as being relevant (Bae & Luck, 2017; Souza & Oberauer, 2016; Timm & Papenmeier, 2019a, 2019b). The initial results suggest that retro cues affect encoded inter-object relations, both by the reorganisations of spatial configurations (Timm & Papenmeier, 2019a, 2019b) and by influencing the strength of interference between object features (Bae & Luck, 2017).…”

“…Only recently, however, has research turned to investigating inter-object relations not only as a property of storage but also whether those relations can be flexibly adjusted during maintenance in VWM based on informative retro cues rendering a subset of encoded information as being relevant (Bae & Luck, 2017; Souza & Oberauer, 2016; Timm & Papenmeier, 2019a, 2019b). The initial results suggest that retro cues affect encoded inter-object relations, both by the reorganisations of spatial configurations (Timm & Papenmeier, 2019a, 2019b) and by influencing the strength of interference between object features (Bae & Luck, 2017). Reorganisation refers to the process of restructuring a global spatial configuration into a partial spatial configuration based on a retro cue.…”

“…Whereas flexibility is a core property of VWM (Oberauer, 2009), previous research on the role of inter-object relations studied these relations as a property of storage of VWM rather than investigating their flexibility within existing representations of VWM. Recently, we provided some initial evidence that a reorganisation of spatial configurations based on retro cues during maintenance might be possible (Timm & Papenmeier, 2019a, 2019b). Extending the paradigm of Jiang and colleagues (2000), we used a location change detection task and introduced retro cues during maintenance, following the rationale that informative retro cues cause a shift of attention.…”

“…More specifically, one might argue that the relevant partial configuration consisted of objects being closer to the probed object than the irrelevant ones. Because we presented an informative cue in each and every trial, the observed configuration effect might have also been triggered by distance rather than the cue (Timm & Papenmeier, 2019b). Thus, we found it important to investigate whether informative retro cues do indeed trigger a reorganisation of spatial configurations in VWM, as this adds to the understanding of the flexibility of inter-object relations in VWM.…”