Serial dependence is absent at the time of perception but increases in visual working memory

Abstract

Recent experiments have shown that visual cognition blends current visual input with that from the recent past to guide ongoing decision making. This serial dependence is tuned to the similarity between consecutive stimuli and appears to exploit the temporal autocorrelation normally present in visual scenes to promote perceptual stability. While these benefits have been assumed, evidence that serial dependence directly alters stimulus perception has been limited. In the present study, we parametrically vary the delay between stimulus and response in a spatial delayed response task to explore the trajectory of serial dependence from the moment of perception into post-perceptual visual working memory. We find that behavioral responses made immediately after viewing a stimulus show evidence of adaptation, but not attractive serial dependence. Only as the memory period lengthens is a blending of past and present information apparent in behavior, reaching its maximum with a memory delay of six seconds. These results dovetail with other recent findings to bolster the interpretation that serial dependence is a phenomenon of mnemonic rather than perceptual processes. We also demonstrate that when leading mathematical models of visual working memory are adjusted to account for this trial-history effect, their fit to behavioral data is substantially improved.

Serial dependence promotes the stability of perceived emotional expression depending on face similarity

“…More generally, it is important to be cautious about interpreting negative and positive aftereffects. Positive and negative serial dependencies can simultaneously contribute to perceptual outcomes Fritsche et al, 2017;Maus, Chaney, Liberman, & Whitney, 2013;, and finding one does not rule out the presence of the other in this study or in any other (see Bliss, Sun, & D'Esposito, 2017).…”

Interplay between persistent activity and activity-silent dynamics in prefrontal cortex during working memory

“…Importantly, the reactivation strength correlated with the strength of serial biases in both monkeys and humans, as predicted by a computational model integrating activity-based and activity-silent mechanisms. Finally, single-pulse TMS applied to human prefrontal cortex prior to trial start enhanced serial biases, demonstrating the causal role of prefrontal reactivations in determining working memory behavior.1 Both attractor dynamics 24,28 and activity-silent 13,22,27 mechanisms have been proposed to carry stimulus-selective information from one trial to the next to effect serial biases.However, dependencies of serial biases with delay and ITI durations [24][25][26] , which demonstrate their relationship with memory maintenance, are largely consistent with activity-silent, and not activity-based mechanisms 13,22,27 . Here, we sought to specify the interaction of activity-based and activity-silent prefrontal cortex (PFC) mechanisms in supporting serial biases while subjects performed a spatial working memory task that engages attractor dynamics in prefrontal cortex 6 .…”

“…However, dependencies of serial biases with delay and ITI durations [24][25][26] , which demonstrate their relationship with memory maintenance, are largely consistent with activity-silent, and not activity-based mechanisms 13,22,27 . Here, we sought to specify the interaction of activity-based and activity-silent prefrontal cortex (PFC) mechanisms in supporting serial biases while subjects performed a spatial working memory task that engages attractor dynamics in prefrontal cortex 6 .…”

“…At the same time, mechanisms used for activity-silent memory may play a supportive role for persistent activity in attractor networks 13,[19][20][21] , albeit with the cost of serial biases 13,22 . Serial biases in spatial working memory tasks denote small but systematic biases in reporting the location memorized in the current trial slightly attracted to nearby locations memorized in the previous trial [23][24][25][26] . That these apparently non-adaptive serial biases reflect the direct interaction of persistent activity and activity-silent mechanisms is a theoretically appealing hypothesis that still lacks experimental support 13,22,27 .…”

Disrupted serial dependence suggests deficits in synaptic potentiation in anti-NMDAR encephalitis and schizophrenia

“…1b), revealing that traces of recently processed stimuli persist in memory circuits and are integrated with new memories. Importantly, these attractive biases emerge over the trial's memory delay, indicating a dependence on memory processes 25,26 . In conditions without memory requirements, only small repulsive biases are present, possibly generated during perceptual processing 25,26 .…”