Tracking object number or information load in visual working memory: Revisiting the cognitive implication of contralateral delay activity

Gao, Zaifeng; Yin, Jun; Xu, Haokui; Shui, Rende; Shen, Mowei

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.03.013

Cited by 39 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…However, when there was enough exposure duration to enter the late voluntary phase, VWM precision variation would be observed either with a smaller set-size (Experiment 2) or with a longer exposure duration (Experiment 3). As we will discuss, these results and the new two-phase allocation model can further reconcile previous conflicting results (Gao, Yin, et al, 2011; He et al, 2015; Machizawa et al, 2012; Murray et al, 2012; Ye et al, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Similarly, in Gao, Yin, et al (2011)’s study, where participants remembered four items at 500 ms exposure duration, participant likely had enough time to consolidate all items into VWM, so they could have entered the voluntary phase (Gao, Yin, et al, 2011). Under this explanation, previous studies supporting the involuntary mental commodity allocation were likely caused by a lack of consolidation time, even though participant are able to allocate the mental commodities by voluntary control after the involuntary phase.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have found support for both the involuntary and voluntary hypotheses (Gao, Yin, Xu, Shui, & Shen, 2011; He, Zhang, Li, & Guo, 2015; Machizawa et al, 2012; Murray et al, 2012; Ye, Zhang, Liu, Li, & Liu, 2014). For example, Murray et al (2012) manipulated payoff schemes to emphasize either the quality or quantity of memory and found no voluntary resource allocation in VWM, supporting the involuntary allocation hypothesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A two-phase model of resource allocation in visual working memory.

C¹,

Hu²,

Li³

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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Two broad theories of visual working memory (VWM) storage have emerged from current research, a discrete slot-based theory and a continuous resource theory. However, neither the discrete slot-based theory or continuous resource theory clearly stipulates how the mental commodity for VWM (discrete slot or continuous resource) is allocated. Allocation may be based on the number of items via stimulus-driven factors, or it may be based on task demands via voluntary control. Previous studies have obtained conflicting results regarding the automaticity vs. controllability of such allocation. In the current study, we propose a two-phase allocation model, in which the mental commodity could be allocated only by stimulus-driven factors in the early consolidation phase. However, when there is sufficient time to complete the early phase, allocation can enter the late consolidation phase, where it can be flexibly and voluntarily controlled according to task demands. In an orientation recall task, we instructed participants to store either fewer items at high-precision or more items at low-precision. In three experiments, we systematically manipulated memory set size and exposure duration. We did not find an effect of task demands when the set size was high and exposure duration was short. However, when we either decreased the set size or increased the exposure duration, we found a trade-off between the number and precision of VWM representations. These results can be explained by a two-phase model, which can also account for previous conflicting findings in the literature.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A two-phase model of resource allocation in visual working memory.

C¹,

Hu²,

Li³

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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“…Studies that directly manipulated color resolution also found that it had no effect on the CDA (Ikkai et al, 2010; Luria et al, 2010; Ye et al, 2014) and studies that manipulated orientation resolution reported mixed results (Gao et al, 2011a,b; Machizawa et al, 2012). Note that increasing the number of relevant features within an object did not affect the CDA (Luria and Vogel, 2011a; Woodman and Vogel, 2008).…”

Section: Using the Cda To Study Vwmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, several studies investigated how these cues affect working memory representations by measuring the CDA. In the case of similarity, it was found that identical colors were integrated in VWM such that the CDA amplitude for 4 identical colors was comparable to the amplitude of just one color, and both were lower than a condition with four different colors (Gao et al, 2011a,b; Peterson et al, 2015). Recent research that studied the common fate grouping cue, revealed a more complicated picture.…”

Section: Using the Cda To Study Vwmmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contralateral delay activity as a neural measure of visual working memory

Luria

Balaban

Awh

et al. 2016

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

263

245

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The contralateral delay activity (CDA) is a negative slow wave sensitive to the number of objects maintained in visual working memory (VWM). In recent years, a growing number of labs started to use the CDA in order to investigate VWM, leading to many fascinating discoveries. Here, we discuss the recent developments and contribution of the CDA in various research fields. Importantly, we report two meta-analyses that unequivocally validate the relationship between the set-size increase in the CDA amplitude and the individual VWM capacity, and between the CDA and filtering efficiency. We further discuss how the CDA was used to study the role of VWM in visual search, multiple object tracking, grouping, binding, and whether VWM capacity allocation is determined by the items’ resolution or instead by the number of objects regardless of their complexity. In addition, we report how the CDA has been used to characterize specific VWM deficits in special populations.

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