Working Memory Content Is Distorted by Its Use in Perceptual Comparisons

Fukuda, Keisuke; Pereira, April; Saito, Joseph M.; Tang, Ty Y.; Tsubomi, Hiroyuki; Bae, Gi-Yeul

doi:10.1177/09567976211055375

Cited by 18 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“… Cicchini, Mikellidou, & Burr, 2018 ) and may reflect the representational integration process to sharpen the precision of the memory representation (e.g. Fukuda, Pereira, Saito, Tang, Tsubomi & Bae, 2022 ). However, given the structure of our paradigm, we are unable to adjudicate whether the influence was from the memorandum or the congruent discriminandum.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible top-down control in the interaction between working memory and perception

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Successful goal-directed behavior often requires continuous sensory processing while simultaneously maintaining task-related information in working memory (WM). Although WM and perception are known to interact, little is known about how their interactions are controlled. Here, we tested the hypothesis that WM perception interactions engage two distinct modes of control – proactive and reactive – in a manner similar to classic conflict-adaptation tasks (e.g. Stroop, flanker, and Simon). Participants performed a delayed recall-of-orientation WM task, plus a standalone visual discrimination-of-orientation task the occurred during the delay period, and with the congruity in orientation between the tasks manipulated. Proactive control was seen in the sensitivity of task performance to the previous trial's congruity (i.e. a Gratton effect). Reactive control was observed in a repulsive serial-dependence produced by incongruent discriminanda. Quantitatively, these effects were explained by parameters from a reinforcement learning-based model that tracks trial-to-trial fluctuations in control demand: reactive control by a phasic control prediction error (control PE), and proactive control by a tonic level of predicted conflict updated each trial by the control PE. Thus, WM-perception interactions may be controlled by the same mechanisms that govern conflict in other domains of cognition, such as response selection.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible top-down control in the interaction between working memory and perception

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It has been a lingering question how to separate perceptual interference from other memory errors in participants’ memory reports. Our development of the signal intrusion model, together with some recent modeling work (Dubé et al, 2014; Fukuda et al, 2022; Rademaker et al, 2015; Sun et al, 2017) have provided tentative solutions for this question, with different assumptions of mechanisms underlying the perceptual interference effect. Specifically, research that used revised mixture models (Rademaker et al, 2015; Sun et al, 2017) to separate memory biases, swap errors, and guesses implicitly assumed that perceptual distractions have multiple separable effects on memory reports.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, research that used revised mixture models (Rademaker et al, 2015;Sun et al, 2017) to separate memory biases, swap errors, and guesses implicitly assumed that perceptual distractions have multiple separable effects on memory reports. In contrast, research that used signal integration or averaging models (Dubé et al, 2014;Fukuda et al, 2022) such as our signal intrusion model assumed that the perceptual interference effect is driven by a unified mechanism of intermingling the target signal with the distractor signal during memory reports. Based on this assumption, swap errors and biases are simply caused by differences in the distractor signal strength.…”

Section: Prioritization Effect On Perceptual Interference 13mentioning

confidence: 98%

Prioritization sharpens working memories but does not protect them from distraction.

Zhang¹,

Lewis-Peacock²

2023

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Perceptual distraction distorts visual working memory representations. Previous research has shown that memory responses are systematically biased toward visual distractors that are similar to the memoranda. However, it remains unclear whether the prioritization of one working memory representation over another reduces the impact of perceptual distractors. In five behavioral experiments, we used different forms of retrospective cues (indicating the likelihood of testing each item and/or the reward for responding correctly to each item) to manipulate the prioritization of items in working memory before visual distraction. We examined the effects of distraction with nonparametric analyses and a novel distractor intrusion model. We found that memory responses were more precise (lower absolute response errors and stronger memory signals) for items that were prioritized. However, these prioritized items were not immune to distraction, and their memory responses were biased toward the visual distractors to the same degree as were unprioritized items. Our findings demonstrate that the benefits associated with prioritization in working memory do not include protection from distraction biases.

show abstract

“…However, recent findings have suggested that performing perceptual comparisons can invoke the updating of a VWM, even if doing so is not desired. Specifically, when asked to evaluate the perceptual similarity between a VWM item and a perceptual probe drawn from the same feature space, subsequent reports of the VWM item were systematically biased towards the perceptual probe, especially when the probe was perceived as similar (Fukuda et al, 2022).…”

Section: Judgments During Perceptual Comparisons Predict Distinct For...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we hypothesized that these distinct forms of memory updating may depend on the judgments made during perceptual comparisons. Specifically, we predicted that perceiving similarity between a VWM and novel input would induce integration (Fukuda et al, 2022;, but that perceiving sameness would induce memory replacement. While perceived similarity and dissimilarity reflect separate discretized states along a continuum of representational overlap, they both imply the detection of differences between one's memory representation and their perceptual representation of the novel input.…”

Section: Judgments During Perceptual Comparisons Predict Distinct For...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Judgments during perceptual comparisons predict distinct forms of memory updating

Saito¹,

Bae²,

Fukuda³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Comparing a visual memory with new visual stimuli can bias memory content, especially when the new stimuli are perceived as similar. Perceptual comparisons of this kind may play a mechanistic role in memory updating and can explain how memories can become erroneous in daily life. To test this possibility, we investigated whether comparisons can produce other types of memory distortion beyond memory bias that are commonly implicated in erroneous memories (e.g., memory misattribution). We hypothesized that the type of memory distortion induced during a comparison depends on the perceived overlap between the memory and incoming stimulus—when the input is perceived as similar, it biases memory content; when perceived as the same, it replaces memory content. Participants completed a delayed-estimation task in which they compared their memories of color (Exp.1) and shape stimuli (Exp.2) to probe stimuli before reporting memory content. We found systematic errors in participants’ memory reports following perceived similarity and sameness that were towards the probes and larger following perceived sameness. Simulations confirmed that these errors were not explained by noisy encoding processes that occurred before comparisons. Instead, computational modeling suggested that these errors were likely explained by probabilistic replacement of the memory by the probe following perceived sameness and integration between the memory and the probe following perceived similarity. Together, these findings suggest that perceptual comparisons can prompt distinct forms of memory updating that have been described previously and may explain how memories become erroneous during their use in everyday behavior.

show abstract

Working Memory Content Is Distorted by Its Use in Perceptual Comparisons

Cited by 18 publications

References 37 publications

Flexible top-down control in the interaction between working memory and perception

Flexible top-down control in the interaction between working memory and perception

Prioritization sharpens working memories but does not protect them from distraction.

Judgments during perceptual comparisons predict distinct forms of memory updating

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About