1
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Nozari N, Martin RC. Is working memory domain-general or domain-specific? Trends Cogn Sci 2024:S1364-6613(24)00164-5. [PMID: 39019705 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024]
Abstract
Given the fundamental role of working memory (WM) in all domains of cognition, a central question has been whether WM is domain-general. However, the term 'domain-general' has been used in different, and sometimes misleading, ways. By reviewing recent evidence and biologically plausible models of WM, we show that the level of domain-generality varies substantially between three facets of WM: in terms of computations, WM is largely domain-general. In terms of neural correlates, it contains both domain-general and domain-specific elements. Finally, in terms of application, it is mostly domain-specific. This variance encourages a shift of focus towards uncovering domain-general computational principles and away from domain-general approaches to the analysis of individual differences and WM training, favoring newer perspectives, such as training-as-skill-learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nazbanou Nozari
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
| | - Randi C Martin
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
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2
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Abstract
Probing memory of a complex visual image within a few hundred milliseconds after its disappearance reveals significantly greater fidelity of recall than if the probe is delayed by as little as a second. Classically interpreted, the former taps into a detailed but rapidly decaying visual sensory or 'iconic' memory (IM), while the latter relies on capacity-limited but comparatively stable visual working memory (VWM). While iconic decay and VWM capacity have been extensively studied independently, currently no single framework quantitatively accounts for the dynamics of memory fidelity over these time scales. Here, we extend a stationary neural population model of VWM with a temporal dimension, incorporating rapid sensory-driven accumulation of activity encoding each visual feature in memory, and a slower accumulation of internal error that causes memorized features to randomly drift over time. Instead of facilitating read-out from an independent sensory store, an early cue benefits recall by lifting the effective limit on VWM signal strength imposed when multiple items compete for representation, allowing memory for the cued item to be supplemented with information from the decaying sensory trace. Empirical measurements of human recall dynamics validate these predictions while excluding alternative model architectures. A key conclusion is that differences in capacity classically thought to distinguish IM and VWM are in fact contingent upon a single resource-limited WM store.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Tomić
- Department of Psychology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of ZagrebZagrebCroatia
| | - Paul M Bays
- Department of Psychology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
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3
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Yin S, Chen A. The self-bias in working memory: the favorability of self-referential stimuli in resource allocation. Memory 2024; 32:517-527. [PMID: 38621145 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2024.2341709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Self-representations guide and shape our thoughts and behaviour. People usually exhibit inherent biases in perception, attention, and memory to favour the information associated with themselves over that associated with others. The present study explored the phenomenon of self-bias in working memory (WM), specifically how self-referential processing impacts WM precision. Four precision-based experiments were conducted to assess the recall precision of self-referential items and items associated with other social agents. The findings revealed a robust self-prioritisation effect in WM precision, wherein self-referential items were recalled with greater precision than items associated with other social agents. Additionally, increased precision for self-referential items did not decrease the precision for simultaneously remembered items. This effect was limited by the total amount of WM resources and not influenced by a perceptual distractor. The inherent self-bias in WM can serve as a proxy to access the role self-representation in goal-oriented cognitive processing, providing a means of exploring the interaction between self-reference and high-level cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shouhang Yin
- School of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Southwest University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China
| | - Antao Chen
- School of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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4
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Tomić I, Bays PM. Perceptual similarity judgments do not predict the distribution of errors in working memory. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2024; 50:535-549. [PMID: 36442045 PMCID: PMC7615806 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Population coding models provide a quantitative account of visual working memory (VWM) retrieval errors with a plausible link to the response characteristics of sensory neurons. Recent work has provided an important new perspective linking population coding to variables of signal detection, including d-prime, and put forward a new hypothesis: that the distribution of recall errors on, for example, a color wheel, is a consequence of the psychological similarity between points in that stimulus space, such that the exponential-like psychophysical distance scaling function can fulfil the role of population tuning and obviate the need to fit a tuning width parameter to recall data. Using four different visual feature spaces, we measured psychophysical similarity and memory errors in the same participants. Our results revealed strong evidence for a common source of variability affecting similarity judgments and recall estimates but did not support any consistent relationship between psychophysical similarity functions and VWM errors. At the group level, the responsiveness functions obtained from the psychophysical similarity task diverged strongly from those that provided the best fit to working memory errors. At the individual level, we found convincing evidence against an association between observed and best-fitting similarity functions. Finally, our results show that the newly proposed exponential-like responsiveness function has in general no advantage over the canonical von Mises (circular normal) function assumed by previous population coding models. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Tomić
- University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Cambridge, UK
- University of Zagreb, Department of Psychology, Zagreb, CRO
| | - Paul M. Bays
- University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Cambridge, UK
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5
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Brady TF, Störmer VS. Comparing memory capacity across stimuli requires maximally dissimilar foils: Using deep convolutional neural networks to understand visual working memory capacity for real-world objects. Mem Cognit 2024; 52:595-609. [PMID: 37973770 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01485-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
The capacity of visual working and visual long-term memory plays a critical role in theories of cognitive architecture and the relationship between memory and other cognitive systems. Here, we argue that before asking the question of how capacity varies across different stimuli or what the upper bound of capacity is for a given memory system, it is necessary to establish a methodology that allows a fair comparison between distinct stimulus sets and conditions. One of the most important factors determining performance in a memory task is target/foil dissimilarity. We argue that only by maximizing the dissimilarity of the target and foil in each stimulus set can we provide a fair basis for memory comparisons between stimuli. In the current work we focus on a way to pick such foils objectively for complex, meaningful real-world objects by using deep convolutional neural networks, and we validate this using both memory tests and similarity metrics. Using this method, we then provide evidence that there is a greater capacity for real-world objects relative to simple colors in visual working memory; critically, we also show that this difference can be reduced or eliminated when non-comparable foils are used, potentially explaining why previous work has not always found such a difference. Our study thus demonstrates that working memory capacity depends on the type of information that is remembered and that assessing capacity depends critically on foil dissimilarity, especially when comparing memory performance and other cognitive systems across different stimulus sets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy F Brady
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
| | - Viola S Störmer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
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6
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Azarov D, Grigorev D, Utochkin I. A signal-detection account of item-based and ensemble-based visual change detection: A reply to Harrison, McMaster, and Bays. J Vis 2024; 24:10. [PMID: 38407901 PMCID: PMC10902873 DOI: 10.1167/jov.24.2.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Growing empirical evidence shows that ensemble information (e.g., the average feature or feature variance of a set of objects) affects visual working memory for individual items. Recently, Harrison, McMaster, and Bays (2021) used a change detection task to test whether observers explicitly rely on ensemble representations to improve their memory for individual objects. They found that sensitivity to simultaneous changes in all memorized items (which also globally changed set summary statistics) rarely exceeded a level predicted by the so-called optimal summation model within the signal-detection framework. This model implies simple integration of evidence for change from all individual items and no additional evidence coming from ensemble. Here, we argue that performance at the level of optimal summation does not rule out the use of ensemble information. First, in two experiments, we show that, even if evidence from only one item is available at test, the statistics of the whole memory set affect performance. Second, we argue that optimal summation itself can be conceptually interpreted as one of the strategies of holistic, ensemble-based decision. We also redefine the reference level for the item-based strategy as the so-called "minimum rule," which predicts performance far below the optimum. We found that that both our and Harrison et al. (2021)'s observers consistently outperformed this level. We conclude that observers can rely on ensemble information when performing visual change detection. Overall, our work clarifies and refines the use of signal-detection analysis in measuring and modeling working memory.
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7
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Jabar SB, Sreenivasan KK, Lentzou S, Kanabar A, Brady TF, Fougnie D. Probabilistic and rich individual working memories revealed by a betting game. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20912. [PMID: 38017283 PMCID: PMC10684519 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48242-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
When asked to remember a color, do people remember a point estimate (e.g., a particular shade of red), a point estimate plus an uncertainty estimate, or are memory representations rich probabilistic distributions over feature space? We asked participants to report the color of a circle held in working memory. Rather than collecting a single report per trial, we had participants place multiple bets to create trialwise uncertainty distributions. Bet dispersion correlated with performance, indicating that internal uncertainty guided bet placement. While the first bet was on average the most precisely placed, the later bets systematically shifted the distribution closer to the target, resulting in asymmetrical distributions about the first bet. This resulted in memory performance improvements when averaging across bets, and overall suggests that memory representations contain more information than can be conveyed by a single response. The later bets contained target information even when the first response would generally be classified as a guess or report of an incorrect item, suggesting that such failures are not all-or-none. This paradigm provides multiple pieces of evidence that memory representations are rich and probabilistic. Crucially, standard discrete response paradigms underestimate the amount of information in memory representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syaheed B Jabar
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Kartik K Sreenivasan
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Program in Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Center for Brain & Health, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Stergiani Lentzou
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Anish Kanabar
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA
| | - Timothy F Brady
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA
| | - Daryl Fougnie
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Center for Brain & Health, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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8
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Fennell A, Ratcliff R. A spatially continuous diffusion model of visual working memory. Cogn Psychol 2023; 145:101595. [PMID: 37659278 PMCID: PMC10546276 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2023.101595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023]
Abstract
We present results from five visual working memory (VWM) experiments in which participants were briefly shown between 2 and 6 colored squares. They were then cued to recall the color of one of the squares and they responded by choosing the color on a continuous color wheel. The experiments provided response proportions and response time (RT) measures as a function of angle for the choices. Current VWM models for this task include discrete models that assume an item is either within working memory or not and resource models that assume that memory strength varies as a function of the number of items. Because these models do not include processes that allow them to account for RT data, we implemented them within the spatially continuous diffusion model (SCDM, Ratcliff, 2018) and use the experimental data to evaluate these combined models. In the SCDM, evidence retrieved from memory is represented as a spatially continuous normal distribution and this drives the decision process until a criterion (represented as a 1-D line) is reached, which produces a decision. Noise in the accumulation process is represented by continuous Gaussian process noise over spatial position. The models that fit best from the discrete and resource-based classes converged on a common model that had a guessing component and that allowed the height of the normal memory-strength distribution to vary with number of items. The guessing component was implemented as a regular decision process driven by a flat evidence distribution, a zero-drift process. The combination of choice and RT data allows models that were not identifiable based on choice data alone to be discriminated.
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Williams JR, Robinson MM, Brady TF. There Is no Theory-Free Measure of "Swaps" in Visual Working Memory Experiments. COMPUTATIONAL BRAIN & BEHAVIOR 2023; 6:159-171. [PMID: 37332486 PMCID: PMC10270377 DOI: 10.1007/s42113-022-00150-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Visual working memory is highly limited, and its capacity is tied to many indices of cognitive function. For this reason, there is much interest in understanding its architecture and the sources of its limited capacity. As part of this research effort, researchers often attempt to decompose visual working memory errors into different kinds of errors, with different origins. One of the most common kinds of memory error is referred to as a "swap," where people report a value that closely resembles an item that was not probed (e.g., an incorrect, non-target item). This is typically assumed to reflect confusions, like location binding errors, which result in the wrong item being reported. Capturing swap rates reliably and validly is of great importance because it permits researchers to accurately decompose different sources of memory errors and elucidate the processes that give rise to them. Here, we ask whether different visual working memory models yield robust and consistent estimates of swap rates. This is a major gap in the literature because in both empirical and modeling work, researchers measure swaps without motivating their choice of swap model. Therefore, we use extensive parameter recovery simulations with three mainstream swap models to demonstrate how the choice of measurement model can result in very large differences in estimated swap rates. We find that these choices can have major implications for how swap rates are estimated to change across conditions. In particular, each of the three models we consider can lead to differential quantitative and qualitative interpretations of the data. Our work serves as a cautionary note to researchers as well as a guide for model-based measurement of visual working memory processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamal R. Williams
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. #0109, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Maria M. Robinson
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. #0109, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Timothy F. Brady
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. #0109, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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10
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Black J, Nozari N. Precision of phonological errors in aphasia supports resource models of phonological working memory in language production. Cogn Neuropsychol 2023; 40:1-24. [PMID: 37127940 PMCID: PMC10336978 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2023.2206012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is critical for many cognitive functions including language production. A key feature of WM is its capacity limitation. Two models have been proposed to account for such capacity limitation: slot models and resource models. In recent years, resource models have found support in both visual and auditory perception, but do they also extend to production? We investigate this by analyzing sublexical errors from four individuals with aphasia. Using tools from computational linguistics, we first define the concept of "precision" of sublexical errors. We then demonstrate that such precision decreases with increased working memory load, i.e., word length, as predicted by resource models. Finally, we rule out alternative accounts of this effect, such as articulatory simplification. These data provide the first evidence for the applicability of the resource model to production and further point to the generalizability of this account as a model of resource division in WM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenah Black
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Nazbanou Nozari
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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11
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Awareness of the relative quality of spatial working memory representations. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023:10.3758/s13414-022-02646-5. [PMID: 36720782 PMCID: PMC10371925 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02646-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is the ability to maintain and manipulate information no longer accessible in the environment. The brain maintains WM representations over delay periods in noisy population-level activation patterns, resulting in variability in WM representations across items and trials. It is established that participants can introspect aspects of the quality of WM representations, and that they can accurately compare which of several WM representations of stimulus features like orientation or color is better on each trial. However, whether this ability to evaluate and compare the quality of multiple WM representations extends to spatial WM tasks remains unknown. Here, we employed a memory-guided saccade task to test recall errors for remembered spatial locations when participants were allowed to choose the most precise representation to report. Participants remembered either one or two spatial locations over a delay and reported one item's location with a saccade. On trials with two spatial locations, participants reported either the spatial location of a randomly cued item, or the location of the stimulus they remembered best. We found a significant improvement in recall error and increase in response time (RT) when participants reported their best-remembered item compared with trials in which they were randomly cued. These results demonstrate that participants can accurately introspect the relative quality of neural WM representations for spatial position, consistent with previous observations for other stimulus features, and support a model of WM coding involving noisy representations across items and trials.
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12
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Wu Z, Buckley MJ. Prefrontal and Medial Temporal Lobe Cortical Contributions to Visual Short-Term Memory. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 35:27-43. [PMID: 36306260 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
A number of recent studies have indicated that the medial temporal lobe (MTL) plays a critical role in working memory (WM) and perception, but these results have been highly controversial given the traditional association of MTL with long-term memory. We review the research and highlight important factors that need to be considered in determining the role of MTL in WM including set-size of used stimuli and feature complexity and/or feature conjunctions/bindings embedded in those stimuli. These factors relate to hierarchical and, accordingly, domain-specific theories of functional organization within the temporal lobe. In addition, one must consider process-specific theories too, because two key processes commonly understood to contribute recognition memory, namely, recollection and familiarity, also have robust support from neurophysiological and neuroimaging research as to their functional dissociations within MTL. PFC has long been heavily implicated in WM; however, relatively less is known about how the PFC contributes to recollection and familiarity, although dynamic prefrontal coding models in WM may help to explain their neural mechanisms. The MTL and PFC are heavily interconnected and do not operate independently in underlying WM. We propose that investigation of the interactions between these two regions in WM, particularly their coordinated neural activities, and the modeling of such interactions, will be crucial for the advancing understanding of the neural mechanisms of WM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhemeng Wu
- University of Oxford, United Kingdom.,University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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13
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Holcomb AN, Tagliabue CF, Mazza V. Aging and feature binding in visual working memory. Front Psychol 2022; 13:977565. [PMID: 36275238 PMCID: PMC9583905 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.977565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Older adults have reduced performance in visual working memory tasks in comparison to young adults, but the precipitators of the age-related impairment are not fully understood. The most common interpretation of this difference is that older adults are incapable of maintaining the same amount of object representations as young adults over short intervals (in line with the fixed-slot model of working memory). However, it has remained largely unexplored whether the age-related decline is only due to the number of representations that older individuals can retain in visual working memory, or whether the content of the representation(s) may have an effect as well (in line with the flexible-resource model of working memory). Feature binding studies represent an interesting research line to examine the content of older adults' representations. In this mini-review, we present the main results across feature binding studies in aging, as well as highlight the importance of manipulating both the representation content and number to have a stress test of the various models of working memory and their contribution to aging. Overall, feature binding studies, together with the simultaneous manipulation of set size, will allow us to better understand the nature of the age-related decline of visual working memory.
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14
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Chuderski A. Fluid Intelligence Emerges from Representing Relations. J Intell 2022; 10:jintelligence10030051. [PMID: 35997406 PMCID: PMC9396997 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence10030051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Based on recent findings in cognitive neuroscience and psychology as well as computational models of working memory and reasoning, I argue that fluid intelligence (fluid reasoning) can amount to representing in the mind the key relation(s) for the task at hand. Effective representation of relations allows for enormous flexibility of thinking but depends on the validity and robustness of the dynamic patterns of argument–object (role–filler) bindings, which encode relations in the brain. Such a reconceptualization of the fluid intelligence construct allows for the simplification and purification of its models, tests, and potential brain mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Chuderski
- Cognitive Science Department, Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian Univeristy in Krakow, PL-31007 Kraków, Poland
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15
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Almeida VN, Radanovic M. Semantic processing and neurobiology in Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Neuropsychologia 2022; 174:108337. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 07/17/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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16
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Kuuramo C, Saarinen J, Kurki I. Forgetting in visual working memory: Internal noise explains decay of feature representations. J Vis 2022; 22:8. [PMID: 35838485 PMCID: PMC9296891 DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.8.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The precision of visual working memory (VWM) representations decreases as time passes. It is often assumed that VWM decay is random and caused by internal noise accumulation. However, forgetting in VWM could occur systematically, such that some features deteriorate more rapidly than others. There exist only a few studies testing these two models of forgetting, with conflicting results. Here, decay of features in VWM was thoroughly tested using signal detection theory methods: psychophysical classification images, internal noise estimation, and receiver operant characteristic (ROC). A modified same–different memory task was employed with two retention times (500 and 4000 ms). Experiment 1 investigated VWM decay using a compound grating memory task, and Experiment 2 tested shape memory using radial frequency patterns. Memory performance dropped some 15% with increasing retention time in both experiments. Interestingly, classification images showed virtually indistinguishable weighting of stimulus features at both retention times, suggesting that VWM decay is not feature specific. Instead, we found a 77% increase in stimulus-independent internal noise at the longer retention time. Finally, the slope of the ROC curve plotted as z-scores was shallower at the longer retention time, indicating that the amount of stimulus-independent internal noise increased. Together these findings provide strong support for the idea that VWM decay does not result from a systematic loss of some stimulus features but instead is caused by uniformly increasing random internal noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Crista Kuuramo
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,
| | - Jussi Saarinen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,
| | - Ilmari Kurki
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,
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17
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Li AY, Fukuda K, Barense MD. Independent features form integrated objects: Using a novel shape-color “conjunction task” to reconstruct memory resolution for multiple object features simultaneously. Cognition 2022; 223:105024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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18
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Categorical bias as a crucial parameter in visual working memory: the effect of memory load and retention interval. Cortex 2022; 154:311-321. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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19
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Lim SJ, Thiel C, Sehm B, Deserno L, Lepsien J, Obleser J. Distributed networks for auditory memory differentially contribute to recall precision. Neuroimage 2022; 256:119227. [PMID: 35452804 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Re-directing attention to objects in working memory can enhance their representational fidelity. However, how this attentional enhancement of memory representations is implemented across distinct, sensory and cognitive-control brain network is unspecified. The present fMRI experiment leverages psychophysical modelling and multivariate auditory-pattern decoding as behavioral and neural proxies of mnemonic fidelity. Listeners performed an auditory syllable pitch-discrimination task and received retro-active cues to selectively attend to a to-be-probed syllable in memory. Accompanied by increased neural activation in fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks, valid retro-cues yielded faster and more perceptually sensitive responses in recalling acoustic detail of memorized syllables. Information about the cued auditory object was decodable from hemodynamic response patterns in superior temporal sulcus (STS), fronto-parietal, and sensorimotor regions. However, among these regions retaining auditory memory objects, neural fidelity in the left STS and its enhancement through attention-to-memory best predicted individuals' gain in auditory memory recall precision. Our results demonstrate how functionally discrete brain regions differentially contribute to the attentional enhancement of memory representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Joo Lim
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Maria-Goeppert-Str. 9a, Lübeck 23562, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany; Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 4400 Vestal Parkway E, Vestal, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA; Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Christiane Thiel
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg 26129, Germany
| | - Bernhard Sehm
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Lorenz Deserno
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Jöran Lepsien
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Maria-Goeppert-Str. 9a, Lübeck 23562, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck 23562, Germany.
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20
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Mallett R, Lorenc ES, Lewis-Peacock JA. Working Memory Swap Errors Have Identifiable Neural Representations. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:776-786. [PMID: 35171256 PMCID: PMC11126154 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Working memory is an essential component of cognition that facilitates goal-directed behavior. Famously, it is severely limited and performance suffers when memory load exceeds an individual's capacity. Modeling of visual working memory responses has identified two likely types of errors: guesses and swaps. Swap errors may arise from a misbinding between the features of different items. Alternatively, these errors could arise from memory noise in the feature dimension used for cueing a to-be-tested memory item, resulting in the wrong item being selected. Finally, it is possible that so-called swap errors actually reflect informed guessing, which could occur at the time of a cue, or alternatively, at the time of the response. Here, we combined behavioral response modeling and fMRI pattern analysis to test the hypothesis that swap errors involve the active maintenance of an incorrect memory item. After the encoding of six spatial locations, a retro-cue indicated which location would be tested after memory retention. On accurate trials, we could reconstruct a memory representation of the cued location in both early visual cortex and intraparietal sulcus. On swap error trials identified with mixture modeling, we were able to reconstruct a representation of the swapped location, but not of the cued location, suggesting the maintenance of the incorrect memory item before response. Moreover, participants subjectively responded with some level of confidence, rather than complete guessing, on a majority of swap error trials. Together, these results suggest that swap errors are not mere response-phase guesses, but instead result from failures of selection in working memory, contextual binding errors, or informed guesses, which produce active maintenance of incorrect memory representations.
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21
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Almeida VN. The neural hierarchy of consciousness. Neuropsychologia 2022; 169:108202. [PMID: 35271856 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The chief undertaking in the studies of consciousness is that of unravelling "the minimal set of neural processes that are together sufficient for the conscious experience of a particular content - the neural correlates of consciousness". To this day, this crusade remains at an impasse, with a clash of two main theories: consciousness may arise either in a graded and cortically-localised fashion, or in an all-or-none and widespread one. In spite of the long-lasting theoretical debates, neurophysiological theories of consciousness have been mostly dissociated from them. Herein, a theoretical review will be put forth with the aim to change that. In its first half, we will cover the hard available evidence on the neurophysiology of consciousness, whereas in its second half we will weave a series of considerations on both theories and substantiate a novel take on conscious awareness: the levels of processing approach, partitioning the conscious architecture into lower- and higher-order, graded and nonlinear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor N Almeida
- Faculdade de Letras, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil.
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22
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Merkel C, Bartsch MV, Schoenfeld MA, Vellage AK, Müller NG, Hopf JM. A direct neural measure of variable precision representations in visual working memory. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:1430-1439. [PMID: 34550022 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00230.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual working memory (VWM) is an active representation enabling the manipulation of item information even in the absence of visual input. A common way to investigate VWM is to analyze the performance at later recall. This approach, however, leaves uncertainties about whether the variation of recall performance is attributable to item encoding and maintenance or to the testing of memorized information. Here, we record the contralateral delay activity (CDA), an established electrophysiological measure of item storage and maintenance, in human subjects performing a delayed orientation precision estimation task. This allows us to link the fluctuation of recall precision directly to the process of item encoding and maintenance. We show that for two sequentially encoded orientation items, the CDA amplitude reflects the precision of orientation recall of both items, with higher precision being associated with a larger amplitude. Furthermore, we show that the CDA amplitudes for the items vary independently from each other, suggesting that the precision of memory representations fluctuates independently.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The present work demonstrates for the first time that the contralateral delay activity (CDA), an online electrophysiological measure of the number of representations maintained in memory, is also a reliable measure of the precision of memory representations. Furthermore, we show that the CDA fluctuates independently for individual items held in memory, thereby providing unambiguous direct neurophysiological support for independently fluctuating memory representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Merkel
- Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - M V Bartsch
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - M A Schoenfeld
- Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Kliniken Schmieder Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - A-K Vellage
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - N G Müller
- Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.,German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - J-M Hopf
- Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany
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23
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Keogh R, Wicken M, Pearson J. Visual working memory in aphantasia: Retained accuracy and capacity with a different strategy. Cortex 2021; 143:237-253. [PMID: 34482017 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Visual working memory paradigms involve retaining and manipulating visual information in mind over a period of seconds. Evidence suggests that visual imagery (sensory recruitment) is a strategy used by many to retain visual information during such tasks, leading some researchers to propose that visual imagery and visual working memory may be one and the same. If visual imagery is essential to visual working memory task performance there should be large ramifications for a special population of individuals who do not experience visual imagery, aphantasia. Here we assessed visual working memory task performance in this population using a number of different lab and clinical working memory tasks. We found no differences in capacity limits for visual, general number or spatial working memory for aphantasic individuals compared to controls. Further, aphantasic individuals showed no significant differences in performance on visual components of clinical working memory tests as compared to verbal components. However, there were significant differences in the reported strategies used by aphantasic individuals across all memory tasks. Additionally, aphantasic individual's visual memory accuracy did not demonstrate a significant oblique orientation effect, which is proposed to occur due to sensory recruitment, further supporting their non-visual imagery strategy reports. Taken together these data demonstrate that aphantasic individuals are not impaired on visual working memory tasks, suggesting visual imagery and working memory are not one and the same, with imagery (and sensory recruitment) being just one of the tools that can be used to solve visual working memory tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Keogh
- University of New South Wales, School of Psychology, Australia; Macquarie University, Department of Cognitive Sciences, Australia.
| | - Marcus Wicken
- University of New South Wales, School of Psychology, Australia
| | - Joel Pearson
- University of New South Wales, School of Psychology, Australia
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24
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Weber AI, Shea-Brown E, Rieke F. Identification of Multiple Noise Sources Improves Estimation of Neural Responses across Stimulus Conditions. eNeuro 2021; 8:ENEURO.0191-21.2021. [PMID: 34083382 PMCID: PMC8260275 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0191-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Most models of neural responses are constructed to reproduce the average response to inputs but lack the flexibility to capture observed variability in responses. The origins and structure of this variability have significant implications for how information is encoded and processed in the nervous system, both by limiting information that can be conveyed and by determining processing strategies that are favorable for minimizing its negative effects. Here, we present a new modeling framework that incorporates multiple sources of noise to better capture observed features of neural response variability across stimulus conditions. We apply this model to retinal ganglion cells at two different ambient light levels and demonstrate that it captures the full distribution of responses. Further, the model reveals light level-dependent changes that could not be seen with previous models, showing both large changes in rectification of nonlinear circuit elements and systematic differences in the contributions of different noise sources under different conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison I Weber
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Eric Shea-Brown
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Fred Rieke
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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25
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Abstract
Working memory is central to cognition, flexibly holding the variety of thoughts needed for complex behavior. Yet, despite its importance, working memory has a severely limited capacity, holding only three to four items at once. In this article, I review experimental and computational evidence that the flexibility and limited capacity of working memory reflect the same underlying neural mechanism. I argue that working memory relies on interactions between high-dimensional, integrative representations in the prefrontal cortex and structured representations in the sensory cortex. Together, these interactions allow working memory to flexibly maintain arbitrary representations. However, the distributed nature of working memory comes at the cost of causing interference between items in memory, resulting in a limited capacity. Finally, I discuss several mechanisms used by the brain to reduce interference and maximize the effective capacity of working memory. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 7 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Buschman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA;
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26
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Shared mechanisms underlie the control of working memory and attention. Nature 2021; 592:601-605. [PMID: 33790467 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03390-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 44.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive control guides behaviour by controlling what, when, and how information is represented in the brain1. For example, attention controls sensory processing; top-down signals from prefrontal and parietal cortex strengthen the representation of task-relevant stimuli2-4. A similar 'selection' mechanism is thought to control the representations held 'in mind'-in working memory5-10. Here we show that shared neural mechanisms underlie the selection of items from working memory and attention to sensory stimuli. We trained rhesus monkeys to switch between two tasks, either selecting one item from a set of items held in working memory or attending to one stimulus from a set of visual stimuli. Neural recordings showed that similar representations in prefrontal cortex encoded the control of both selection and attention, suggesting that prefrontal cortex acts as a domain-general controller. By contrast, both attention and selection were represented independently in parietal and visual cortex. Both selection and attention facilitated behaviour by enhancing and transforming the representation of the selected memory or attended stimulus. Specifically, during the selection task, memory items were initially represented in independent subspaces of neural activity in prefrontal cortex. Selecting an item caused its representation to transform from its own subspace to a new subspace used to guide behaviour. A similar transformation occurred for attention. Our results suggest that prefrontal cortex controls cognition by dynamically transforming representations to control what and when cognitive computations are engaged.
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27
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Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Drives the Prioritization of Self-Associated Stimuli in Working Memory. J Neurosci 2021; 41:2012-2023. [PMID: 33462089 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1783-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans show a pervasive bias for processing self- over other-related information, including in working memory (WM), where people prioritize the maintenance of self- (over other-) associated cues. To elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying this self-bias, we paired a self- versus other-associated spatial WM task with fMRI and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of human participants of both sexes. Maintaining self- (over other-) associated cues resulted in enhanced activity in classic WM regions (frontoparietal cortex), and in superior multivoxel pattern decoding of the cue locations from visual cortex. Moreover, ventromedial PFC (VMPFC) displayed enhanced functional connectivity with WM regions during maintenance of self-associated cues, which predicted individuals' behavioral self-prioritization effects. In a follow-up tDCS experiment, we targeted VMPFC with excitatory (anodal), inhibitory (cathodal), or sham tDCS. Cathodal tDCS eliminated the self-prioritization effect. These findings provide strong converging evidence for a causal role of VMPFC in driving self-prioritization effects in WM and provide a unique window into the interaction between social, self-referential processing and high-level cognitive control processes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT People have a strong tendency to attend to self-related stimuli, such as their names. This self-bias extends to the automatic prioritization of arbitrarily self-associated stimuli held in working memory. Since working memory is central to high-level cognition, this bias could influence how we make decisions. It is therefore important to understand the underlying brain mechanisms. Here, we used neuroimaging and noninvasive neurostimulation techniques to show that the source of self-bias in working memory is the ventromedial PFC, which modulates activity in frontoparietal brain regions to produce prioritized representations of self-associated stimuli in sensory cortex. This work thus reveals a brain circuit underlying the socially motivated (self-referential) biasing of high-level cognitive processing.
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28
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Norris D, Kalm K. Chunking and data compression in verbal short-term memory. Cognition 2021; 208:104534. [PMID: 33360054 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Short-term verbal memory is improved when words can be chunked into larger units. Miller (1956) suggested that the capacity of verbal short-term memory is determined by the number of chunks that can be stored in memory, rather than by the number of items or the amount of information. But how does the improvement due to chunking come about, and is memory really determined by the number of chunks? One possibility is that chunking is a form of data compression. It allows more information to be stored in the available capacity. An alternative is that chunking operates primarily by redintegration. Chunks exist only in long-term memory, and enable the corresponding items in short-term memory to be reconstructed more reliably from a degraded trace. We review the data favoring each of these views and discuss the implications of treating chunking as data compression. Contrary to Miller, we suggest that memory capacity is primarily determined both by the amount of information that can be stored but also by the underlying representational vocabulary of the memory system. Given the limitations on the representations that can be stored in verbal short-term memory, chunking can sometimes allow the information capacity of short-term memory to be exploited more efficiently. (202 words).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Norris
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Kristjan Kalm
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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29
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Asp IE, Störmer VS, Brady TF. Greater Visual Working Memory Capacity for Visually Matched Stimuli When They Are Perceived as Meaningful. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 33:902-918. [PMID: 33571076 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Almost all models of visual working memory-the cognitive system that holds visual information in an active state-assume it has a fixed capacity: Some models propose a limit of three to four objects, where others propose there is a fixed pool of resources for each basic visual feature. Recent findings, however, suggest that memory performance is improved for real-world objects. What supports these increases in capacity? Here, we test whether the meaningfulness of a stimulus alone influences working memory capacity while controlling for visual complexity and directly assessing the active component of working memory using EEG. Participants remembered ambiguous stimuli that could either be perceived as a face or as meaningless shapes. Participants had higher performance and increased neural delay activity when the memory display consisted of more meaningful stimuli. Critically, by asking participants whether they perceived the stimuli as a face or not, we also show that these increases in visual working memory capacity and recruitment of additional neural resources are because of the subjective perception of the stimulus and thus cannot be driven by physical properties of the stimulus. Broadly, this suggests that the capacity for active storage in visual working memory is not fixed but that more meaningful stimuli recruit additional working memory resources, allowing them to be better remembered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel E Asp
- University of California.,Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla, California
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30
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Qiao L, Xu M, Luo X, Zhang L, Li H, Chen A. Flexible adjustment of the effective connectivity between the fronto-parietal and visual regions supports cognitive flexibility. Neuroimage 2020; 220:117158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Revised: 07/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
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31
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Abstract
A key challenge for the visual system entails the extraction of constant properties of objects from sensory information that varies moment by moment due to changes in viewing conditions. Although successful performance in constancy tasks requires cooperation between perception and working memory, the function of the memory system has been under-represented in recent material perception literature. Here, we addressed the limits of material constancy by elucidating if and how working memory is involved in constancy tasks by using a variety of material stimuli, such as metals, glass, and translucent objects. We conducted experiments with a simultaneous and a successive matching-to-sample paradigm in which participants matched the perceived material properties of objects with or without a temporal delay under varying illumination contexts. The current study combined a detailed analysis of matching errors, data on the strategy use obtained via a self-report questionnaire, and the statistical image analysis of diagnostic image cues used for material discrimination. We found a comparable material constancy between simultaneous and successive matching conditions, and it was suggested that, in both matching conditions, participants used similar information processing strategies for the discrimination of materials. The study provides converging evidence on the critical role of working memory in material constancy, where working memory serves as a shared processing bottleneck that constrains both simultaneous and successive material constancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyuki Tsuda
- Keio Advanced Research Center, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Munendo Fujimichi
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Jun Saiki
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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32
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Bocincova A, Olivers CNL, Stokes MG, Manohar SG. A common neural network architecture for visual search and working memory. VISUAL COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2020.1825142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bocincova
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Christian N. L. Olivers
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Mark G. Stokes
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sanjay G. Manohar
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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33
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Schurgin MW, Wixted JT, Brady TF. Psychophysical scaling reveals a unified theory of visual memory strength. Nat Hum Behav 2020; 4:1156-1172. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-00938-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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34
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Kang C, Li Y, Novak D, Zhang Y, Zhou Q, Hu Y. Brain Networks of Maintenance, Inhibition and Disinhibition During Working Memory. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 2020; 28:1518-1527. [DOI: 10.1109/tnsre.2020.2997827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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35
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Bahle B, Thayer DD, Mordkoff JT, Hollingworth A. The architecture of working memory: Features from multiple remembered objects produce parallel, coactive guidance of attention in visual search. J Exp Psychol Gen 2020; 149:967-983. [PMID: 31589068 PMCID: PMC7136148 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Theories of working memory (WM) differ in their claims about the number of items that can be maintained in a state that directly interacts with other, ongoing cognitive operations (termed the focus of attention). A similar debate has arisen in the literature on visual working memory (VWM), focused on the number of items that can simultaneously interact with attentional priority. In 3 experiments, we used a redundancy-gain paradigm to provide a comprehensive test of the latter question. Participants searched for 2 cued features (e.g., a color and a shape) within a search array. The cued feature values changed on a trial-by-trial basis, requiring VWM. The target (when present) could match 1 of the cued features (single-target trials) or both cued features (redundant-target trials). We tested whether response time distributions contained a substantial proportion of trials with redundant-target responses that were faster than predicted by 2 independent guidance processes operating in parallel (i.e., violations of the race-model inequality). Violations are consistent with a coactive architecture in which both cued values guide attention in parallel and sum on the priority map. Robust violations were observed in all cases predicted by the hypothesis that multiple items in VWM can guide attention simultaneously, and these results were inconsistent with the hypothesis that guidance is limited to a single item simultaneously. When considered in the larger context of the literature on VWM and attention, the present results are consistent with a model of WM architecture in which the focus of attention can maintain multiple, independent representations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett Bahle
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
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36
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37
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Taylor R, Bays PM. Theory of neural coding predicts an upper bound on estimates of memory variability. Psychol Rev 2020; 127:700-718. [PMID: 32191074 PMCID: PMC7571317 DOI: 10.1037/rev0000189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Observers reproducing elementary visual features from memory after a short delay produce errors consistent with the encoding-decoding properties of neural populations. While inspired by electrophysiological observations of sensory neurons in cortex, the population coding account of these errors is based on a mathematical idealization of neural response functions that abstracts away most of the heterogeneity and complexity of real neuronal populations. Here we examine a more physiologically grounded model based on the tuning of a large set of neurons recorded in macaque V1 and show that key predictions of the idealized model are preserved. Both models predict long-tailed distributions of error when memory resources are taxed, as observed empirically in behavioral experiments and commonly approximated with a mixture of normal and uniform error components. Specifically, for an idealized homogeneous neural population, the width of the fitted normal distribution cannot exceed the average tuning width of the component neurons, and this also holds to a good approximation for more biologically realistic populations. Examining eight published studies of orientation recall, we find a consistent pattern of results suggestive of a median tuning width of approximately 20°, which compares well with neurophysiological observations. The finding that estimates of variability obtained by the normal-plus-uniform mixture method are bounded from above leads us to reevaluate previous studies that interpreted a saturation in width of the normal component as evidence for fundamental limits on the precision of perception, working memory, and long-term memory.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paul M Bays
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
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38
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Chetverikov A, Campana G, Kristjánsson Á. Probabilistic rejection templates in visual working memory. Cognition 2020; 196:104075. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2019] [Revised: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 09/16/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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39
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Panichello MF, DePasquale B, Pillow JW, Buschman TJ. Error-correcting dynamics in visual working memory. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3366. [PMID: 31358740 PMCID: PMC6662698 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11298-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory is critical to cognition, decoupling behavior from the immediate world. Yet, it is imperfect; internal noise introduces errors into memory representations. Such errors have been shown to accumulate over time and increase with the number of items simultaneously held in working memory. Here, we show that discrete attractor dynamics mitigate the impact of noise on working memory. These dynamics pull memories towards a few stable representations in mnemonic space, inducing a bias in memory representations but reducing the effect of random diffusion. Model-based and model-free analyses of human and monkey behavior show that discrete attractor dynamics account for the distribution, bias, and precision of working memory reports. Furthermore, attractor dynamics are adaptive. They increase in strength as noise increases with memory load and experiments in humans show these dynamics adapt to the statistics of the environment, such that memories drift towards contextually-predicted values. Together, our results suggest attractor dynamics mitigate errors in working memory by counteracting noise and integrating contextual information into memories. Neural representations in working memory are susceptible to internal noise, which scales with memory load. Here, the authors show that attractor dynamics mitigate the influence of internal noise by pulling memories towards a few stable representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew F Panichello
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Brian DePasquale
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Jonathan W Pillow
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.,Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Timothy J Buschman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA. .,Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.
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40
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Language Processing. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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41
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Methods of Cognitive Psychology. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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42
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Gross S. Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access from the perspective of capacity-unlimited working memory. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0343. [PMID: 30061457 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Theories of consciousness divide over whether perceptual consciousness is rich or sparse in specific representational content and whether it requires cognitive access. These two issues are often treated in tandem because of a shared assumption that the representational capacity of cognitive access is fairly limited. Recent research on working memory challenges this shared assumption. This paper argues that abandoning the assumption undermines post-cue-based 'overflow' arguments, according to which perceptual consciousness is rich and does not require cognitive access. Abandoning it also dissociates the rich/sparse debate from the access question. The paper then explores attempts to reformulate overflow theses in ways that do not require the assumption of limited capacity. Finally, it discusses the problem of relating seemingly non-probabilistic perceptual consciousness to the probabilistic representations posited by the models that challenge conceptions of cognitive access as capacity-limited.This article is part of the theme issue 'Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Gross
- Department of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
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43
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Cognitive Psychologists’ Approach to Research. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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44
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Visual Imagery. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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45
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Index. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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46
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Decision Making and Reasoning. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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47
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Attention. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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48
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Long-Term Memory Structure. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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49
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Problem Solving. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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50
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Preface. Cognition 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/9781316271988.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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