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Bao X, Lyu Y. VWM-based bias in conscious access can be extended to a new sandwich masking task and real-life stimuli. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:2123-2130. [PMID: 37226040 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02726-0] [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] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies using breaking continuous flash suppression observed that the content of visual working memory (VWM) influences the priority for accessing visual awareness. However, most studies have used simple stimuli, whereas real-life objects are typically more meaningful and contain more perceptual information than simple objects. In this study, we intermixed a delayed match-to-sample task to manipulate the content of VWM, and a breaking repeated masking suppression (b-RMS) task to investigate whether this memory-based effect in conscious access can be extended to a new sandwich masking task and real-life stimuli. The results revealed that memory-congruent objects broke RMS faster than incongruent objects for both simple and real-life objects. Specifically, for simple objects, color-matching targets broke RMS faster than color-mismatching targets, whereas state-matching targets broke RMS faster than state-mismatching targets for real-life objects. These results suggest that the faster detection of VWM-matching over VWM mismatching stimuli-which has been mostly studied using only one type of task (b-CFS) and stimulus (colored shapes)-extends to (1) yet another masking technique (b-RMS) and to (2) a novel stimulus type (real-life objects), providing evidence that memory-based biases in conscious access are a ubiquitous phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohua Bao
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Xiqing District, Tianjin, China
| | - Yong Lyu
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Xiqing District, Tianjin, China.
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2
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Chota S, Van der Stigchel S. Dynamic and flexible transformation and reallocation of visual working memory representations. VISUAL COGNITION 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2021.1891168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Samson Chota
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Stefan Van der Stigchel
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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3
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Ding Y, Naber M, Paffen C, Gayet S, Van der Stigchel S. How retaining objects containing multiple features in visual working memory regulates the priority for access to visual awareness. Conscious Cogn 2020; 87:103057. [PMID: 33307426 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103057] [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: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The content of visual working memory influences the access to visual awareness. Thus far, research has focused on retention of a single feature, whereas memoranda in real life typically contain multiple features. Here, we intermixed a delayed match-to-sample task to manipulate VWM content, and a breaking Continuous Flash Suppression (b-CFS) task to measure prioritization for visual awareness. Observers memorized either the color (Exp. 1), the shape (Exp. 2) or both the features (Exp. 3) of an item and indicated the location of a suppressed target. We observed that color-matching targets broke suppression faster than color-mismatching targets both when color was memory relevant or irrelevant. Shape only impacted priority for visual awareness through an interaction with color. We conclude that: (1) VWM can regulate the priority of visual information to access visual awareness along a single feature dimension; (2) different features of a memorandum vary in their potency to impact access to visual awareness, and the more dominant feature may even suppress the effect of the less dominant feature; (3) even stimuli that match an irrelevant feature dimension of the memorandum can be prioritized for visual awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Ding
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Marnix Naber
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Chris Paffen
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Surya Gayet
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition & Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Stefan Van der Stigchel
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Ding Y, Naber M, Paffen C, Sahakian A, Van der Stigchel S. The priority for access to awareness of information matching VWM is mirror-invariant. Cognition 2020; 206:104463. [PMID: 33035797 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104463] [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: 10/16/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that 1) storing a visual representation of an item in visual working memory (VWM) prioritizes access to visual awareness for this item and that 2) VWM can contain representations of bound items instead of separate features. It is currently unclear whether VWM affects access to visual awareness at the individual feature level, the conjunction of multiple features level or the object level. To investigate this question, we conducted a series of experiments in which we combined a delayed match to sample task with a breaking Continuous Flash Suppression (b-CFS) task. On each trial, subjects memorized an object consisting of a disk with two halves with different colors for the later recall test and, between them, had to detect the location of a target initially presented under suppression. We varied the congruence in colors between the memory representation and to-be-detected target. Our results show that memory congruent objects (consisting of a conjunction of features) break CFS faster than memory incongruent objects. Interestingly, we also observe this congruence effect when we presented the memorized object in a horizontally-mirrored configuration of colors. However, we do not observe a faster effect when the target shares only a single feature of a memorized object (semi-congruent) or when the memory congruent target is rotated by 90°. Our results suggest that VWM prioritizes access to visual awareness for complex visual memoranda for which the spatial lay-out of the individual features does not need to exactly match the lay-out of the memoranda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Ding
- Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
| | - Marnix Naber
- Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - Chris Paffen
- Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - Andre Sahakian
- Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
| | - Stefan Van der Stigchel
- Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
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5
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Gayet S, Guggenmos M, Christophel TB, Haynes JD, Paffen CLE, Sterzer P, Van der Stigchel S. No evidence for mnemonic modulation of interocularly suppressed visual input. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116801. [PMID: 32276069 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2019] [Revised: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual working memory (VWM) allows for keeping visual information available for upcoming goal-directed behavior, while new visual input is processed concurrently. Interactions between the mnemonic and perceptual systems cause VWM to affect the processing of visual input in a content-specific manner: visual input that is initially suppressed from consciousness is detected faster when it matches rather than mismatches the content of VWM. It is currently under debate whether such mnemonic influences on perception occur prior to or after conscious access. To address this issue, we investigated whether VWM content modulates the neural response to visual input that remains suppressed from consciousness. We measured fMRI responses to interocularly suppressed stimuli in 20 human participants performing a delayed match-to-sample task: Participants were retro-cued to memorize one of two geometrical shapes for subsequent recognition. During retention, an interocularly suppressed peripheral stimulus (the probe) was briefly presented, which was either of the cued (memorized) or uncued (not memorized) shape category. We found no evidence that VWM content modulated the neural response to the probe. Substantial evidence for the absence of this modulation was found despite leveraging a highly liberal analysis approach: (1) selecting regions of interest that were particularly prone to detecting said modulation, and (2) using directional Bayesian tests favoring the presence of the hypothesized modulation. We did observe faster detection of memory-matching compared to memory-mismatching probes in a behavioral control experiment, thus validating the stimulus set. We conclude that VWM impacts the processing of visual input only once suppression is mostly alleviated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surya Gayet
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
| | - Matthias Guggenmos
- Visual Perception Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas B Christophel
- Max-Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - John-Dylan Haynes
- Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Germany
| | - Chris L E Paffen
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Philipp Sterzer
- Visual Perception Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Germany
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6
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Van der Stigchel S, Olivers CNL. The Flexible Nature of the Interaction Between Attention and Working Memory. J Cogn 2019; 2:31. [PMID: 31517242 PMCID: PMC6688549 DOI: 10.5334/joc.68] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In the research literature, attention and working memory are often intimately linked. In his excellent target article, Oberauer concludes that attention is not a necessary requirement for working memory maintenance. In our reply, we argue that attention is an emergent property of maintaining the current task goal. Humans can flexibly transfer the storage of information between different states and different memory systems as the need arises. Only information in service of currently active task goals requires attentional resources for maintenance. In this state, memoranda can bias behavior and are susceptible to interference from additional attention demanding tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian N. L. Olivers
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL
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Alfandari D, Belopolsky AV, Olivers CNL. Eye movements reveal learning and information-seeking in attentional template acquisition. VISUAL COGNITION 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2019.1636918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Defne Alfandari
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Experimental and Applied Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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