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Gu Q, Dai A, Ye T, Huang B, Lu X, Shen M, Gao Z. Object-based encoding in visual working memory: A critical revisit. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:1397-1410. [PMID: 34609217 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211052502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Visual working memory (VWM) is responsible for the temporal retention and manipulation of visual information. It has been suggested that VWM employs an object-based encoding (OBE) manner to extract highly discriminable information from visual perception: Whenever one feature dimension of the objects is selected for entry into VWM, the other task-irrelevant highly discriminable dimension is also extracted into VWM involuntarily. However, the task-irrelevant feature in OBE studies might reflect a high capacity fragile VWM (FVWM) trace that stores maskable sensory representations. To directly compare the VWM storage hypothesis and the FVWM storage hypothesis, we used a unique characteristic of FVWM that the representations in FVWM could be erased by backward masks presented at the original locations of the memory array. We required participants to memorise the orientations of three coloured bars while ignoring their colours, and presented backward masks during the VWM maintenance interval. In four experiments, we consistently observed that the OBE occurs regardless of the presentation of the backward masks, except when even the task-relevant features in VWM were significantly interrupted by immediate backward masks, suggesting that the task-irrelevant features of objects are stored in VWM rather than in FVWM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Gu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Alessandro Dai
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Tian Ye
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Bo Huang
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Xiqian Lu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Mowei Shen
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
| | - Zaifeng Gao
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
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Deep learning helps EEG signals predict different stages of visual processing in the human brain. Biomed Signal Process Control 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bspc.2021.102996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Bharti AK, Yadav SK, Jaswal S. Feature Binding of Sequentially Presented Stimuli in Visual Working Memory. Front Psychol 2020; 11:33. [PMID: 32116892 PMCID: PMC7012789 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Feature binding is a process that creates an integrated representation of an object. A change detection task with four stimuli is used to study color-shape binding of sequentially presented stimuli. Given the immense importance of locations in feature binding, and noting the confound of location information with simultaneous presentation, we compared simultaneous and sequential presentations when locations remained the same from study to test and when they changed randomly. In Experiment 1, sequential presentation implied showing the stimuli one by one to gradually build up the study display. There were no differences between the two modes of presentation in this experiment, although performance was better with unchanged locations than random locations. Experiment 2 used a sequential presentation when one stimulus vanished as the next was presented. An interaction effect showed that performance was much better with unchanged locations than random locations with simultaneous presentation, whereas locations had no effect in the sequential presentation condition. Three subsequent experiments, with drastically reduced presentation time for the display in the simultaneous presentation condition (Experiment 3), with blank intervals inserted after every stimulus in the sequential presentation condition (Experiment 4), and with a mask given immediately after the study-display presentation (Experiment 5), showed results similar to Experiment 2. Thus, we surmise that locations are a factor only in simultaneous presentation, and not in sequential presentation, and the differences between the two conditions can be attributed to post-perceptual factors within visual working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anuj Kumar Bharti
- Center for Biologically Inspired System Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, India
| | - Sandeep Kumar Yadav
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, India
| | - Snehlata Jaswal
- Department of Psychology, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India
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Azer L, Zhang W. Composite Face Effect Predicts Configural Encoding in Visual Short-Term Memory. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2753. [PMID: 31920808 PMCID: PMC6917589 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In natural vision, visual scenes consist of individual items (e.g., trees) and global properties of items as a whole (e.g., forest). These different levels of representations can all contribute to perception, natural scene understanding, sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory. Despite these various hierarchical representations across perception and cognition, the nature of the global representations has received considerably less attention in empirical research on working memory than item representations. The present study aimed to understand the perceptual root of the configural information retained in Visual Short-term Memory (VSTM). Specifically, we assessed whether configural VSTM was related to holistic face processing across participants using an individual differences approach. Configural versus item encoding in VSTM was assessed using Xie and Zhang's (2017) dual-trace Signal Detection Theory model in a change detection task for orientation. Configural face processing was assessed using Le Grand composite face effect (CFE). In addition, overall face recognition was assessed using Glasgow Face Matching Test (GFMT). Across participants, holistic face encoding, but not face recognition accuracy, predicted configural information, but not item information, retained in VSTM. Together, these findings suggest that configural encoding in VSTM may have a perceptual root.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Weiwei Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
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Abstract
When representing visual features such as color and shape in visual working memory (VWM), participants also represent the locations of those features as a spatial configuration of the locations of those features in the display. In everyday life, we encounter objects against some background, yet it is unclear whether the configural representation in memory obligatorily constitutes the entire display, including that (often task-irrelevant) background information. In three experiments, participants completed a change detection task on color and shape; the memoranda were presented in front of uniform gray backgrounds, a textured background (Exp. 1), or a background containing location placeholders (Exps. 2 and 3). When whole-display probes were presented, changes to the objects' locations or feature bindings impacted memory performance-implying that the spatial configuration of the probes influenced participants' change decisions. Furthermore, when only a single item was probed, the effect of changing its location or feature bindings was either diminished or completely extinguished, implying that single probes do not necessarily elicit the entire spatial configuration. Critically, when task-irrelevant backgrounds were also presented that may have provided a spatial configuration for the single probes, the effect of location or bindings was not moderated. These findings suggest that although the spatial configuration of a display guides VWM-based recognition, this information does not necessarily always influence the decision process during change detection.
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Abstract
When encountering an excess of information, people are able to selectively remember high-value information by strategically allocating attention during the encoding period, termed value-directed remembering. This has been demonstrated in both the episodic verbal and visuospatial memory domains. Importantly, the allocation of attention also plays a crucial role in the binding of identity and location information in visuospatial memory. We examined how taxing attentional resources to various degrees during encoding might affect visuospatial memory and selectivity. Participants studied items paired with point values indicating their value in a grid display and were asked to maximize their point score (a summation of the points associated with correctly remembered information). Participants viewed items under either a sequential or simultaneous presentation format and in either the presence or absence of a secondary tone discrimination task. While participants in the divided attention conditions recalled fewer item-location associations overall, participants in all encoding conditions prioritized high-value information in memory, providing further evidence that selectivity can be maintained even when attentional resources are taxed. However, differences between presentation formats emerged when conducting spatial resolution analyses examining errors. Errors in the simultaneous conditions were only influenced by item value when attention was full during encoding, while errors in the sequential conditions were not influenced by item value, regardless of available attentional resources. The results suggest participants can strategically allocate attention during encoding even under cognitively-demanding conditions and that gist-based visuospatial memory may only be influenced by information importance when adequate attentional resources are available.
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Yang L, Mo L, Wang X, Yu M. The effects of categorical similarity and feature-space proximity on visual working memory processing. VISUAL COGNITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1390515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Li Yang
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Lei Mo
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xingchao Wang
- The Center of Internet + Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Mengxia Yu
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
- School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
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The role of top-down suppression in mitigating the disruptive effects of task-irrelevant feature changes in visual working memory. Mem Cognit 2017; 45:1411-1422. [DOI: 10.3758/s13421-017-0738-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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9
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Xie W, Zhang W. Discrete item-based and continuous configural representations in visual short-term memory. VISUAL COGNITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1339157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Weizhen Xie
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, USA
| | - Weiwei Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, USA
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Brown LA, Niven EH, Logie RH, Rhodes S, Allen RJ. Visual feature binding in younger and older adults: encoding and suffix interference effects. Memory 2016; 25:261-275. [DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2016.1156705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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11
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Marno H, Davelaar EJ, Csibra G. An object memory bias induced by communicative reference. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2016; 163:88-96. [PMID: 26629673 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2015] [Revised: 11/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/16/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, a good proportion of knowledge, including knowledge about objects and object kinds, is acquired via social learning by direct communication from others. If communicative signals raise the expectation of social learning about objects, intrinsic (permanent) features that support object recognition are relevant to store into memory, while extrinsic (accidental) object properties can be ignored. We investigated this hypothesis by instructing participants to memorise shape-colour associations that constituted either an extrinsic object property (the colour of the box that contained the object, Experiment 1) or an intrinsic one (the colour of the object, Experiment 2). Compared to a non-communicative context, communicative presentation of the objects impaired participants' performance when they recalled extrinsic object properties, while their incidental memory of the intrinsic shape-colour associations was not affected. Communicative signals had no effect on performance when the task required the memorisation of intrinsic object properties. The negative effect of communicative reference on the memory of extrinsic properties was also confirmed in Experiment 3, where this property was object location. Such a memory bias suggests that referent objects in communication tend to be seen as representatives of their kind rather than as individuals.
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Gajewski DA, Wallin CP, Philbeck JW. The Effects of Age and Set Size on the Fast Extraction of Egocentric Distance. VISUAL COGNITION 2015; 23:957-988. [PMID: 27398065 DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2015.1132803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Angular direction is a source of information about the distance to floor-level objects that can be extracted from brief glimpses (near one's threshold for detection). Age and set size are two factors known to impact the viewing time needed to directionally localize an object, and these were posited to similarly govern the extraction of distance. The question here was whether viewing durations sufficient to support object detection (controlled for age and set size) would also be sufficient to support well-constrained judgments of distance. Regardless of viewing duration, distance judgments were more accurate (less biased towards underestimation) when multiple potential targets were presented, suggesting that the relative angular declinations between the objects are an additional source of useful information. Distance judgments were more precise with additional viewing time, but the benefit did not depend on set size and accuracy did not improve with longer viewing durations. The overall pattern suggests that distance can be efficiently derived from direction for floor-level objects. Controlling for age-related differences in the viewing time needed to support detection was sufficient to support distal localization but only when brief and longer glimpse trials were interspersed. Information extracted from longer glimpse trials presumably supported performance on subsequent trials when viewing time was more limited. This outcome suggests a particularly important role for prior visual experience in distance judgments for older observers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Gajewski
- Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C
| | - Courtney P Wallin
- Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C
| | - John W Philbeck
- Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C
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