1
|
Purg Suljič N, Kraljič A, Rahmati M, Cho YT, Slana Ozimič A, Murray JD, Anticevic A, Repovš G. Individual differences in spatial working memory strategies differentially reflected in the engagement of control and default brain networks. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae350. [PMID: 39214852 PMCID: PMC11364466 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2024] [Accepted: 08/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatial locations can be encoded and maintained in working memory using different representations and strategies. Fine-grained representations provide detailed stimulus information, but are cognitively demanding and prone to inexactness. The uncertainty in fine-grained representations can be compensated by the use of coarse, but robust categorical representations. In this study, we employed an individual differences approach to identify brain activity correlates of the use of fine-grained and categorical representations in spatial working memory. We combined data from six functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, resulting in a sample of $155$ ($77$ women, $25 \pm 5$ years) healthy participants performing a spatial working memory task. Our results showed that individual differences in the use of spatial representations in working memory were associated with distinct patterns of brain activity. Higher precision of fine-grained representations was related to greater engagement of attentional and control brain systems throughout the task trial, and the stronger deactivation of the default network at the time of stimulus encoding. In contrast, the use of categorical representations was associated with lower default network activity during encoding and higher frontoparietal network activation during maintenance. These results may indicate a greater need for attentional resources and protection against interference for fine-grained compared with categorical representations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nina Purg Suljič
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Aleksij Kraljič
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Masih Rahmati
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Youngsun T Cho
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Anka Slana Ozimič
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - John D Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 100 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Department of Physics, Yale University, 217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Alan Anticevic
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 100 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Grega Repovš
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Schutte AR, Wu Y, Jacoby MN. Individual differences in executive attention and inhibitory control are related to spatial memory biases in adults. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023; 76:391-403. [PMID: 35331058 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221092776] [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: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Executive attention is involved in working memory; however, the role of executive attention in the maintenance of information in spatial working memory is debated. This study examined whether inhibitory control was related to spatial working memory biases in adults in a simple spatial memory task where participants had to remember one location on an otherwise blank computer screen. On some trials, a distractor was presented during the maintenance period. Eighty-four participants completed the spatial working memory task and a battery of cognitive control measures. When a distractor was presented during the maintenance period of the spatial memory task, performance on two of the cognitive control measures, a measure of overall attention and a measure of inhibitory control was related to memory errors. When a distractor was not presented during the spatial memory task, memory errors were not related to performance on the cognitive control tasks. Overall, these effects demonstrated that attention is related to maintaining locations in spatial working memory in adults, and inhibitory control may also be related such that those with more efficient inhibitory control were less influenced by distractors presented during the maintenance period.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne R Schutte
- Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Yinbo Wu
- Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Morgan N Jacoby
- Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Neural interactions in working memory explain decreased recall precision and similarity-based feature repulsion. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17756. [PMID: 36272987 PMCID: PMC9588047 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22328-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last several years, the study of working memory (WM) for simple visual features (e.g., colors, orientations) has been dominated by perspectives that assume items in WM are stored independently of one another. Evidence has revealed, however, systematic biases in WM recall which suggest that items in WM interact during active maintenance. In the present study, we report two experiments that replicate a repulsion bias between metrically similar colors during active storage in WM. We also observed that metrically similar colors were stored with lower resolution than a unique color held actively in mind at the same time. To account for these effects, we report quantitative simulations of two novel neurodynamical models of WM. In both models, the unique behavioral signatures reported here emerge directly from laterally-inhibitory neural interactions that serve to maintain multiple, distinct neural representations throughout the WM delay period. Simulation results show that the full pattern of empirical findings was only obtained with a model that included an elaborated spatial pathway with sequential encoding of memory display items. We discuss implications of our findings for theories of visual working memory more generally.
Collapse
|
4
|
Scotti PS, Hong Y, Leber AB, Golomb JD. Visual working memory items drift apart due to active, not passive, maintenance. J Exp Psychol Gen 2021; 150:2506-2524. [PMID: 34014755 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
How are humans capable of maintaining detailed representations of visual items in memory? When required to make fine discriminations, we sometimes implicitly differentiate memory representations away from each other to reduce interitem confusion. However, this separation of representations can inadvertently lead memories to be recalled as biased away from other memory items, a phenomenon termed repulsion bias. Using a nonretinotopically specific working memory paradigm, we found stronger repulsion bias with longer working memory delays, but only when items were actively maintained. These results suggest that (a) repulsion bias can reflect a mnemonic phenomenon, distinct from perceptually driven observations of repulsion bias; and (b) mnemonic repulsion bias is ongoing during maintenance and dependent on attention to internally maintained memory items. These results support theories of working memory where items are represented interdependently and further reveals contexts where stronger attention to working memory items during maintenance increases repulsion bias between them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
5
|
Test of a dynamic neural field model: spatial working memory is biased away from distractors. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 84:1528-1544. [PMID: 30911825 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01166-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/09/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Attention facilitates the encoding (e.g., Awh, Anllo-Vento, & Hillyard, J Cognit Neurosci 12(5), 840-847, 2000) and maintenance of locations in spatial working memory (Awh, Vogel, & Oh, Atten, Percept Psychophys 78(4), 1043-1063, 2006). When individuals shift their attention during the maintenance period of a spatial working memory task, their memory of a target location tends to be biased in the direction of the attentional shift (Johnson & Spencer, 2016). Dynamic field theory predicts that in certain conditions, inhibitory mechanisms will result in biases away from distractors presented during the maintenance period of the task. Specifically, dynamic field theory predicts that memory responses will be biased toward distractors that are near the target location and biased away from distractors that are farther from the target location. In two experiments, the current study tested adults in a spatial memory task that required memorization of a single target location. On a subset of trials, a distractor appeared during the memory delay at different distances and directions from the target location. In contrast to the prediction, memory responses were biased away from distractors that were near the target location and not biased by distractors that were far from the target location, providing challenges for, dynamic field theory and other theories of spatial working memory.
Collapse
|
6
|
Yu X, Geng JJ. The attentional template is shifted and asymmetrically sharpened by distractor context. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2019; 45:336-353. [PMID: 30742475 DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Theories of attention hypothesize the existence of an "attentional template" that contains target features in working or long-term memory. It is often assumed that the template contents are veridical, but recent studies have found that this is not true when the distractor set is linearly separable from the target (e.g., all distractors are "yellower" than an orange-colored target). In such cases, the target representation in memory shifts away from distractor features (Navalpakkam & Itti, 2007) and develops a sharper boundary with distractors (Geng, DiQuattro, & Helm, 2017). These changes in the target template are presumed to increase the target-to-distractor psychological distinctiveness and lead to better attentional selection, but it remains unclear what characteristics of the distractor context produce shifting versus sharpening. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the template representation shifts whenever the distractor set (i.e., all of the distractors) is linearly separable from the target but asymmetrical sharpening occurs only when linearly separable distractors are highly target-similar. Our results were consistent, suggesting that template shifting and asymmetrical sharpening are 2 mechanisms that increase the representational distinctiveness of targets from expected distractors and improve visual search performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
7
|
Deng H, Chen W, Kuang S, Zhang T. Distinct Aging Effects on Motion Repulsion and Surround Suppression in Humans. Front Aging Neurosci 2017; 9:363. [PMID: 29163143 PMCID: PMC5673999 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Elderly exhibit accumulating deficits in visual motion perception, which is critical for humans to interact with their environment. Previous studies have suggested that aging generally reduces neuronal inhibition in the visual system. Here, we investigated how aging affects the local intra-cortical inhibition using a motion direction discrimination task based on the motion repulsion phenomenon. Motion repulsion refers to the phenomenon by which observers overestimate the perceived angle when two superimposed dot patterns are moving at an acute angle. The misperception has been interpreted as local mutual inhibition between nearby direction-tuned neurons within the same cortical area. We found that elderly exhibited much stronger motion repulsion than young adults. We then compared this effect to how aging affects the global inter-cortical inhibition by adopting the surround suppression paradigm previously used by Betts et al. (2005). We found that elderly showed less change in the discrimination threshold when the size of a high-contrast drifting Gabor was increased, indicating reduced surround suppression compared to young adults. Our results indicate that aging may not always lead to a decrease of neuronal inhibition in the visual system. These distinct effects of aging on inhibitory functions might be one of the reasons that elderly people often exhibit deficits of motion perception in a real-world situation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hu Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Weiying Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shenbing Kuang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Schneegans S, Bays PM. Restoration of fMRI Decodability Does Not Imply Latent Working Memory States. J Cogn Neurosci 2017; 29:1977-1994. [PMID: 28820674 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Recent imaging studies have challenged the prevailing view that working memory is mediated by sustained neural activity. Using machine learning methods to reconstruct memory content, these studies found that previously diminished representations can be restored by retrospective cueing or other forms of stimulation. These findings have been interpreted as evidence for an activity-silent working memory state that can be reactivated dependent on task demands. Here, we test the validity of this conclusion by formulating a neural process model of working memory based on sustained activity and using this model to emulate a spatial recall task with retro-cueing. The simulation reproduces both behavioral and fMRI results previously taken as evidence for latent states, in particular the restoration of spatial reconstruction quality following an informative cue. Our results demonstrate that recovery of the decodability of an imaging signal does not provide compelling evidence for an activity-silent working memory state.
Collapse
|
9
|
Simmering VR, Wood CM. The development of real-time stability supports visual working memory performance: Young children's feature binding can be improved through perceptual structure. Dev Psychol 2017; 53:1474-1493. [PMID: 28627904 PMCID: PMC5578745 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Working memory is a basic cognitive process that predicts higher-level skills. A central question in theories of working memory development is the generality of the mechanisms proposed to explain improvements in performance. Prior theories have been closely tied to particular tasks and/or age groups, limiting their generalizability. The cognitive dynamics theory of visual working memory development has been proposed to overcome this limitation. From this perspective, developmental improvements arise through the coordination of cognitive processes to meet demands of different behavioral tasks. This notion is described as real-time stability, and can be probed through experiments that assess how changing task demands impact children's performance. The current studies test this account by probing visual working memory for colors and shapes in a change detection task that compares detection of changes to new features versus swaps in color-shape binding. In Experiment 1, 3- to 4-year-old children showed impairments specific to binding swaps, as predicted by decreased real-time stability early in development; 5- to 6-year-old children showed a slight advantage on binding swaps, but 7- to 8-year-old children and adults showed no difference across trial types. Experiment 2 tested the proposed explanation of young children's binding impairment through added perceptual structure, which supported the stability and precision of feature localization in memory-a process key to detecting binding swaps. This additional structure improved young children's binding swap detection, but not new-feature detection or adults' performance. These results provide further evidence for the cognitive dynamics and real-time stability explanation of visual working memory development. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa R. Simmering
- McPherson Eye Research Institute, Waisman Center, and Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison
| | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
|
11
|
Crawford LE, Landy D, Salthouse TA. Spatial working memory capacity predicts bias in estimates of location. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2016; 42:1434-47. [PMID: 26900708 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Spatial memory research has attributed systematic bias in location estimates to a combination of a noisy memory trace with a prior structure that people impose on the space. Little is known about intraindividual stability and interindividual variation in these patterns of bias. In the current work, we align recent empirical and theoretical work on working memory capacity limits and spatial memory bias to generate the prediction that those with lower working memory capacity will show greater bias in memory of the location of a single item. Reanalyzing data from a large study of cognitive aging, we find support for this prediction. Fitting separate models to individuals' data revealed a surprising variety of strategies. Some were consistent with Bayesian models of spatial category use, however roughly half of participants biased estimates outward in a way not predicted by current models and others seemed to combine these strategies. These analyses highlight the importance of studying individuals when developing general models of cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - David Landy
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
| | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Li Z, Durgin FH. Perceived azimuth direction is exaggerated: Converging evidence from explicit and implicit measures. J Vis 2016; 16:4. [PMID: 26756174 PMCID: PMC4743713 DOI: 10.1167/16.1.4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent observations suggest that perceived visual direction in the sagittal plane (angular direction in elevation, both upward and downward from eye level) is exaggerated. Foley, Ribeiro-Filho, and Da Silva's (2004) study of perceived size of exocentric ground extent implies that perceived angular direction in azimuth may also be exaggerated. In the present study, we directly examined whether perceived azimuth direction is overestimated. In Experiment 1, numeric estimates of azimuth direction (-48° to 48° relative to straight ahead) were obtained. The results showed a linear exaggeration in perceived azimuth direction with a gain of about 1.26. In Experiment 2, a perceptual extent-matching task served as an implicit measure of perceived azimuth direction. Participants matched an egocentric distance in one direction to a frontal extent in nearly the opposite direction. The angular biases implied by the matching data well replicated Foley et al.'s finding and were also fairly consistent with the azimuth bias function found in Experiment 1, although a slight overall shift was observed between the results of the two experiments. Experiment 3, in which half the observers were tilted sideways while making frontal/depth extent comparisons, suggested that the discrepancy between the results of Experiment 1 and 2 can partially be explained by a retinal horizontal vertical illusion affecting distance estimation tasks. Overall the present study provides converging evidence to suggest that the perception of azimuth direction is overestimated.
Collapse
|
13
|
Simmering VR, Patterson AR. Models provide specificity: Testing a proposed mechanism of visual working memory capacity development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2012; 27:419-439. [PMID: 23204645 PMCID: PMC3509784 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.08.001,] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/01/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have established that visual working memory has a limited capacity, and that capacity increases during childhood. However, debate continues over the source of capacity limits and its developmental increase. Simmering (2008) adapted a computational model of spatial cognitive development, the Dynamic Field Theory, to explain not only the source of capacity limitations but also the developmental mechanism. According to the model, capacity is limited by the balance between excitation and inhibition that maintains multiple neural representations simultaneously. Moreover, development is implemented according to the Spatial Precision Hypothesis, which proposes that excitatory and inhibitory connections strengthen throughout early childhood. Critically, these changes in connectivity result in increasing precision and stability of neural representations over development. Here we test this developmental mechanism by probing children's memory in a single-item change detection task. Results confirmed the model's predictions, providing further support for this account of visual working memory capacity development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa R. Simmering
- Psychology Department and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin – Madison
| | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Spencer JP, Austin A, Schutte AR. Contributions of Dynamic Systems Theory to Cognitive Development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2012; 27:401-418. [PMID: 26052181 PMCID: PMC4454421 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines the contributions of dynamic systems theory to the field of cognitive development, focusing on modeling using dynamic neural fields. A brief overview highlights the contributions of dynamic systems theory and the central concepts of dynamic field theory (DFT). We then probe empirical predictions and findings generated by DFT around two examples-the DFT of infant perseverative reaching that explains the Piagetian A-not-B error, and the DFT of spatial memory that explain changes in spatial cognition in early development. A systematic review of the literature around these examples reveals that computational modeling is having an impact on empirical research in cognitive development; however, this impact does not extend to neural and clinical research. Moreover, there is a tendency for researchers to interpret models narrowly, anchoring them to specific tasks. We conclude on an optimistic note, encouraging both theoreticians and experimentalists to work toward a more theory-driven future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John P. Spencer
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
| | - Andrew Austin
- Department of Psychology and Delta Center, University of Iowa
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Models provide specificity: Testing a proposed mechanism of visual working memory capacity development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
16
|
Spencer JP, Barich K, Goldberg J, Perone S. Behavioral dynamics and neural grounding of a dynamic field theory of multi-object tracking. J Integr Neurosci 2012; 11:339-62. [PMID: 22992027 PMCID: PMC4475345 DOI: 10.1142/s0219635212500227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to dynamically track moving objects in the environment is crucial for efficient interaction with the local surrounds. Here, we examined this ability in the context of the multi-object tracking (MOT) task. Several theories have been proposed to explain how people track moving objects; however, only one of these previous theories is implemented in a real-time process model, and there has been no direct contact between theories of object tracking and the growing neural literature using ERPs and fMRI. Here, we present a neural process model of object tracking that builds from a Dynamic Field Theory of spatial cognition. Simulations reveal that our dynamic field model captures recent behavioral data examining the impact of speed and tracking duration on MOT performance. Moreover, we show that the same model with the same trajectories and parameters can shed light on recent ERP results probing how people distribute attentional resources to targets vs. distractors. We conclude by comparing this new theory of object tracking to other recent accounts, and discuss how the neural grounding of the theory might be effectively explored in future work.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J P Spencer
- Department of Psychology, E11 Seashore Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Abstract
The present study examined the flexibility with which people can adopt different category schemes in the spatial domain. In a location memory task, participants viewed and estimated the locations of four kinds of objects that were spatially grouped by object identity. This identity-based arrangement was either congruent or incongruent with the perceptually based, geometric categories that have been reported in previous research. Four experiments examined the conditions under which these different category schemes are used to inform estimates of locations. The results showed that use of identity information depended on the number of objects to be remembered during a trial: When one or two objects were remembered at a time, only geometric categories affected estimates, but when four objects were to be remembered, both geometric categories and identity groupings affected estimates. As memory load increases, participants rely on additional sources to inform their estimates of location.
Collapse
|
18
|
Abstract
Three experimental paradigms were used to investigate the perception of orientation relative to internal categorical standards of vertical and horizontal. In Experiment 1, magnitude estimation of orientation (in degrees) relative to vertical and horizontal replicated a previously reported spatial orientation bias also measured using verbal report: Orientations appear farther from horizontal than they are, whether numeric judgments are made relative to vertical or to horizontal. Analyses of verbal response patterns, however, suggested that verbal reports underestimate the true spatial bias. A non-verbal orientation bisection task (Experiment 2) confirmed that spatial errors are not due to numeric coding and are larger than the 6° error replicated using verbal methods. A spatial error of 8.6° was found in the bisection task, such that an orientation of about 36.4° from horizontal appears equidistant from vertical and horizontal. Finally, using a categorization ("ABX") paradigm in Experiment 3, it was found that there is less memory confusability for orientations near horizontal than for orientations near vertical. Thus, three different types of measures, two of them non-verbal, provide converging evidence that the coding of orientation relative to the internal standards of horizontal and vertical is asymmetrically biased and that horizontal appears to be the privileged axis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frank H Durgin
- Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
19
|
Zibner SKU, Faubel C, Iossifidis I, Schoner G. Dynamic Neural Fields as Building Blocks of a Cortex-Inspired Architecture for Robotic Scene Representation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1109/tamd.2011.2109714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
20
|
Impaired spatial working memory maintenance in schizophrenia involves both spatial coordinates and spatial reference frames. Psychiatry Res 2010; 179:253-8. [PMID: 20493553 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2009.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2009] [Revised: 09/10/2009] [Accepted: 09/11/2009] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Spatial working memory (SWM) dysfunction is a central finding in schizophrenia; however, more evidence of impaired maintenance over time is required. Consequently, the present study examined SWM maintenance over short unfilled delays, and with encoding equated. The influence of a vertical reference frame to support maintenance was also investigated. The performance of 58 patients with schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls was assessed using the Visuo-Spatial Working Memory (VSWM) Test across three unfilled delays (0, 2, and 4s). Inaccuracy of direction and distance responses was examined at each delay duration. The results showed that performance was significantly less accurate for both distance and direction responses at 2 and 4s delays in schizophrenia, but was not significantly different from controls at the 0s delay. Patients showed a particularly marked loss of accuracy between the time interval of 0-2s. Furthermore, schizophrenia participants exhibited significantly greater response variability at the vertical axis of symmetry than controls at the 2 and 4s delays, but not at the 0s delay. These data clearly show both impaired maintenance over time and difficulty using a vertical frame of reference in schizophrenia. The latter findings may reflect, in part, dysfunctional reference-related inhibition.
Collapse
|
21
|
Ortmann MR, Schutte AR. The relationship between the perception of axes of symmetry and spatial memory during early childhood. J Exp Child Psychol 2010; 107:368-76. [PMID: 20576276 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2009] [Revised: 05/14/2010] [Accepted: 05/18/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Early in development, there is a transition in spatial working memory (SWM). When remembering a location in a homogeneous space (e.g., in a sandbox), young children are biased toward the midline symmetry axis of the space. Over development, a transition occurs that leads to older children being biased away from midline. The dynamic field theory (DFT) explains this transition in biases as being caused by a change in the precision of neural interaction in SWM and improvements in the perception of midline. According to the DFT, young children perceive midline, but there is a quantitative improvement in the perception of midline over development. In the experiment reported here, children and adults needed to determine on which half of a large monitor a target was located. In support of the DFT, even the youngest children performed above chance at most locations, but performance also improved gradually with age.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Margaret R Ortmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Schutte AR, Spencer JP. Tests of the dynamic field theory and the spatial precision hypothesis: capturing a qualitative developmental transition in spatial working memory. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2009; 35:1698-725. [PMID: 19968430 PMCID: PMC2792573 DOI: 10.1037/a0015794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
This study tested a dynamic field theory (DFT) of spatial working memory and an associated spatial precision hypothesis (SPH). Between 3 and 6 years of age, there is a qualitative shift in how children use reference axes to remember locations: 3-year-olds' spatial recall responses are biased toward reference axes after short memory delays, whereas 6-year-olds' responses are biased away from reference axes. According to the DFT and the SPH, quantitative improvements over development in the precision of excitatory and inhibitory working memory processes lead to this qualitative shift. Simulations of the DFT in Experiment 1 predict that improvements in precision should cause the spatial range of targets attracted toward a reference axis to narrow gradually over development, with repulsion emerging and gradually increasing until responses to most targets show biases away from the axis. Results from Experiment 2 with 3- to 5-year-olds support these predictions. Simulations of the DFT in Experiment 3 quantitatively fit the empirical results and offer insights into the neural processes underlying this developmental change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne R Schutte
- Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 238 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68588-0308, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
Lipinski J, Spencer JP, Samuelson LK. Corresponding delay-dependent biases in spatial language and spatial memory. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2009; 74:337-51. [PMID: 19727805 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-009-0255-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2009] [Accepted: 08/10/2009] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The present study addresses the relationship between linguistic and non-linguistic spatial representations. In three experiments we probe spatial language and spatial memory at the same time points in the task sequence. Experiments 1 and 2 show analogous delay-dependent biases in spatial language and spatial memory. Experiment 3 extends this correspondence, showing that additional perceptual structure along the vertical axis reduces delay-dependent effects in both tasks. These results indicate that linguistic and non-linguistic spatial systems depend on shared underlying representational processes. In addition, we also address how these delay-dependent biases can arise within a single theoretical framework without positing differing prototypes for linguistic and non-linguistic spatial systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John Lipinski
- Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, Gebäude ND, Raum NDEF 04/589b, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
24
|
Johnson JS, Spencer JP, Schöner G. A layered neural architecture for the consolidation, maintenance, and updating of representations in visual working memory. Brain Res 2009; 1299:17-32. [PMID: 19607817 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/08/2009] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Many everyday tasks rely on our ability to hold information about a perceived stimulus in mind after that stimulus is no longer visible and to compare this information with incoming perceptual information. This ability has been shown to rely on a short-term form of visual memory that has come to be known as visual working memory. Research and theory at both the behavioral and neural levels has begun to provide important insights into the basic properties of the neuro-cognitive systems underlying specific aspects of this form of memory. However, to date, no neurally-plausible theory has been proposed that addresses both the storage of information in working memory and the comparison process in a single framework. The present paper presents a layered neural field architecture that addresses these limitations. In a series of simulations, we show how the model can be used to capture each of the components underlying performance in simple visual comparison tasks--from the encoding, consolidation, and maintenance of information in working memory, to comparison and updating in response to changed inputs. Importantly, the proposed model demonstrates how these elementary perceptual and cognitive functions emerge from the coordinated activity of an integrated, dynamic neural system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey S Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53719, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
25
|
Samuelson LK, Schutte AR, Horst JS. The dynamic nature of knowledge: insights from a dynamic field model of children's novel noun generalization. Cognition 2009; 110:322-45. [PMID: 19131050 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2008] [Revised: 10/28/2008] [Accepted: 10/30/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines the tie between knowledge and behavior in a noun generalization context. An experiment directly comparing noun generalizations of children at the same point in development in forced-choice and yes/no tasks reveals task-specific differences in the way children's knowledge of nominal categories is brought to bear in a moment. To understand the cognitive system that produced these differences, the real-time decision processes in these tasks were instantiated in a dynamic field model. The model captures both qualitative and quantitative differences in performance across tasks and reveals constraints on the nature of children's accumulated knowledge. Additional simulations of developmental change in the yes/no task between 2 and 4 years of age illustrate how changes in children's representations translate into developmental changes in behavior. Together, the empirical data and model demonstrate the dynamic nature of knowledge and are consistent with the perspective that knowledge cannot be separated from the task-specific processes that create behavior in the moment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Larissa K Samuelson
- Department of Psychology and Iowa Center for Developmental and Learning Sciences, University of Iowa, E11 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
26
|
Abstract
In previous research, it was demonstrated that including one or three cues surrounding a circular field had no effect on spatial memory for dot locations when the field's orientation was fixed, but that there were very large effects when orientation varied across trials (Fitting, Wedell, & Allen, 2007). In four new experiments, we explored the use of external cues in the fixed orientation environment, using 0, 4, 8, or 24 cues and manipulating task difficulty. In Experiments 1-3, the angular bias data supported the use of four quadrant-based prototypes regardless of cue condition, but there were clear cue effects on radial prototype locations. Increasing the number of cues enhanced accuracy of spatial memory for targets closer to cues. In Experiment 4, we severely challenged memory by using multiple targets and a filled delay before estimation. Doing so demonstrated an effect of cues on the categorical structuring of memory. Collectively, findings indicate that when orientation is fixed, cues bolster fine-grain memory, but that they only alter the default categorical scheme when memory demands are high.
Collapse
|
27
|
Johnson JS, Spencer JP, Schöner G. Moving to higher ground: The dynamic field theory and the dynamics of visual cognition. NEW IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY 2008; 26:227-251. [PMID: 19173013 DOI: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2007.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In the present report, we describe a new dynamic field theory that captures the dynamics of visuo-spatial cognition. This theory grew out of the dynamic systems approach to motor control and development, and is grounded in neural principles. The initial application of dynamic field theory to issues in visuo-spatial cognition extended concepts of the motor approach to decision making in a sensori-motor context, and, more recently, to the dynamics of spatial cognition. Here we extend these concepts still further to address topics in visual cognition, including visual working memory for non-spatial object properties, the processes that underlie change detection, and the 'binding problem' in vision. In each case, we demonstrate that the general principles of the dynamic field approach can unify findings in the literature and generate novel predictions. We contend that the application of these concepts to visual cognition avoids the pitfalls of reductionist approaches in cognitive science, and points toward a formal integration of brains, bodies, and behavior.
Collapse
|
28
|
Simmering VR, Spencer JP. Generality with specificity: the dynamic field theory generalizes across tasks and time scales. Dev Sci 2008; 11:541-55. [PMID: 18576962 PMCID: PMC2593101 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00700.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A central goal in cognitive and developmental science is to develop models of behavior that can generalize across both tasks and development while maintaining a commitment to detailed behavioral prediction. This paper presents tests of one such model, the Dynamic Field Theory (DFT). The DFT was originally proposed to capture delay-dependent biases in spatial recall and developmental changes in spatial recall performance. More recently, the theory was generalized to adults' performance in a second spatial working memory task, position discrimination. Here we use the theory to predict a specific, complex developmental pattern in position discrimination. Data with 3- to 6-year-old children and adults confirm these predictions, demonstrating that the DFT achieves generality across tasks and time scales, as well as the specificity necessary to generate novel, falsifiable predictions.
Collapse
|
29
|
Samuelson LK, Horst JS. Confronting complexity: insights from the details of behavior over multiple timescales. Dev Sci 2008; 11:209-15. [PMID: 18333976 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00667.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Young children tend to generalize novel names for novel solid objects by similarity in shape, a phenomenon dubbed 'the shape bias'. We believe that the critical insights needed to explain the shape bias in particular, and cognitive development more generally, come from Dynamic Systems Theory. We present two examples of recent work focusing on the real-time decision processes that underlie performance in the tasks used to measure the shape bias. We show how this work, and the dynamic systems perspective, sheds light on the controversy over the origins and development of the shape bias. In addition, we suggest that this dynamic systems perspective provides the right level for explanations of development because it requires a focus on the details of behavior over multiple timescales.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Larissa K Samuelson
- Department of Psychology and Iowa Center for Developmental and Learning Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
30
|
Simmering VR, Schutte AR, Spencer JP. Generalizing the dynamic field theory of spatial cognition across real and developmental time scales. Brain Res 2008; 1202:68-86. [PMID: 17716632 PMCID: PMC2593104 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.06.081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2007] [Accepted: 06/09/2007] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Within cognitive neuroscience, computational models are designed to provide insights into the organization of behavior while adhering to neural principles. These models should provide sufficient specificity to generate novel predictions while maintaining the generality needed to capture behavior across tasks and/or time scales. This paper presents one such model, the dynamic field theory (DFT) of spatial cognition, showing new simulations that provide a demonstration proof that the theory generalizes across developmental changes in performance in four tasks-the Piagetian A-not-B task, a sandbox version of the A-not-B task, a canonical spatial recall task, and a position discrimination task. Model simulations demonstrate that the DFT can accomplish both specificity-generating novel, testable predictions-and generality-spanning multiple tasks across development with a relatively simple developmental hypothesis. Critically, the DFT achieves generality across tasks and time scales with no modification to its basic structure and with a strong commitment to neural principles. The only change necessary to capture development in the model was an increase in the precision of the tuning of receptive fields as well as an increase in the precision of local excitatory interactions among neurons in the model. These small quantitative changes were sufficient to move the model through a set of quantitative and qualitative behavioral changes that span the age range from 8 months to 6 years and into adulthood. We conclude by considering how the DFT is positioned in the literature, the challenges on the horizon for our framework, and how a dynamic field approach can yield new insights into development from a computational cognitive neuroscience perspective.
Collapse
|
31
|
Simmering VR, Peterson C, Darling W, Spencer JP. Location memory biases reveal the challenges of coordinating visual and kinesthetic reference frames. Exp Brain Res 2007; 184:165-78. [PMID: 17703284 PMCID: PMC2630493 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-007-1089-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2007] [Accepted: 07/29/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Five experiments explored the influence of visual and kinesthetic/proprioceptive reference frames on location memory. Experiments 1 and 2 compared visual and kinesthetic reference frames in a memory task using visually-specified locations and a visually-guided response. When the environment was visible, results replicated previous findings of biases away from the midline symmetry axis of the task space, with stability for targets aligned with this axis. When the environment was not visible, results showed some evidence of bias away from a kinesthetically-specified midline (trunk anterior-posterior [a-p] axis), but there was little evidence of stability when targets were aligned with body midline. This lack of stability may reflect the challenges of coordinating visual and kinesthetic information in the absence of an environmental reference frame. Thus, Experiments 3-5 examined kinesthetic guidance of hand movement to kinesthetically-defined targets. Performance in these experiments was generally accurate with no evidence of consistent biases away from the trunk a-p axis. We discuss these results in the context of the challenges of coordinating reference frames within versus between multiple sensori-motor systems.
Collapse
|