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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Do the contents of visual working memory automatically influence attentional selection during visual search?
Geoffrey F Woodman1, Steven J Luck
1Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. geoffrey.f.woodman@vanderbilt.edu
Summary
Working memory and perception interact dynamically. Contrary to expectations, maintaining items in visual working memory (VWM) did not automatically capture attention but allowed flexible control for processing facilitation or inhibition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Cognitive theories propose interactive roles for working memory and perception.
- Previous research suggested sensory inputs matching working memory contents gain automatic processing advantages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether contents of visual working memory automatically capture attention.
- To determine if working memory influences perception through a controllable bias.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a visual search task.
- Object representations were concurrently maintained in visual working memory.
Main Results:
- No evidence for automatic attentional capture by items matching working memory contents was found.
- Participants actively avoided attending to these items.
Conclusions:
- Working memory contents can be flexibly utilized for either processing facilitation or inhibition.
- Attention is not automatically biased by working memory contents; flexible control is demonstrated.
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