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Published on: December 5, 2014
Perceptual asymmetries are preserved in short-term memory tasks
Leila Montaser-Kouhsari1, Marisa Carrasco
1Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, Room 957, New York, NY 10003, USA. lmk306@nyu.edu
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|November 26, 2009
Summary
Visual performance and spatial frequency perception vary across the visual field. These spatial asymmetries in encoding impact visual short-term memory (VSTM) performance.
Area of Science:
- Visual perception
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Visual performance varies across the visual field, with better performance on the horizontal meridian and worse performance in the upper vertical meridian.
- It remains unclear if these spatial performance variations extend to spatial frequency tasks and visual short-term memory (VSTM).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate spatial frequency discrimination and perception similarities between perceptual and VSTM tasks.
- To determine if visual field asymmetries observed in perception are also present in VSTM.
Main Methods:
- Spatial frequency discrimination tasks were conducted under simultaneous (perceptual) and delayed (VSTM) conditions.
- Perceived spatial frequency was measured in both perceptual and VSTM tasks across different visual field locations.
Main Results:
- Performance in both perceptual and VSTM spatial frequency discrimination tasks varied with location, being better on the horizontal meridian than the vertical.
- Perceived spatial frequency was consistently higher along the horizontal meridian compared to the vertical meridian.
Conclusions:
- Spatial performance inhomogeneities observed in perception are also present in VSTM.
- Perceived spatial frequency may mediate performance differences in VSTM across the visual field, highlighting the impact of encoding quality on memory.
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