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Published on: August 29, 2018
Precision in visual working memory reaches a stable plateau when individual item limits are exceeded
David E Anderson1, Edward K Vogel, Edward Awh
1Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Summary
Working memory (WM) precision declines with more items, but plateaus when individual item limits are reached. Both behavioral and neural measures confirm this capacity limit in visual working memory.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Working memory (WM) resolution decreases as the number of stored items increases.
- Discrete-resource models predict a plateau in WM decline at small set sizes, while flexible-resource models predict continuous decline.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether working memory resolution plateaus or declines indefinitely with increasing set sizes.
- To examine the relationship between individual working memory capacity and the set size at which resolution stabilizes.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral experiments measuring visual working memory resolution across different set sizes.
- Analysis of individual differences in working memory item limits.
- Measurement of contralateral delay activity (CDA) to track neural activity during WM maintenance.
Main Results:
- Working memory resolution showed monotonic declines up to a set size of three items, after which it reached a clear asymptote.
- Individual item limits strongly correlated with the set size at which resolution plateaued.
- Contralateral delay activity (CDA) monotonically increased and plateaued at a set size predicting individual working memory capacity.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral and neural data support discrete-resource models of working memory.
- Visual working memory precision reaches an asymptote when individual item limits are exceeded.
- Neural measures of on-line storage predict the behavioral capacity limits in working memory.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Working Memory
Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.
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Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
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