Finding the answer in space: the mental whiteboard hypothesis on serial order in working memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Prominent working memory (WM) models use fixed position markers for serial order coding.
• Existing models lack detailed cognitive or neural specifications for these position markers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel mechanism for serial position markers in WM.
• To ground serial order WM in the spatial attention system.

Main Methods:

• Hypothesizing position markers as coordinates in an internal spatial system.
• Proposing spatial attention for searching and retrieval in WM.
• Reviewing empirical, neural, and neuropsychological evidence.

Main Results:

• Spatial attention system as a candidate mechanism for serial order WM.
• Internal spatial coordinates as position markers.
• Spatial attention guiding search and retrieval.

Conclusions:

• The spatial attention hypothesis offers a parsimonious framework for WM serial order.
• Integrates behavioral, neural, and neuropsychological findings.
• Identifies key questions for future research on spatial attention in WM.