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Task-Irrelevant Features in Visual Working Memory Influence Covert Attention: Evidence from a Partial Report Task.

Rebecca M Foerster1, Werner X Schneider2

  • 1Neuro-Cognitive Psychology & Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), & Cognitive Interaction Technology Cluster of Excellence (CITEC), Bielefeld University, P.O. Box 100131, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany.

Vision (Basel, Switzerland)
|November 19, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Even irrelevant colors in visual working memory (VWM) can involuntarily capture attention. This study shows that task-irrelevant features of a VWM template influence covert attention, impacting search performance.

Keywords:
attentional capturecovert attentioninvoluntary top-down controltemplatevisual working memory

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Visual working memory (VWM) guides attention to matching targets.
  • Previous research indicated task-irrelevant features can bias attention.
  • The current study explores if covert attention is captured similarly to overt eye movements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether irrelevant features of a VWM template involuntarily capture covert attention.
  • To determine if this capture is object-based.
  • To assess the impact on visual search performance.

Main Methods:

  • A partial report task was employed.
  • Participants viewed a cue, then two colored shapes with letters.
  • The task involved reporting the letter from the shape matching the cue, with varying color matches between cue, target, and distractor.

Main Results:

  • Target-letter reports were highest when the target matched the cue's irrelevant color.
  • Distractor reports increased when the distractor shared the cue's irrelevant color, hindering target performance.
  • This effect persisted even when the cue and target colors never matched.

Conclusions:

  • Irrelevant features stored in VWM can involuntarily influence covert attention.
  • Attention capture by irrelevant features is object-based.
  • This mechanism impacts visual search for targets with dynamically changing features.