Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 12, 2025
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Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
10.1K
Spatial location is filtered out of visual working memory representations when task irrelevant, just like other
1Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Nashville, TN, USA. geoffrey.f.woodman@vanderbilt.edu.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|March 17, 2021
Summary
We can control which object features enter visual working memory. Spatial location is not automatically stored unless task-relevant, challenging prior beliefs about obligatory feature binding.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Early theories proposed obligatory storage of bound object features in visual working memory.
- Recent research suggests inhibition of irrelevant feature encoding is possible.
- The special status of spatial location in visual working memory remains debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether spatial location is obligatorily encoded into visual working memory.
- To determine if selective storage of object features, including location, is possible.
- To test the hypothesis that feature binding in visual working memory is flexible.
Main Methods:
- A masking paradigm was employed to assess encoding efficiency into visual working memory.
- Participants performed tasks requiring memory for object location, color, or both.
- Consolidation efficiency measures were used to quantify feature storage.
Main Results:
- Encoding efficiency for spatial location was dependent on task relevance.
- Spatial location was not encoded when irrelevant to the task.
- Color and location were selectively stored based on task demands.
Conclusions:
- Spatial location is not obligatorily bound to objects in visual working memory.
- Selective storage of object features, including spatial location, is under cognitive control.
- Findings challenge theories of mandatory feature binding in visual working memory.
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