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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...
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Controlled processes in human consciousness represent high-alert mental states where individuals deliberately focus their attention on achieving specific goals. Controlled processes can be seen in situations like mastering new technology, where a person might become so absorbed that they ignore surrounding distractions. Such processes involve selective attention, requiring one to concentrate on particular elements of experience while disregarding others. These are governed by executive...
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Perception is a fundamental psychological process that enables individuals to organize, interpret, and consciously experience sensory information. This process is crucial for understanding and interacting with the world around us. It includes both bottom-up and top-down processing, each playing a distinct role in how we perceive our environment.
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The concept of subconscious awareness refers to the processing of information below the level of conscious thought, which significantly influences both behaviors and decisions. It is also known as waking subconscious awareness. This complex level of cognition operates without the direct awareness of the individual, facilitating rapid and simultaneous handling of multiple information streams.
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Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2025

The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice
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Shifting attention between perception and working memory.

Daniela Gresch1, Sage E P Boettcher1, Freek van Ede2

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Cognition
|January 26, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Shifting attention between external senses and internal working memory is harder than shifting within a single domain. These "between-domain" attention shifts incur significant costs, even with more time.

Keywords:
External attentionFixational gaze behaviourInternal attentionShifting attentionVision

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Everyday tasks involve shifting attention between external sensory input and internal working memory.
  • Previous research has primarily studied attention shifts within these domains, leaving inter-domain shifts under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate and compare the cognitive costs of shifting spatial attention within versus between the external perception and internal working memory domains.
  • To understand the mechanisms underlying attention shifts crucial for adaptive behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a novel task combining perception and working memory to cue attention to either external stimuli or internal representations.
  • Participants performed "stay" trials (maintaining attention) and "shift" trials (reorienting attention) within or between domains.
  • Monitored eye-gaze behavior to track attentional orienting dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Participants successfully shifted attention within both perception and working memory domains.
  • Significantly greater costs (slower responses/increased errors) were observed when shifting attention between domains compared to within domains.
  • These between-domain attention costs persisted even with extended time for the attentional shift.

Conclusions:

  • Shifting attention between perception and working memory is a distinct cognitive process with unique control demands.
  • The findings suggest a unique control function may regulate inter-domain attentional transitions.
  • This research advances our understanding of attention dynamics in everyday cognition and adaptive behavior.