Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Working Memory

Working 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...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Concurrent selection of internal goals and external sensations during visual search.

Science advances·2025

Same author

Neural dynamics of shifting attention between perception and working-memory contents.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2024

Same author

Attentional shifts bias microsaccade direction but do not cause new microsaccades.

Communications psychology·2024

Same author

Intentional learning establishes multiple attentional sets that simultaneously guide attention.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2024

Same author

Jointly looking to the past and the future in visual working memory.

eLife·2024

Same author

No obligatory trade-off between the use of space and time for working memory.

Communications psychology·2024

Same journal

Estimating probabilities of malaria importation in southern Mozambique through modelling <i>P. falciparum</i> genomics and mobility patterns.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Conformational variability of HIV-1 Env trimer and viral vulnerability.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Disinformation elicits learning biases.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Correction: Generation of a transparent killifish line through multiplex CRISPR/Cas9mediated gene inactivation.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Differential regulation of hepatic macrophage fate by Chi3l1 in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Deciphering interferon functions in avian influenza using receptor knockout models in the natural host.

eLife·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Home
Re-focusing Visual Working Memory During Expected And Unexpected Memory Tests.

Home
Re-focusing Visual Working Memory During Expected And Unexpected Memory Tests.

Related Experiment Video

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

Re-focusing visual working memory during expected and unexpected memory tests.

Sisi Wang¹, Freek van Ede¹

¹Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

|April 22, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Humans can re-orient attention within working memory after both expected and unexpected tests. This internal attentional shift suggests memory tests prompt either verification or revision of our mental focus.

Keywords:

alpha oscillations attentional orienting human internal attention microsaccades neuroscience selective attention working memory

More Related Videos

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

Published on: December 5, 2014

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

Published on: December 5, 2014

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

External attention distinguishes between anticipatory orienting and re-orienting to unexpected events.
The mechanisms of internal attention re-orienting within working memory, especially after expected vs. unexpected tests, are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the re-orienting of attention within the spatial layout of visual working memory.
To differentiate internal attentional deployment following expected and unexpected working memory tests.

Main Methods:

Utilized spatial modulations in neural activity and gaze tracking.
Analyzed attentional re-orienting within visual working memory following central memory tests.
Differentiated responses based on certain, expected, or unexpected mnemonic content.

Main Results:

Identified a second stage of internal attentional deployment beyond initial orienting, occurring after both expected and unexpected memory tests.
Observed that internal attentional deployment after expected tests was not contingent on prior orienting, suggesting memory verification ('double checking').
Found that re-focusing on alternative memory content was prolonged following unexpected tests.

Conclusions:

Attentional re-orienting is a key process within working memory.
Working memory tests can elicit distinct internal attentional strategies: verification for expected content and revision for unexpected content.
This research expands the understanding of internal attention and working memory dynamics.