The relation matters: Visual working memory-guided attention can be modulated by causality between memory items.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Visual working memory (VWM) stores information, influencing attention during visual search (VWM-guided attention).
• Previous research debated whether one or multiple VWM items guide attention, often using static stimuli.
• The role of dynamic relations in VWM-guided attention, especially with multiple items, remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if a meaningful dynamic relation, specifically causality, can unify multiple memory items to guide attention.
• To determine if phenomenal causality can modulate VWM-guided attention in visual search tasks.
• To explore the ecological validity of dynamic interactions in attentional guidance.

Main Methods:

• Manipulating the presence of phenomenal causality between two memory items using variations in timing, motion paths, and order.
• Employing visual search tasks with singleton distractors that matched one of the memory items.
• Comparing attentional guidance effects in the presence versus absence of perceived causality.

Main Results:

• When phenomenal causality was present between two memory items, distractors matching either item successfully guided attention.
• This VWM-guided attention effect diminished when phenomenal causality was absent.
• The findings indicate that causality acts as a binding mechanism for VWM items.

Conclusions:

• Causality can effectively bind multiple items in visual working memory, allowing them to function as a unified attentional template.
• This study demonstrates that dynamic, ecologically valid relations like causality play a crucial role in modulating VWM-guided attention.
• The findings extend our understanding of VWM's attentional guidance beyond static representations into dynamic interactions.