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

Working memory and attention play pivotal roles in navigating the external environment and constructing our understanding of the world. Extensive research has demonstrated that items stored in visual working memory (VWM) can capture attention during visual search tasks, a phenomenon known as VWM-guided attention. However, a debate remains regarding the number of items that can guide attention. While early findings support a single-template limitation, more recent studies suggest that multiple items may guide attention when perceptually grouped. Yet this work has largely focused on static stimuli. In contrast, dynamic, temporally unfolding interactions, which are more representative of real-world perception, remain underexplored. Although previous research has shown that a single motion cue can capture attention, it remains unclear whether two separate motions, when bound by a meaningful dynamic relation, can function as a unified attentional template. In this study, we examine whether causality, a spontaneously perceived and ecologically valid dynamic relation, can restructure memory representations to modulate attention. We manipulated the presence of phenomenal causality using variations in time intervals, motion paths, and motion order. The results revealed that when causality existed between two memory items, singleton distractors matching either of the memory items could guide attention in visual search tasks, whereas this effect disappeared in the absence of phenomenal causality. These findings suggest that causality can indeed modulate VWM-guided attention.