Temporal structure in visual working memory: Contributions of relative order and item-interval associations

Visual working memory (VWM) encodes not only visual content but also the temporal structure in which information unfolds. This study examined how two components of temporal structure-relative order and item-interval associations-shape VWM representations when sequence information is not task-relevant. In Experiment 1, participants performed a color change detection task while the relative order of items between memory and test sequences was varied and the magnitude of absolute order change was held constant. Disrupting relative order impaired performance, indicating that interitem temporal relations support memory independently of absolute positional change. In Experiment 2, we manipulated whether each item retained its original interstimulus interval from encoding. Sensitivity was higher when item-interval pairings were preserved, particularly when relative order was disrupted. These findings show that VWM integrates item identity and temporal context, with relative order and temporal spacing providing incidental cues that support memory-based decisions.