Carry-over effect of learned distractor suppression on visual working memory.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Visual statistical learning guides attention by suppressing frequent distractor locations.
• Attention and working memory (WM) are thought to share cognitive resources.
• The interaction between learned distractor suppression and WM is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if learned spatial suppression of distractors impacts WM representation.
• To examine the role of working memory load in this interaction.
• To explore the underlying mechanisms of attentional suppression and WM.

Main Methods:

• Participants underwent a visual search task to induce statistical learning of distractor locations.
• A delayed discrimination task assessed WM for targets at learned high- and low-probability distractor sites.
• Two experiments manipulated working memory load (one vs. two targets).

Main Results:

• Learned distractor suppression impaired WM performance at high, but not low, cognitive load.
• Under high load, targets at high-probability distractor locations showed reduced sensitivity and increased false alarms.
• This suggests a carry-over effect of attentional suppression on WM representation.

Conclusions:

• The impact of learned attentional suppression on working memory is contingent on working memory load.
• Statistical learning likely down-regulates sensory gain at suppressed locations.
• Findings support a shared resource model for attention and working memory, where attentional biases influence WM.