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Sensory reliance in visual working memory across active and passive states
Xinran Chen1, Huixin Song1, Mowei Shen2
1Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Cognition
|May 16, 2026
Summary
Both active and passive states of visual working memory (VWM) engage sensory storage, similarly impacting visual detection. This suggests comparable sensory demands across VWM states.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Sensory Processing
Background:
- Visual working memory (VWM) is theorized to have active and passive states.
- It remains debated whether these states differentially engage sensory storage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if active/passive VWM states differentially impact sensory storage.
- To test if VWM load affects detection sensitivity to visual stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Utilized psychophysiological probing to assess sensory storage in VWM.
- Manipulated active/passive VWM states across multiple experiments.
- Observed effects on visual detection sensitivity and attentional bias.
Main Results:
- Loading active or passive VWM states similarly impaired visual detection.
- Confirmed comparable sensory demands for both active and passive VWM states.
- Demonstrated that VWM storage, not release, interferes with sensory processing.
Conclusions:
- Both active and passive VWM states engage sensory storage.
- These states have comparable functional consequences for concurrent sensory processing.
- Findings clarify the sensory nature of VWM storage.
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