Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026
13:00
Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
Visual Selection Is Spatially Constrained During Working Memory Consolidation
Ruoyu Lu1,2, Jan Theeuwes1,3, Zhi Li1,2
1Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|May 28, 2026
Summary
Working memory consolidation impairs visual selection by creating a spatial suppression. This attentional window flexibly adjusts its size based on the memory being consolidated.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Attention Research
Background:
- Working memory consolidation (WMC) consumes attentional resources, impacting subsequent tasks.
- The precise mechanism of WMC's interference with visual selection is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how working memory consolidation affects the initial stages of visual selection.
- To differentiate between No-suppression, Pure-temporal-suppression, and Spatial-suppression hypotheses.
Main Methods:
- A sequential target-matching task was employed.
- Interstimulus intervals (ISIs) varied to manipulate consolidation state.
- Spatial cues were used to assess attentional guidance.
Main Results:
- Spatial cues failed to guide attention during early consolidation (10-ms ISI) but succeeded post-consolidation (1000-ms ISI).
- Cueing effects were restored during consolidation when the target item spatially encompassed the cue (0 and 150-ms ISIs).
Conclusions:
- Findings support the Spatial-suppression hypothesis.
- Visual selection during WMC is controlled by a flexible spatial attentional window.
- The attentional bottleneck in WMC is a spatial phenomenon.
