Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Object features reinstated from episodic memory guide attentional selection

Published inCognition, vol. 197, 104158
Publication date2020
Abstract

When observers search for an object in the environment, they compare the incoming sensory information to the attentional template, a representation of the target in visual working memory (VWM). Previous studies have shown that visual search is more efficient when the attentional template is precise. We pursued the hypothesis that the attentional template in VWM is automatically complemented by features from long-term memory, possibly to increase its precision. At the beginning of the experiment, observers learned associations between shape and color. Then, we tested whether selecting one of these shapes was influenced by the previously associated color. To this end, we ran a saccadic selection task consisting of a memory and choice display. In the memory display, the target shape was presented at central fixation and participants were instructed to foveate this shape in the subsequent choice display. In the choice display, the target shape appeared together with a distractor shape at eccentric positions. Importantly, the target shape was colorless in the memory display so that only shape, but not color was loaded into VWM. However, saccades went more frequently to the target shape when it was shown in the learned color than when this color was shown in the distractor. Thus, the color of the target shape was reinstated from episodic memory to complement the attentional template in VWM.

Keywords
  • Visual search
  • Attentional template
  • Attentional selection
  • Feature-based attention
  • Visual working memory
  • Episodic memory
Research groups
Citation (ISO format)
KERZEL, Dirk, ANDRES, Maïté Kun-Sook. Object features reinstated from episodic memory guide attentional selection. In: Cognition, 2020, vol. 197, p. 104158. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104158
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Article (Accepted version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0010-0277
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