Visual objects interact differently during encoding and memory maintenance
- PDF / 1,439,328 Bytes
- 17 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 11 Downloads / 193 Views
Visual objects interact differently during encoding and memory maintenance Stefan Czoschke 1
&
Benjamin Peters 1 & Benjamin Rahm 2 & Jochen Kaiser 1 & Christoph Bledowski 1
# The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2019
Abstract The storage mechanisms of working memory are the matter of an ongoing debate. The sensory recruitment hypothesis states that memory maintenance and perceptual encoding rely on the same neural substrate. This suggests that the same cortical mechanisms that shape object perception also apply to maintained memory content. We tested this prediction using the Direction Illusion, i.e., the mutual repulsion of two concurrently visible motion directions. Participants memorized the directions of two random dot patterns for later recall. In Experiments 1 and 2, we varied the temporal separation of spatially distinct stimuli to manipulate perceptual concurrency, while keeping concurrency within working memory constant. We observed mutual motion repulsion only under simultaneous stimulus presentation, but proactive repulsion and retroactive attraction under immediate stimulus succession. At inter-stimulus intervals of 0.5 and 2 s, however, proactive repulsion vanished, while the retroactive attraction remained. In Experiment 3, we presented both stimuli at the same spatial position and observed a reappearance of the repulsion effect. Our results indicate that the repulsive mechanisms that shape object perception across space fade during the transition from a perceptual representation to a consolidated memory content. This suggests differences in the underlying structure of perceptual and mnemonic representations. The persistence of local interactions, however, indicates different mechanisms of spatially global and local feature interactions. Keywords Working memory . Sensory recruitment . Bias . Motion repulsion . Direction illusion
Introduction Significance Statement A prominent explanation of how the brain manages the short-term retention of incoming information proposes that short-term memory relies on the recruitment of the same sensory areas that construct perceptual representations (“sensory recruitment hypothesis”). We tested this assumption by investigating whether the Direction Illusion occurs between concurrently maintained memory representations. We observed the Direction Illusion under perceptual concurrency, but not between concurrently maintained memory representations. Our results suggest that at least certain principles that shape object perception do not operate within shortterm memory. This challenges the view that short-term memory maintenance and perception rely on the same underlying processes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01861-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Stefan Czoschke [email protected] 1
Institute of Medical Psychology, Goethe University, Heinrich-Hoffmann-Strasse 10, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2
Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Facu
Data Loading...
