Processing of Spatial Configurations in Visual Working Memory

• Applicant: Dr. Frank Papenmeier
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 357136437

Spatial configurations are an important part of the organization of visual working memory. Even when asking observers to encode multiple object locations independently, for example, they also automatically process and encode the spatial configuration of those objects. With this project, we will contribute to the theoretical understanding of how spatial configurations are processed within visual working memory. Thereby, this project will expand our understanding of the structure of visual working memory. To achieve this goal, the mechanism underlying effects of spatial configurations on visual working memory will be investigated in several experiments.This project focuses on the following two research questions:a.) Can spatial configurations be updated during active memorization? We will investigate this research questions by studying whether global spatial configurations can be reorganized to partial spatial configurations during memorizations (Experiments Reorganization) and whether the viewpoint-dependent representation of spatial configurations can be updated to new perspectives by self-motion or scene rotations (Experiments Rotation). The results of these experiments will help to determine whether spatial configuration contribute to the encoding of information only or whether they also contribute to the active memorization of information in visual working memory.b) When considering the literature on configuration and context effects, it is evident that such effects exist in multiple paradigms and not only for spatial configurations. Is there a common mechanism driving those configuration and context effects? Using an individual differences approach, the functional relationship(s) between context effects across multiple paradigms will be investigated (Experiment Cross-Paradigms). This study allows for the integration and separation of multiple configuration and context effects and thereby helps to advance our theoretical understanding of the mechanism underlying spatial configuration effects.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Markus Huff; Professor Dr. Stephan Schwan