Processing of Spatial Configurations in Visual Working Memory
Final Report Abstract
People do not encode multiple object locations independently in visual working memory, but they represent them in relation to the global spatial configuration of the memorized objects. In the present project, we experimentally investigated the mechanism underlying the processing of spatial configuration in visual working memory. In a first set of experiments, we showed that the spatial configurations represented in visual working memory can be updated directly during memorization by so-called retro-cues. This reorganization was independent of the number of objects (our displays contained 4 to 16 objects) and the individual working memory capacity of the participants. In a second set of experiments, we investigated the updating of spatial configurations by self-motion in laboratory experiments with a VR-headset. Although self-motion did not lead to an update of spatial configurations in visual working memory, we observed a reorganization of spatial configurations in visual working memory based on retro-cues in a large number of experiments within our project. Our results, thus, contradict the assumption expressed in previous studies that spatial configurations are represented as a global snapshot of the scene in a separate memory. Instead, our results suggest a flexibility of the underlying representation, such as the parallel representation of multiple spatial configurations in visual working memory. In a third set of experiments, we investigated whether there is a common mechanism driving configuration and context effects across paradigms. We conducted experiments on the replicability and reliability of various configuration and context effects. While some configuration and context effects could not be replicated or were difficult to replicate, other configuration and context effects showed too low a reliability for the planned cross-paradigm investigation. Thus, it is not yet possible to say whether there is a common mechanism driving configuration and context effects across paradigms based on our project. An unexpected finding in our project was the influence of eye movements on the processing of spatial configurations in visual working memory. We observed stronger configuration effects with free eye movements than when participants had to fixate the center of the screen and were not allowed to make any eye movements. This unexpected finding suggests a close link between perception and memory processes in the processing of spatial configurations. Further investigations of the influence of eye movements on the processing of spatial configurations in visual working memory seems to be a promising way to expand our understanding of the mechanism underlying spatial configuration influences in visual working memory in future follow-up studies.
Publications
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Reorganization of spatial configurations in visual working memory. Memory & Cognition, 47(8), 1469-1480.
Timm, J. David & Papenmeier, Frank
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Reorganization of spatial configurations in visual working memory: A matter of set size?. PLOS ONE, 14(11), e0225068.
Timm, J. David & Papenmeier, Frank
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(Re-)organisation of spatial configurations in visual working memory: The fate of objects rendered relevant or irrelevant by selective attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(12), 2246-2259.
Timm, J. David & Papenmeier, Frank
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Do group ensemble statistics bias visual working memory for individual items? A registered replication of Brady and Alvarez Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83(3), 1329-1336.
Papenmeier, Frank & Timm, J. David
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Processing spatial configurations in visuospatial working memory is influenced by shifts of overt visual attention. PLOS ONE, 18(2), e0281445.
Timm, J. David & Papenmeier, Frank
