1. Object-based attention in retaining binding in working memory: Influence of activation states of working memory
- Author
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Fan Wu, Mowei Shen, Jiaofeng Li, Zaifeng Gao, Kaifeng He, and Xueyi Wan
- Subjects
Working memory ,05 social sciences ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Stimulus (physiology) ,050105 experimental psychology ,Mental rotation ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Memory, Short-Term ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Visual Perception ,Maintenance phase ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Attention ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Object-based attention ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
It has been suggested that retaining bindings in working memory (WM) requires more object-based attention than retaining constituent features. Recent studies have found that when memorized stimuli are presented sequentially, the most recent stimulus is in a highly accessible privileged state such that it is retained in a relatively automatic and resource-free manner, whereas the other stimuli are in a non-privileged state. The current study investigated whether the activation states of WM modulate the role of object-based attention in retaining bindings in WM. To address this question, we presented three colored shapes sequentially and added a transparent-motion task (Experiment 1) or a mental rotation task (Experiment 2) into the WM maintenance phase to consume object-based attention. We consistently found that consuming object-based attention led to a larger impairment to bindings relative to constituent features, which is independent of the WM activation states, suggesting that object-based attention is critical in retaining bindings in WM across activation states of WM.
- Published
- 2020