Feature-Specific Encoding Flexibility in Visual Working Memory |
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Authors: | Aki Kondo Jun Saiki |
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Affiliation: | 1. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.; 2. Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.; CSIC-Univ Miguel Hernandez, Spain, |
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Abstract: | The current study examined selective encoding in visual working memory by systematically investigating interference from task-irrelevant features. The stimuli were objects defined by three features (color, shape, and location), and during a delay period, any of the features could switch between two objects. Additionally, single- and whole-probe trials were randomized within experimental blocks to investigate effects of memory retrieval. A series of relevant-feature switch detection tasks, where one feature was task-irrelevant, showed that interference from the task-irrelevant feature was only observed in the color-shape task, suggesting that color and shape information could be successfully filtered out, but location information could not, even when location was a task-irrelevant feature. Therefore, although location information is added to object representations independent of task demands in a relatively automatic manner, other features (e.g., color, shape) can be flexibly added to object representations. |
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