2018 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Dynamic attentional control of internal representations in visual working memory
| Project/Area Number |
17K13962
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
李 キ 東京大学, 大学院人文社会系研究科(文学部), 助教 (30757711)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | visual working memory / dynamic control / retro-cue |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In FY 2018, two series of experiments have been carried out to investigate dynamic control of visual working memory representations.
The first series of experiments was conducted to test the reliability and generality of the findings obtained in FY 2017. The benefits of suppressing a non-spatial dimension and the costs of suppressing a spatial dimension were replicated using a modified version of task in my previous experiments. An important implication of the study is that binding between spatial and non-spatial dimensions is strong, while binding between two non-spatial dimensions is weak.
The second series of experiments carried out in FY 2018 investigated whether participants can use order information to access mental representations stored in visual working memory. In these experiments, the participants sequentially encoded and maintained two arrays of visual stimuli. During the retention interval, an order-cue indicating either the first or the second array was presented to ask the participants selectively attend a subset of representations held in visual working memory. The results show reliable evidence that order information is automatically maintained, and can be retrospectively used to manipulate the contents of visual working memory.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
In many situations, human behavior requires the ability to memorize sequential visual information. The new experiments conducted in FY 2018 provide the first evidence that order information can be retrospectively used to selectively facilitate sequentially encoded representations within visual working memory. The findings in FY 2018 shed new light on the control mechanisms of visual working memory.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Results of my experiments investigating the role of order information within visual working memory suggest that the order of a sequence of visual events is automatically encoded and maintained in visual working memory. In FY 2019, I will conduct new experiments investigating a theoretical important question of whether order information is represented in a different memory system independent to the storage of visual objects. Addressing this issue is expected to provide further information about the structure of visual working memory.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The ability to process serial order has been considered crucial in cognition. In the end of FY 2018, a new series of experiments was performed to investigate whether and how order information can be used to manipulate visual working memory representations. The findings from these experiments revealed new insights into the dynamic control mechanisms of visual working memory. I am planning on attending an international academic conference to present these research findings. The remained amount of FY 2018 will be used to cover the travel expenses and conference expenses.
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