The role of working memory in spatial contextual cueing
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1
The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia
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2
The School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Australia
The visual environment provides us with far more information than can be consciously processed. Attentional mechanisms are fundamental in overcoming this capacity limit, allowing us to prioritize task-relevant (target) information over less relevant (distractor) information. Environmental regularities can guide attention during visual search, as demonstrated by the spatial contextual cueing paradigm. Repeated exposure to a visual search scene, with invariant distractor information, can enhance search times. Here, we investigated the role of spatial working memory resources in spatial contextual cueing. Participants performed 2 tasks concurrently: a visual search task, in which the spatial configuration of some search arrays occasionally repeated, and a working memory task. We found that contextual learning was significantly impaired with increases in working memory load. These findings show that spatial contextual cueing relies on working memory resources.
Keywords:
contextual cueing,
working memory,
Attention,
dual-task,
Guidance,
visual search
Conference:
ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Attention
Citation:
Travis
SL,
Mattingley
JB and
Dux
PE
(2012). The role of working memory in spatial contextual cueing.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00095
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Received:
25 Oct 2012;
Published Online:
07 Nov 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Ms. Susan L Travis, The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, susan.leigh.travis@gmail.com
Dr. Paul E Dux, The School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, paul.e.dux@gmail.com