Flexibility of representational states in working memory.

The relationship between working memory (WM) and attention is a highly interdependent one, with evidence that attention determines the state in which items in WM are retained. Through focusing of attention, an item might be held in a more prioritized state, commonly termed as the focus of attention...

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Hoofdauteurs: Zokaei, N, Ning, S, Manohar, S, Feredoes, E, Husain, M
Formaat: Journal article
Taal:English
Gepubliceerd in: Frontiers Research Foundation 2014
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author Zokaei, N
Ning, S
Manohar, S
Feredoes, E
Husain, M
author_facet Zokaei, N
Ning, S
Manohar, S
Feredoes, E
Husain, M
author_sort Zokaei, N
collection OXFORD
description The relationship between working memory (WM) and attention is a highly interdependent one, with evidence that attention determines the state in which items in WM are retained. Through focusing of attention, an item might be held in a more prioritized state, commonly termed as the focus of attention (FOA). The remaining items, although still retrievable, are considered to be in a different representational state. One means to bring an item into the FOA is to use retrospective cues ("retro-cues") which direct attention to one of the objects retained in WM. Alternatively, an item can enter a privileged state once attention is directed towards it through bottom-up influences (e.g., recency effect) or by performing an action on one of the retained items ("incidental" cueing). In all these cases, the item in the FOA is recalled with better accuracy compared to the other items in WM. Far less is known about the nature of the other items in WM and whether they can be flexibly manipulated in and out of the FOA. We present data from three types of experiments as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to early visual cortex to manipulate the item inside FOA. Taken together, our results suggest that the context in which items are retained in WM matters. When an item remains behaviorally relevant, despite not being inside the FOA, re-focusing attention upon it can increase its recall precision. This suggests that a non-FOA item can be held in a state in which it can be later retrieved. However, if an item is rendered behaviorally unimportant because it is very unlikely to be probed, it cannot be brought back into the FOA, nor recalled with high precision. Under such conditions, some information appears to be irretrievably lost from WM. These findings, obtained from several different methods, demonstrate quite considerable flexibility with which items in WM can be represented depending upon context. They have important consequences for emerging state-dependent models of WM.
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spelling oxford-uuid:03c7024e-6d09-4737-ab96-53bc3d8f40dd2022-03-26T08:48:08ZFlexibility of representational states in working memory.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:03c7024e-6d09-4737-ab96-53bc3d8f40ddEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordFrontiers Research Foundation2014Zokaei, NNing, SManohar, SFeredoes, EHusain, MThe relationship between working memory (WM) and attention is a highly interdependent one, with evidence that attention determines the state in which items in WM are retained. Through focusing of attention, an item might be held in a more prioritized state, commonly termed as the focus of attention (FOA). The remaining items, although still retrievable, are considered to be in a different representational state. One means to bring an item into the FOA is to use retrospective cues ("retro-cues") which direct attention to one of the objects retained in WM. Alternatively, an item can enter a privileged state once attention is directed towards it through bottom-up influences (e.g., recency effect) or by performing an action on one of the retained items ("incidental" cueing). In all these cases, the item in the FOA is recalled with better accuracy compared to the other items in WM. Far less is known about the nature of the other items in WM and whether they can be flexibly manipulated in and out of the FOA. We present data from three types of experiments as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to early visual cortex to manipulate the item inside FOA. Taken together, our results suggest that the context in which items are retained in WM matters. When an item remains behaviorally relevant, despite not being inside the FOA, re-focusing attention upon it can increase its recall precision. This suggests that a non-FOA item can be held in a state in which it can be later retrieved. However, if an item is rendered behaviorally unimportant because it is very unlikely to be probed, it cannot be brought back into the FOA, nor recalled with high precision. Under such conditions, some information appears to be irretrievably lost from WM. These findings, obtained from several different methods, demonstrate quite considerable flexibility with which items in WM can be represented depending upon context. They have important consequences for emerging state-dependent models of WM.
spellingShingle Zokaei, N
Ning, S
Manohar, S
Feredoes, E
Husain, M
Flexibility of representational states in working memory.
title Flexibility of representational states in working memory.
title_full Flexibility of representational states in working memory.
title_fullStr Flexibility of representational states in working memory.
title_full_unstemmed Flexibility of representational states in working memory.
title_short Flexibility of representational states in working memory.
title_sort flexibility of representational states in working memory
work_keys_str_mv AT zokaein flexibilityofrepresentationalstatesinworkingmemory
AT nings flexibilityofrepresentationalstatesinworkingmemory
AT manohars flexibilityofrepresentationalstatesinworkingmemory
AT feredoese flexibilityofrepresentationalstatesinworkingmemory
AT husainm flexibilityofrepresentationalstatesinworkingmemory