Visual working memory and attention: the role of retro-cue reliability

Vidno radno pamćenje i selektivna pažnja predstavljaju vrlo važne mehanizme za svakodnevno kognitivno funkcioniranje. U istraživanjima ova dva procesa najčešće korištena paradigma jest paradigma retroaktivnog signala. U toj se paradigmi ispitanicima naknadno istakne (signalizira) jedan od podražaja prethodno pohranjenih u vidno radno pamćenje. Istraživanja pokazuju da dovoĎenje nekog podražaja u fokus pažnje ovom metodom dovodi do povoljnog učinka na dosjećanje tog podražaja u terminima povećanja vjerojatnosti njegovog točnog dosjećanja i preciznosti dosjećanja. U ovom istraživanju cilj je bio provjeriti kakva je uloga pouzdanosti retroaktivnog signala na dosjećanje podražaja iz vidnog radnog pamćenja te analizirati moguće mehanizme u pozadini. Proveden je eksperiment u kojem je manipulirana pouzdanost signala te je analizirano dosjećanje ispitanika u onim situacijama kada je signal bio prediktivan za dosjećanje i kada signal nije bio prediktivan. Rezultati su pokazali značajno bolje dosjećanje podražaja dovedenih u fokus pažnje retroaktivnim signalom. Dodatno, nepovoljan učinak na dosjećanje podražaja izvan fokusa pažnje razlikovao se ovisno o pouzdanosti signala te je bio znatno viši u situaciji visoko pouzdanih signala. Daljnjom analizom točnih dosjećanja pronaĎeno je da su sudionici najvjerojatnije u potpunosti zaboravljali, tj. izbacivali, nesignalizirane podražaje onda kad je signal bio visoko pouzdan za dosjećanje. Analizirana je i preciznost točnih dosjećanja, no nije pronaĎen nalaz u prilog hipotezi osnaživanja, hipotezi koja pretpostavlja pridavanje veće količine resursa vidnog radnog pamćenja podražajima u fokusu pažnje.Visual working memory and selective attention are important mechanisms necessary for daily cognitive functioning. Studies of these two processes most frequently use the retro-cue paradigm. In that paradigm one of the stimuli previously stored in the respondents’ visual working memory is subsequently pointed out (cued). Studies show that bringing a stimulus into focus of attention using this method leads to an enhanced recall of that stimulus, increasing both the recall probability and the precision of recall. The goal of this study was to examine the role of retro-cue reliability on the recall of stimuli from visual working memory and to analyze possible underlying mechanisms. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the reliability of retro-cues and analyzed participants’ recall in situations when the retro-cue was valid and in situations when it was invalid. The results showed a significantly better recall of the stimulus brought into focus of attention with the retro-cue. In addition, the recall cost for the stimulus outside of the focus of attention varied depending on the reliability of the retro-cue and was considerably higher in the situation with highly reliable retro-cues. Further analysis of the correct recalls showed that participants were probably completely forgetting, i.e. removing, the uncued stimuli when the retro-cue was highly reliable. The precision of the target recall was also analyzed, but we did not find support for the attentional strengthening hypothesis, a hypothesis which states that larger amount of visual working memory resources is allocated to the cued stimuli