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A concurrent working memory load does not necessarily impair spatial attention: evidence from inhibition of return
Citation
Shen, Z and Ding, Y and Satel, J and Wang, Z, A concurrent working memory load does not necessarily impair spatial attention: evidence from inhibition of return, Visual Cognition, 29, (1) pp. 38-50. ISSN 1350-6285 (2021) [Refereed Article]
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Abstract
Inhibition of return (IOR), an inhibitory aftereffect of attentional orienting, usually reveals itself in
slower responses to targets appearing at previously attended locations in spatial cueing tasks.
Many of the neural substrates underlying visual working memory are also closely linked to
attention. The present study examined whether the contents held in working memory interfere
with IOR by requiring participants to keep a set of spatial locations in working memory while
they performed a spatial cueing task. Results revealed that the presence of a concurrent
working memory load modulated IOR when the cueing task involved saccadic responses
(Experiment 4), but not when more resource-demanding responses were required in the cueing
task (Experiments 1–3). The present study also revealed that working memory load had little
effect on the time course of IOR. We suggest that the attentional control setting (ACS) selected
to accommodate the cognitive tasks at hand determines whether working memory will interfere
with IOR and spatial attention in general.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | attention, working memory, inhibition of return, spatial cueing |
Research Division: | Psychology |
Research Group: | Cognitive and computational psychology |
Research Field: | Memory and attention |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in psychology |
UTAS Author: | Satel, J (Dr Jason Satel) |
ID Code: | 142704 |
Year Published: | 2021 (online first 2020) |
Deposited By: | Psychology |
Deposited On: | 2021-02-08 |
Last Modified: | 2021-03-02 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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