Feature and object representations in visual working memory are subject to top-down control

• Published in: Journal of vision (Charlottesville, Va.) Vol. 14; no. 10; p. 39
• Main Authors: van Lamsweerde, A. E., Johnson, J. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 22.08.2014
• ISSN: 1534-7362; 1534-7362
• DOI: 10.1167/14.10.39

Visual working memory (VWM) has a capacity limit of about 3-4 items; this limit is generally thought to operate on the level of an object. We examined whether use of object and feature-grouping representations is constrained by top-down control. Participants viewed colored shapes and detected changes to: color-only, shape-only, or color-or-shape (either). Detecting a single change type made the non-changing feature task-irrelevant, encouraging feature-grouping representations. When detecting single change type (color-only or shape-only), performance was better when features were repeated than when they were unique. This indicates that identical colors and shapes can be grouped together in VWM. Therefore, remembering both features of an object encouraged participants to remember features within an object together, rather than grouping features across objects. Therefore, not only can visual information be represented both as objects and feature groupings, but the use of each strategy can be modulated by top-down control.