Revisiting the role of visual working memory in attentional control settings

• Published in: Visual cognition Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 318 - 338
• Main Authors: Plater, Lindsay, Dube, Blaire, Giammarco, Maria, Donaldson, Kirsten, Miller, Krista, Al-Aidroos, Naseem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hove Routledge 28.05.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Attention; attentional capture; Attentional control settings; Memory; Posner cueing task; Short term memory; visual working memory
• ISSN: 1350-6285; 1464-0716
• DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2022.2044949

Observers adopt attentional control setting (ACS) based on their goals; stimuli that match the current goal will capture attention, whereas stimuli that do not match the current goal will not. In the present study, we revisited the role of VWM in maintaining ACSs capable of guiding attentional capture. Participants completed a Posner cueing task while either remembering a colour (Experiments 1a/1b) or searching for a colour (Experiments 2/3). To encourage the use of VWM, the colour changed on each trial. Results indicate that merely remembering a colour using VWM did not prevent memory non-matching colours from capturing attention (Experiments 1a/1b). Conversely, when participants searched for one colour, VWM supported an ACS that eliminated capture by non-matching colours (Experiments 2/3), though not if participants searched for two colours (Experiment 3). We conclude that VWM can maintain an ACS of one searched-for item that is capable of guiding attentional capture.