Several recent papers state that working memory's contents cause attention to automatically deploy to matching objects in a display. Results of eight experiments reported here are inconsistent with this claim. In the experiments, participants were given at least one object to hold in working memory (WM) at the beginning of a trial, and a recognition test was given at the end of each trial to ensure they held the object(s) in mind. During the retention interval, two objects were simultaneously flashed on the screen followed by a response probe. One of the flashed objects matched the item in WM and the other was different. If WM's contents guide attention, then probe responses should be aided when the probe appears at the location of the item matching WM. Seven experiments demonstrated that attention does not always deploy to memory matches, and four of these demonstrated that attention deploys to the mismatch when participants report not attending to memory matches. One experiment suggests that WM's contents might guide attention to memory matches for at least the first 300 ms of maintenance. The implications of these findings for theories about WM and attention are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07242006-145651 |
| Date | 31 July 2006 |
| Creators | Varakin, Donald Alexander |
| Contributors | Megan M. Saylor, Daniel T. Levin, Georgene Troseth, Daniel H. Ashmead |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07242006-145651/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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