ERIC Number: EJ1237343
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jan
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Similarity-Based Clusters Are Representational Units of Visual Working Memory
Son, Gaeun; Oh, Byung-Il; Kang, Min-Suk; Chong, Sang Chul
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v46 n1 p46-59 Jan 2020
We investigated whether clustering based on feature similarity improves the representational quality of visual working memory (VWM). We hypothesized that similar items are organized into clusters, and their recall precision increases with fewer clusters because of reduced memory load. In a series of 6 experiments, participants remembered orientations or colors of several stimuli and estimated the orientation (color) of cued item(s). We measured recall bias to identify whether items formed cluster(s) and measured recall precision to determine the effect of clustering on the representational quality of VWM. In Experiments 1 and 2, orientation similarity was manipulated to partition stimuli into 1, 2, or 3 clusters. In Experiment 3, we varied both the number of stimuli and their similarities such that 5 items were summarized into a smaller number of clusters than 3 items. We consistently found that similar items formed a cluster, and that the precision of the individual items increased with fewer clusters regardless of the number of items. We also observed the same clustering effects using color stimuli when participants were to remember items' colors (Experiment 4). However, a task-irrelevant feature was not potent enough to cluster items and did not increase the precision (Experiment 5). In Experiment 6, we varied item similarity and found that response errors were correlated within the same cluster but not across different clusters. Taken together, these results suggest that clusters formed by similar items can impact the representation of VWM; thus, acting as one of representational units of VWM.
Descriptors: Visual Perception, Short Term Memory, Recall (Psychology), Cognitive Ability, Color, Visual Stimuli, Error Patterns, Item Analysis, Foreign Countries, Task Analysis, College Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Korea (Seoul)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A