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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8303-9557
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Psychology
Degree Type
Master of Science (M.S.)
Year Degree Awarded
2019
Month Degree Awarded
September
Abstract
Most prior investigations of visual working memory (VWM) presented the to-be-remembered items simultaneously in a static configuration (e.g., Luck & Vogel, 1997). However, in everyday situations, such as driving on a busy multilane highway, items (e.g., cars) are presented sequentially and must be retained to support later actions (e.g., knowing if it’s safe to change lanes). In a simultaneous presentation, the relative positions of items are apparent but for sequential presentation, relative positions must be inferred in relation to the background structure (e.g., highway lane markings). To examine sequential encoding in VWM, we developed a novel task in which dots were presented slowly, one at a time, with each dot appearing in one of six boxes (Experiment 1), or in invisible boxes within a visible encompassing outer frame (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 found strong recency effects for judgments of color at the end of the sequence but not for the location of dots. In contrast, without dividing lines, Experiment 2 found strong recency effects for both color and location judgments. These results held true for accuracy, reaction time, and an integrated measure of speed and accuracy. We hypothesize that background structure allows the updating of VWM, slotting each new item into that structure to provide a new configuration that retains both old and new items, whereas in the absence of structure, VWM suffers from severe retroactive interference.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/15231163
First Advisor
David Huber
Recommended Citation
Durbin, Jeffery, "Sequential Encoding in Visual Working Memory: In the Absence of Structure, Recency Determines Performance" (2019). Masters Theses. 829.
https://doi.org/10.7275/15231163
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/829