Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory

Abstract Visual working memory has severe capacity limits, creating a bottleneck for active processing. A key way of mitigating this limitation is by chunking, i.e. compressing several pieces of information into one visual working memory representation. However, despite decades of research, chunking...

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Published in:Cerebral Cortex
Main Authors: Balaban, Halely, Drew, Trafton, Luria, Roy
Other Authors: Azrieli Fellowship, Israel Science Foundation, Binational Science Foundation
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad378
https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article-pdf/33/23/11420/53828049/bhad378.pdf
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spelling croxfordunivpr:10.1093/cercor/bhad378 2024-01-07T09:47:03+01:00 Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory Balaban, Halely Drew, Trafton Luria, Roy Azrieli Fellowship Israel Science Foundation Binational Science Foundation 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad378 https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article-pdf/33/23/11420/53828049/bhad378.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights Cerebral Cortex volume 33, issue 23, page 11420-11430 ISSN 1047-3211 1460-2199 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Cognitive Neuroscience journal-article 2023 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad378 2023-12-08T09:28:20Z Abstract Visual working memory has severe capacity limits, creating a bottleneck for active processing. A key way of mitigating this limitation is by chunking, i.e. compressing several pieces of information into one visual working memory representation. However, despite decades of research, chunking efficiency remains debated because of mixed evidence. We propose that there are actually 2 integration mechanisms: Grouping combines several objects to one representation, and object-unification merges the parts of a single object. Critically, we argue that the fundamental distinction between the 2 processes is their differential use of the pointer system, the indexing process connecting visual working memory representations with perception. In grouping, the objects that are represented together still maintain independent pointers, making integration costly but highly flexible. Conversely, object-unification fuses the pointers as well as the representations, with the single pointer producing highly efficient integration but blocking direct access to individual parts. We manipulated integration cues via task-irrelevant movement, and monitored visual working memory’s online electrophysiological marker. Uniquely colored objects were flexibly grouped and ungrouped via independent pointers (experiment 1). If objects turned uniformly black, object-integration could not be undone (experiment 2), requiring visual working memory to reset before re-individuation. This demonstrates 2 integration levels (representational-merging versus pointer-compression) and establishes the dissociation between visual working memory representations and their underlying pointers. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Pointers Oxford University Press (via Crossref) Cerebral Cortex
institution Open Polar
collection Oxford University Press (via Crossref)
op_collection_id croxfordunivpr
language English
topic Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
spellingShingle Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Balaban, Halely
Drew, Trafton
Luria, Roy
Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
topic_facet Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
description Abstract Visual working memory has severe capacity limits, creating a bottleneck for active processing. A key way of mitigating this limitation is by chunking, i.e. compressing several pieces of information into one visual working memory representation. However, despite decades of research, chunking efficiency remains debated because of mixed evidence. We propose that there are actually 2 integration mechanisms: Grouping combines several objects to one representation, and object-unification merges the parts of a single object. Critically, we argue that the fundamental distinction between the 2 processes is their differential use of the pointer system, the indexing process connecting visual working memory representations with perception. In grouping, the objects that are represented together still maintain independent pointers, making integration costly but highly flexible. Conversely, object-unification fuses the pointers as well as the representations, with the single pointer producing highly efficient integration but blocking direct access to individual parts. We manipulated integration cues via task-irrelevant movement, and monitored visual working memory’s online electrophysiological marker. Uniquely colored objects were flexibly grouped and ungrouped via independent pointers (experiment 1). If objects turned uniformly black, object-integration could not be undone (experiment 2), requiring visual working memory to reset before re-individuation. This demonstrates 2 integration levels (representational-merging versus pointer-compression) and establishes the dissociation between visual working memory representations and their underlying pointers.
author2 Azrieli Fellowship
Israel Science Foundation
Binational Science Foundation
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Balaban, Halely
Drew, Trafton
Luria, Roy
author_facet Balaban, Halely
Drew, Trafton
Luria, Roy
author_sort Balaban, Halely
title Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
title_short Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
title_full Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
title_fullStr Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
title_full_unstemmed Dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
title_sort dissociable online integration processes in visual working memory
publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
publishDate 2023
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad378
https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article-pdf/33/23/11420/53828049/bhad378.pdf
genre The Pointers
genre_facet The Pointers
op_source Cerebral Cortex
volume 33, issue 23, page 11420-11430
ISSN 1047-3211 1460-2199
op_rights https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad378
container_title Cerebral Cortex
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