Iconic memory requires attention

Two experiments investigated whether attention plays a role in iconic memory, employing either a change detection paradigm (Experiment 1) or a partial-report paradigm (Experiment 2). In each experiment, attention was taxed during initial display presentation, focusing the manipulation on consolidati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in human neuroscience 2012-05, Vol.6, p.126-126
Main Authors: Persuh, Marjan, Genzer, Boris, Melara, Robert D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention
Consciousness
Experiments
iconic memory
Neuroscience
Short term memory
Visual perception
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Summary:Two experiments investigated whether attention plays a role in iconic memory, employing either a change detection paradigm (Experiment 1) or a partial-report paradigm (Experiment 2). In each experiment, attention was taxed during initial display presentation, focusing the manipulation on consolidation of information into iconic memory, prior to transfer into working memory. Observers were able to maintain high levels of performance (accuracy of change detection or categorization) even when concurrently performing an easy visual search task (low load). However, when the concurrent search was made difficult (high load), observers' performance dropped to almost chance levels, while search accuracy held at single-task levels. The effects of attentional load remained the same across paradigms. The results suggest that, without attention, participants consolidate in iconic memory only gross representations of the visual scene, information too impoverished for successful detection of perceptual change or categorization of features.
ISSN:1662-5161
1662-5161
DOI:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00126