Rights statement: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02056-6
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Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Why does the probe value effect emerge in working memory?
T2 - Examining the biased attentional refreshing account
AU - Atkinson, Amy L.
AU - Oberauer, Klaus
AU - Allen, Richard J.
AU - Souza, Alessandra S.
N1 - The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02056-6
PY - 2022/6/30
Y1 - 2022/6/30
N2 - People are able to prioritize more valuable information in working memory. The current study examined whether this value effect is due to the items of greater value being refreshed more than lower-value items during maintenance. To assess this possibility, we combined a probe value manipulation with a guided-refreshing procedure. Arrays of colored shapes were presented, and after a brief delay, participants reported the color of one randomly probed shape on a continuous color wheel. To manipulate probe value, one item was indicated as more valuable than the rest prior to encoding (i.e., worth more notional points), or all items were indicated as equally valuable. To guide refreshing, in some trials, two arrows were presented during maintenance, each arrow cueing the spatial location of one item. Participants were told to “think of” (i.e., refresh) the cued item. If value boosts are driven by attentional refreshing, cueing an item to be refreshed should enhance performance for items that are of low or equal value, but not items of high value, as these items would be refreshed regardless of the cue. This pattern of outcomes was observed, providing support for the hypothesis that attentional refreshing at least partially accounts for probe-value effects in working memory.
AB - People are able to prioritize more valuable information in working memory. The current study examined whether this value effect is due to the items of greater value being refreshed more than lower-value items during maintenance. To assess this possibility, we combined a probe value manipulation with a guided-refreshing procedure. Arrays of colored shapes were presented, and after a brief delay, participants reported the color of one randomly probed shape on a continuous color wheel. To manipulate probe value, one item was indicated as more valuable than the rest prior to encoding (i.e., worth more notional points), or all items were indicated as equally valuable. To guide refreshing, in some trials, two arrows were presented during maintenance, each arrow cueing the spatial location of one item. Participants were told to “think of” (i.e., refresh) the cued item. If value boosts are driven by attentional refreshing, cueing an item to be refreshed should enhance performance for items that are of low or equal value, but not items of high value, as these items would be refreshed regardless of the cue. This pattern of outcomes was observed, providing support for the hypothesis that attentional refreshing at least partially accounts for probe-value effects in working memory.
KW - prioritization
KW - Attentional refreshing
KW - Visual working memory
U2 - 10.3758/s13423-022-02056-6
DO - 10.3758/s13423-022-02056-6
M3 - Journal article
VL - 29
SP - 891
EP - 900
JO - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
JF - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
SN - 1069-9384
ER -