Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues
Abstract Visual working memory (VWM) plays a crucial role in temporarily maintaining and manipulating visual information. Retro-cue benefit (RCB) refers to the enhancement of memory performance when attention is directed toward a subset of items in VWM after their initial encoding. Our recent electr...
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2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02145-2 |
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| author | Qiang Liu Lijing Guo Dan Nie Kai Fu Chaoxiong Ye |
| author_facet | Qiang Liu Lijing Guo Dan Nie Kai Fu Chaoxiong Ye |
| author_sort | Qiang Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Visual working memory (VWM) plays a crucial role in temporarily maintaining and manipulating visual information. Retro-cue benefit (RCB) refers to the enhancement of memory performance when attention is directed toward a subset of items in VWM after their initial encoding. Our recent electroencephalogram (EEG) studies indicate that cue validity affects the mechanisms underlying RCB formation. However, previous research has not thoroughly examined whether these mechanisms differ between completely valid and highly valid cue conditions. This study investigates the consistency of RCB mechanisms under conditions of complete (100%) and high (80%) retro-cue validity. We manipulated retro-cue validity and examined cognitive processing mechanisms under different validity conditions using EEG. Specifically, we focused on the N2pc component, which reflects attentional resource allocation, and the contralateral delay activity (CDA) component, which reflects the quantity of information retained in VWM. The results, encompassing both behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) findings, show that participants in both the 100% and 80% cue validity conditions exhibit robust RCB. Notably, the degree of RCB remains consistent across these conditions, indicating that participants utilize retro-cues to enhance VWM performance to the same extent. In the 80% cue validity condition, a significant retro-cue cost (RCC) was observed, indicating that participants selectively discarded uncued items from VWM. In invalid trials, response accuracy drops to chance levels, supporting the removal hypothesis. ERP results reveal that attentional resource allocation (N2pc) and the quantity of retained information (CDA) remain uniform across cue validity conditions. The mechanism responsible for RCB formation appears to involve an all-or-nothing process of discarding uncued information rather than a flexible resource allocation strategy. This study provides insights into attention allocation and information-processing mechanisms in VWM, suggesting that conclusions drawn from tasks with completely valid retro-cues can be integrated with findings from highly valid cue tasks. These findings also illuminate the flexibility of internal attentional resource allocation during RCB formation and contribute to our understanding of attention processes in VWM. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-288fdc415d744b7e9b5b6af1b618f074 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2050-7283 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | BMC Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-288fdc415d744b7e9b5b6af1b618f0742025-08-20T02:13:55ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832024-11-0112111310.1186/s40359-024-02145-2Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cuesQiang Liu0Lijing Guo1Dan Nie2Kai Fu3Chaoxiong Ye4School of Education, Anyang Normal UniversitySchool of Education, Anyang Normal UniversityDepartment of Psychology, University of JyväskyläResearch Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal UniversitySchool of Education, Anyang Normal UniversityAbstract Visual working memory (VWM) plays a crucial role in temporarily maintaining and manipulating visual information. Retro-cue benefit (RCB) refers to the enhancement of memory performance when attention is directed toward a subset of items in VWM after their initial encoding. Our recent electroencephalogram (EEG) studies indicate that cue validity affects the mechanisms underlying RCB formation. However, previous research has not thoroughly examined whether these mechanisms differ between completely valid and highly valid cue conditions. This study investigates the consistency of RCB mechanisms under conditions of complete (100%) and high (80%) retro-cue validity. We manipulated retro-cue validity and examined cognitive processing mechanisms under different validity conditions using EEG. Specifically, we focused on the N2pc component, which reflects attentional resource allocation, and the contralateral delay activity (CDA) component, which reflects the quantity of information retained in VWM. The results, encompassing both behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) findings, show that participants in both the 100% and 80% cue validity conditions exhibit robust RCB. Notably, the degree of RCB remains consistent across these conditions, indicating that participants utilize retro-cues to enhance VWM performance to the same extent. In the 80% cue validity condition, a significant retro-cue cost (RCC) was observed, indicating that participants selectively discarded uncued items from VWM. In invalid trials, response accuracy drops to chance levels, supporting the removal hypothesis. ERP results reveal that attentional resource allocation (N2pc) and the quantity of retained information (CDA) remain uniform across cue validity conditions. The mechanism responsible for RCB formation appears to involve an all-or-nothing process of discarding uncued information rather than a flexible resource allocation strategy. This study provides insights into attention allocation and information-processing mechanisms in VWM, suggesting that conclusions drawn from tasks with completely valid retro-cues can be integrated with findings from highly valid cue tasks. These findings also illuminate the flexibility of internal attentional resource allocation during RCB formation and contribute to our understanding of attention processes in VWM.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02145-2Visual working memoryRetro-cue benefitCue validityElectroencephalographyAttention allocationContralateral delay activity |
| spellingShingle | Qiang Liu Lijing Guo Dan Nie Kai Fu Chaoxiong Ye Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues BMC Psychology Visual working memory Retro-cue benefit Cue validity Electroencephalography Attention allocation Contralateral delay activity |
| title | Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues |
| title_full | Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues |
| title_fullStr | Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues |
| title_short | Comparing retro-cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory: completely valid vs. highly valid retro-cues |
| title_sort | comparing retro cue benefit mechanisms in visual working memory completely valid vs highly valid retro cues |
| topic | Visual working memory Retro-cue benefit Cue validity Electroencephalography Attention allocation Contralateral delay activity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02145-2 |
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