Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience/Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales.
Psychon Bull Rev. 2010 Oct;17(5):680-6. doi: 10.3758/PBR.17.5.680.
When multiple objects are presented briefly and simultaneously in a visual array, visual short-term memory (VSTM) can maintain only a limited number of these items. The present research report reveals that splitting the to-be-remembered items into two sequential arrays significantly increases VSTM performance relative to the simultaneous presentation of the same items. A memory benefit also emerges when the full object array is flashed twice (repeated) rather than being presented continuously for the same duration. Moreover, the sequential and repetition benefits are specifically pronounced for individuals with low performance for simultaneously presented items. Our results suggest that the conventional, simultaneous presentation mode may underestimate VSTM performance due to attentional limitations and/or competition between stimulus representations. In contrast, temporal segregation of the stimulus input may help participants maximize their performance and utilize their full VSTM capacity.
当多个物体在视觉数组中短暂且同时呈现时，视觉短期记忆 (VSTM) 只能维持这些物体的有限数量。本研究报告表明，将待记忆的物体分成两个连续的数组，相对于同时呈现相同的物体，显著提高了 VSTM 的性能。当完整的物体数组被闪现两次（重复）而不是连续呈现相同的时间时，也会出现记忆收益。此外，对于同时呈现的物体表现较差的个体，序列和重复收益更为明显。我们的结果表明，由于注意力限制和/或刺激表示之间的竞争，传统的、同时呈现的模式可能会低估 VSTM 的性能。相比之下，刺激输入的时间分离可能有助于参与者最大限度地提高他们的表现并利用他们的全部 VSTM 容量。
