Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 Jul;1424(1):256-267. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13647. Epub 2018 Mar 31.
How we attend to our thoughts affects how we attend to our environment. Holding information in working memory can automatically bias visual attention toward matching information. By observing attentional biases on reaction times to visual search during a memory delay, it is possible to reconstruct the source of that bias using machine learning techniques and thereby behaviorally decode the content of working memory. Can this be done when more than one item is held in working memory? There is some evidence that multiple items can simultaneously bias attention, but the effects have been inconsistent. One explanation may be that items are stored in different states depending on the current task demands. Recent models propose functionally distinct states of representation for items inside versus outside the focus of attention. Here, we use behavioral decoding to evaluate whether multiple memory items-including temporarily irrelevant items outside the focus of attention-exert biases on visual attention. Only the single item in the focus of attention was decodable. The other item showed a brief attentional bias that dissipated until it returned to the focus of attention. These results support the idea of dynamic, flexible states of working memory across time and priority.
我们关注思维的方式会影响我们关注环境的方式。在工作记忆中保持信息可以自动使视觉注意力偏向于匹配的信息。通过观察记忆延迟期间视觉搜索的反应时的注意力偏差，使用机器学习技术重建这种偏差的来源，并通过行为解码工作记忆的内容。当在工作记忆中保持不止一个项目时，能否做到这一点？有一些证据表明，多个项目可以同时偏向注意力，但效果不一致。一种解释可能是，根据当前任务的需求，项目存储在不同的状态。最近的模型提出了在注意力焦点内和外的项目的功能上不同的表示状态。在这里，我们使用行为解码来评估多个记忆项目——包括暂时不相关的注意力焦点外的项目——是否对视觉注意力施加偏差。只有焦点中的单个项目是可解码的。另一个项目显示出短暂的注意力偏向，这种偏向会消散，直到它回到注意力焦点。这些结果支持了工作记忆在时间和优先级上具有动态、灵活状态的观点。
