Discrete fixed-resolution representations in visual working memory.

Full Abstract

Limits on the storage capacity of working memory significantly affect cognitive abilities in a wide range of domains, but the nature of these capacity limits has been elusive. Some researchers have proposed that working memory stores a limited set of discrete, fixed-resolution representations, whereas others have proposed that working memory consists of a pool of resources that can be allocated flexibly to provide either a small number of high-resolution representations or a large number of low-resolution representations. Here we resolve this controversy by providing independent measures of capacity and resolution. We show that, when presented with more than a few simple objects, human observers store a high-resolution representation of a subset of the objects and retain no information about the others. Memory resolution varied over a narrow range that cannot be explained in terms of a general resource pool but can be well explained by a small set of discrete, fixed-resolution representations.

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Author information

Author/s: Zhang, Weiwei (W); Luck, Steven J (SJ);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. wwzhang(-atsign-)ucdavis.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Nature (Nature), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 453 (issue 7192) : pp 233-5

Dates: Created 2008/05/09; Completed 2008/06/20;

PMID: 18385672, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Color
Cues
Humans

Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Mental Recall - physiology
Models, Neurological
Photic Stimulation
Visual Perception - physiology

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