The role of attention on maintaining visual representations of features and bindings

Abstract

Visual working memory (VWM) maintains representations of objects that we perceive. It is a controversy whether maintaining all kinds of objects require equal amount of resources. Wheeler & Treisman (2002) suggested that maintaining bindings of features requires greater attention than maintaining features. In order to test this claim, in the present thesis, attention was manipulated during maintenance of VWM representations, and the effects of this manipulation were compared between trials in which memory was tested for features and bindings. Maintenance of features and bindings were disrupted equally from withdrawal of attention suggesting that maintaining features and bindings require attention equally. But there were individual differences depending on the VWM capacity of the participants. For high capacity individuals attention was selectively required for the maintenance of feature bindings.