Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Visual working memory is traditionally studied using abstract, meaningless stimuli. Although studies using such simplified stimuli have been insightful in understanding the mechanisms of visual working memory, they also potentially limit our ability to understand how people encode and store conceptually rich and meaningful stimuli in the real world. Recent studies have demonstrated that meaningful and familiar visual stimuli that connect to existing knowledge are better remembered than abstract colors or shapes, indicating that meaning can unlock additional working memory capacity. These findings challenge current models of visual working memory and suggest that its capacity is not fixed but depends on the type of information that is being remembered and, in particular, how that information connects to preexisting knowledge.
Institutions: Dartmouth College, University of California San Diego
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,700
Awards: G2381742848, G6493966490
OpenAlex ID: W4401894593