Attention modulates incidental memory encoding of human movements.

Shiau-Chuen Chiou

doi:10.1007/s10339-022-01078-1

Abstract

Attention has been shown to enhance the processing of task-relevant information while suppressing the processing of task-irrelevant information. However, it is less clear whether this attentional modulation exists when there is an intrinsic dependence between task-relevant and task-irrelevant information, such as the dependence of temporal processing on spatial information. In this study, we used complex whole-body movement sequences to investigate the extent to which the task-irrelevant spatial information (trajectory) is processed when only the temporal information (rhythm) is in focus. Moreover, we examined, if the task-irrelevant spatial information is “co-selected” with the target temporal information as predicted by the intrinsic spatiotemporal dependence, whether task-driven attention that is actively directed to spatial information provides extra benefits. Through a two-phase experiment (an incidental encoding phase followed by a surprise memory test phase), we found that the task-irrelevant spatial information was not only perceived but also encoded in memory, providing further evidence in support of a relatively automatic co-selection of spatial information in temporal processing. Nevertheless, we also found that movements whose trajectories were intentionally attended to during the encoding phase were recognized better in the test phase than those that were not, indicating a further modulation from attention on incidental memory encoding and information processing.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10339-022-01078-1.

Highlights

Attention provides a means of selecting information from the environment that is most relevant to current behavioral goals
The close-to-ceiling performance indicates that the processing demand of spatial information was low and the additional processing demand of spatial information might not decrease the amount of attentional resources that were available for temporal processing
We found that the task-irrelevant spatial information was perceived, as predicted by the dependence of temporal processing on spatial information (Casasanto and Boroditsky 2008; Casasanto et al 2010; Dormal and Pesenti 2013; Santiago et al 2011; Starr and Brannon 2016), and encoded in memory, consistent with previous studies showing that durable memory representations can be formed for unattended or task-irrelevant information (e.g., Hutmacher and Kuhbandner 2020; Kuhbandner et al 2017)

Summary

Introduction

Attention provides a means of selecting information from the environment that is most relevant to current behavioral goals. The load theory of selective attention (Lavie 1995, 2005, 2010; Lavie et al 2004; see Murphy et al 2016 for a recent review) suggests that the extent to which taskirrelevant distractors are perceived depends on both perceptual load and cognitive load of the current task. When the perceptual load is high, no spare attentional resources are available for distractors, resulting in performance that is consistent with “early-selection” view of attention (e.g., Broadbent 1958; Treisman 1969). On the contrary, when the perceptual load is low, the spare capacity involuntarily “spills over” to process task-irrelevant information, and the suppression of distractors would rely on “late selection”, which is supposed to prevent the perceived task-irrelevant information from entering awareness or gaining control over behavior

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Results

Conclusion