Abstract
Observers performed working memory tasks at varying retinal eccentricities, fixating centrally while microsaccade rates and directions were monitored. We show that microsaccades generate no interference in a working memory task, indicating that spatial working memory is at least partially insulated from oculomotor activity. Intervening tasks during the memory interval affected memory as well as microsaccade patterns. Average microsaccade rate peaks after appearance of a fixation cross at the start of a trial, and dips at cue onset and offset. Direction of stimuli in choice tasks did not influence micro-saccade direction, however. Poorer memory accuracy for locations at greater retinal eccentricity calls for revising ideas of short-term spatial representations to include retinotopic or allocentric codes
Highlights
The ability to remember and manipulate information sociation between verbal and visual-spatial information in is essential to human cognitive processes
In the shape choice condition accuracy was significantly poorer on trials with cues 5.5° from center versus more central locations, whereas the color choice condition showed a smaller effect that affected responses on trials with cues at 4.8° and 5.5° compared to 4°
Contrary to predictions from cueing paradigms, microsaccades did not appear to show any directional bias that could indicate the deployment of covert spatial attention
Summary
The ability to remember and manipulate information sociation between verbal and visual-spatial information in is essential to human cognitive processes. Perspectives on the organization of these functions (Bad- Number imagery interfered with visual span but not letter deley & Hitch, 1974; Logie, 1995; Cowan, 1999; Cor- span, and vice-versa for interference from adding numnoldi & Vecchi, 2003); common among them is storage bers. Such studies suggest a wide diversity of of short-term, domain-specific (verbal, visual, spatial) information handled by VSWM, they clearly display inrepresentations that are rehearsed, manipulated, or other- dependence from verbal WM. Neuropsychological double dissociations are questionable at a finer grained level of analysis, because areas affected by focal ioral (Baddeley & Lieberman, 1980; Logie & Marchetti, 1991; Tresch, Simmamon & Seamon, 1993; Hecker & Mapperson, 1997), neuropsychological (Farah, Hammond, Levine, & Calvanio, 1988), ERP (Mecklinger & Muller, 1996; Bosch, Mecklinger & Friederici, 2001)
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