Event Abstract Back to Event The role of working memory in spatial contextual cueing Susan L. Travis1*, Jason B. Mattingley1, 2 and Paul E. Dux2* 1 The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia 2 The School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Australia The visual environment provides us with far more information than can be consciously processed. Attentional mechanisms are fundamental in overcoming this capacity limit, allowing us to prioritize task-relevant (target) information over less relevant (distractor) information. Environmental regularities can guide attention during visual search, as demonstrated by the spatial contextual cueing paradigm. Repeated exposure to a visual search scene, with invariant distractor information, can enhance search times. Here, we investigated the role of spatial working memory resources in spatial contextual cueing. Participants performed 2 tasks concurrently: a visual search task, in which the spatial configuration of some search arrays occasionally repeated, and a working memory task. We found that contextual learning was significantly impaired with increases in working memory load. These findings show that spatial contextual cueing relies on working memory resources. Keywords: contextual cueing, working memory, Attention, dual-task, Guidance, visual search Conference: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Attention Citation: Travis SL, Mattingley JB and Dux PE (2012). The role of working memory in spatial contextual cueing. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00095 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Oct 2012; Published Online: 07 Nov 2012. * Correspondence: Ms. Susan L Travis, The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, susan.leigh.travis@gmail.com Dr. Paul E Dux, The School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, paul.e.dux@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Susan L Travis Jason B Mattingley Paul E Dux Google Susan L Travis Jason B Mattingley Paul E Dux Google Scholar Susan L Travis Jason B Mattingley Paul E Dux PubMed Susan L Travis Jason B Mattingley Paul E Dux Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.