Event Abstract Back to Event Mechanisms of Selective Attention in Visual Working Memory: Distributing Attention in Mental and Physical Space Muhammet Ikbal Sahan1*, Tom Verguts1, C N. Boehler1 and Wim Fias1 1 Ghent University, Experimental Psychology, Belgium Selective attention is not limited to physical information in the external world, but it can also be employed on mental representations in the internal world. It has been shown that shifting attention in the mental space shows similar behavioural characteristics as shifting attention in the physical space. However, it is not known whether mechanisms by which spatial attention prioritizes processing of physical information at locations that are in the focus of attention also apply to mental representations. We developed a variant of the retro-/pre-cueing paradigm to investigate the characteristics of the distribution of spatial attention in mental space and directly compare them to attentional selection in physical space. A delayed match-to-sample task was administered where participants viewed a stimulus array of coloured discs which they had to memorize in order to make a delayed decision about a probe. A cue was either presented before (pre-cue) or after (retro-cue) the stimulus array in order to orient attention to locations in physical or mental space. Participants were asked to decide whether the probe which occupied one of the positions of the stimulus array matched the stimulus array. We studied the distribution of attention by varying the distance between the focus of attention and the probe. In accordance with findings in spatial attention to perceptual stimuli, key characteristics of the distribution of spatial attention were observed in the mental space. Results will be discussed in more detail and theoretical implications will be highlighted. Keywords: Orienting, spatial attention, distribution, visual working memory, mental representations Conference: 11th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience, Mons, Belgium, 22 May - 22 May, 2015. Presentation Type: Poster presentation Topic: Neuroscience Citation: Sahan M, Verguts T, Boehler CN and Fias W (2015). Mechanisms of Selective Attention in Visual Working Memory: Distributing Attention in Mental and Physical Space. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 11th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2015.89.00021 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: 05 May 2015; Published Online: 05 May 2015. * Correspondence: Mr. Muhammet Ikbal Sahan, Ghent University, Experimental Psychology, Ghent, Ghent, 9000, Belgium, muhammet.sahan@ugent.be 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 Muhammet Ikbal Sahan Tom Verguts C N Boehler Wim Fias Google Muhammet Ikbal Sahan Tom Verguts C N Boehler Wim Fias Google Scholar Muhammet Ikbal Sahan Tom Verguts C N Boehler Wim Fias PubMed Muhammet Ikbal Sahan Tom Verguts C N Boehler Wim Fias 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.