Visual working memory as the substrate for mental rotation

Hyun, Joo-Seok; Luck, Steven J. · 2007 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3758/bf03194043

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates the specific subsystem of visual working memory responsible for storing object representations during mental rotation. While mental rotation involves spatial manipulation, it is unclear whether the underlying object features are stored in the spatial working memory subsystem or the object working memory subsystem. The authors hypothesized that because spatial memory cannot represent detailed form information, object representations must be buffered in the object subsystem during rotation. To test this, the researchers employed a dual-task paradigm in two experiments. Participants performed a mental rotation task (rotating letters to determine if they were canonical or mirror-reversed) concurrently with a visual working memory task during the retention interval. In Experiment 1, the working memory task required storing object features (colors of four squares). In Experiment 2, the task required storing spatial locations (positions of four dots). Performance on both tasks was compared between single-task and dual-task conditions across varying degrees of rotation (0°, 72°, 144°). The results revealed a double dissociation. In Experiment 1, substantial bidirectional interference occurred between mental rotation and object working memory. As the degree of rotation increased, accuracy declined significantly for both the rotation task and the color memory task. In contrast, Experiment 2 showed minimal interference between mental rotation and spatial working memory. Rotation speed and accuracy were unaffected by the concurrent spatial memory load, and any decline in spatial memory accuracy was independent of the rotation angle, indicating a general dual-task cost rather than specific interference. These findings demonstrate that the object working memory subsystem, not the spatial subsystem, provides the buffer for object representations during mental rotation. This supports a model where storage and processing functions are dissociable: the ventral stream’s object memory system stores visual form information, while the dorsal stream performs the spatial operations required for rotation. The study concludes that the nature of the information being stored determines which working memory subsystem is utilized, regardless of the spatial nature of the operations performed on that information.

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• working memory