Visual working memory load does not eliminate visuomotor repetition effects

Rajsic, Jason; Hilchey, Matthew D.; Woodman, Geoffrey F.; Pratt, Jay · 2019 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01839-9

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Summary

This study investigates the cognitive mechanisms underlying visuomotor repetition effects, specifically testing whether visual working memory (VWM) stores the stimulus-response bindings that facilitate faster responses when features repeat across trials. According to the theory of event coding, responding to a stimulus binds its features (e.g., location, color) to response codes, creating "event files" that influence subsequent performance. While these effects are robust, it remains unclear whether they rely on transient VWM resources or automatic long-term memory retrieval. The authors hypothesized that if VWM maintains these bindings, occupying VWM with concurrent memory loads should selectively disrupt repetition effects corresponding to the loaded feature type (color or location). To test this, the researchers conducted two experiments involving 35 undergraduate participants who performed a speeded color discrimination task. Participants responded to sequentially presented colored targets appearing at left or right locations. Crucially, trials included a concurrent VWM load where participants had to maintain either three colors or three locations in memory until a probe appeared after the discrimination task. This design allowed for the assessment of whether color-based or spatial-based memory loads would selectively impair color-response or location-response repetition effects, respectively. Control conditions without memory load were also included. The study measured response times (RTs) and accuracy for the second target, analyzing the effects of stimulus repetition (color and location) and response repetition under varying load conditions. The results demonstrated that visuomotor repetition effects remained robust regardless of the presence or type of VWM load. Specifically, neither color nor spatial memory load eliminated the facilitation in response times associated with repeating stimulus-response pairings. In fact, the data showed no significant interaction between memory load and the repetition effects; if anything, the repetition advantage was slightly larger under load conditions. Statistical analyses, including mixed-model ANOVAs and Bayesian factors, strongly supported the null hypothesis that load did not disrupt these effects. Furthermore, error rate analyses confirmed that the pattern of repetition effects persisted under load, with no evidence that memory demands reduced the potency of stimulus-response bindings. Change detection performance indicated that participants were successfully maintaining the required items in working memory, ruling out failure to engage the load as an explanation. These findings suggest that visual working memory resources are not responsible for storing the information that underlies visuomotor repetition effects. Instead, the results support the view that these effects stem from automatic long-term memory retrieval or are mediated by separate buffers distinct from VWM. The study challenges the notion that event files are maintained in the limited-capacity system of visual working memory, implying that the mechanisms facilitating rapid, repeated responses operate independently of the resources used for active visual maintenance. This distinction clarifies the architecture of cognitive control, separating the systems responsible for transient visual storage from those governing automatic stimulus-response learning.

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• working memory