Where to start? Bottom-up attention improves working memory by determining encoding order.

Ravizza, Susan M.; Uitvlugt, Mitchell G.; Hazeltine, Eliot · 2016 · Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance

DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000275

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Summary

This study investigates the mechanism by which bottom-up attention—attention captured automatically by novelty or saliency—enhances working memory (WM). While previous research established that both voluntary (top-down) and involuntary (bottom-up) attention improve WM performance, the underlying processes remained unclear. The authors tested two competing hypotheses: (1) bottom-up attention strengthens the encoded perceptual representation of a stimulus, similar to voluntary attention, or (2) it determines the order of encoding by prioritizing the attended item for initial processing. The research aimed to distinguish between these mechanisms by examining whether the benefits of bottom-up attention depend on the presentation format of stimuli. The researchers conducted four experiments using change detection and free recall paradigms. Experiments 1A and 1B replicated prior findings using simultaneous presentation of stimuli, testing both nonverbal (colored squares) and verbal (letters) domains. Participants viewed six items simultaneously, with one item preceded by a sudden onset cue. The study manipulated cue predictiveness: in the predictive condition, the cue indicated the likely test item (engaging voluntary attention), while in the nonpredictive condition, the cue provided no information (engaging only bottom-up attention). Experiments 2 and 3 introduced sequential presentation, where items were displayed one by one, thereby fixing the encoding order and removing competition among items. This design allowed the authors to isolate the effect of encoding order from sensory enhancement. The results supported the encoding-order hypothesis. In simultaneous display conditions (Experiments 1A and 1B), bottom-up attention significantly improved WM performance for cued items, even when the cue was nonpredictive. This effect generalized to verbal working memory. However, in sequential display conditions (Experiments 2 and 3), where encoding order was fixed, bottom-up attention provided little to no benefit to WM performance. In contrast, voluntary attention improved WM performance regardless of whether stimuli were presented simultaneously or sequentially. Furthermore, analysis of free recall data indicated that items capturing bottom-up attention were recalled earlier in the sequence, consistent with a primacy effect. The findings conclude that bottom-up attention improves working memory primarily by determining the order of encoding rather than by enhancing the quality of the perceptual representation. When multiple items compete for attention, bottom-up capture prioritizes the location where encoding begins, leveraging the primacy effect to improve recall. Once encoding order is established, such as in sequential presentation, bottom-up attention offers no additional advantage. This distinguishes bottom-up attention from voluntary attention, which enhances WM through stronger encoding regardless of presentation format. The study highlights a critical boundary condition for attentional capture, suggesting that its utility in memory is contingent on the competitive nature of the input environment.

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• attention selective divided