Where perception meets memory: A review of repetition priming in visual search tasks

Kristjánsson, Árni; Campana, Gianluca · 2009 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3758/app.72.1.5

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Summary

This review paper examines repetition priming in visual search tasks, addressing how recent perceptual experiences influence the allocation of visual attention. The authors investigate the nature of the implicit memory system responsible for this phenomenon, specifically debating whether priming arises from low-level sensory modulations or higher-level episodic memory representations. The research is motivated by the need to reconcile conflicting theoretical accounts regarding the processing level at which priming occurs and to determine if a single mechanism explains priming across various stimulus types. The authors synthesize a large body of behavioral, neuropsychological, and neurophysiological evidence. They analyze data from controlled laboratory experiments where participants perform visual search tasks, such as identifying a target defined by color, orientation, or shape among distractors. The review contrasts findings from "pop-out" searches, where targets are easily detected, with more difficult conjunction searches. It also examines studies utilizing signal detection theory, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and lesion studies in neurological populations to dissociate implicit priming from explicit declarative memory. Specific experimental designs discussed include compound tasks, where the response dimension differs from the target-defining feature, to isolate perceptual effects from motor response biases. The findings indicate that repetition priming facilitates the detection and identification of targets that share features or locations with previously attended items, resulting in significantly faster response times. This effect is implicit, persisting even when participants lack conscious recollection of previous trials, and can be dissociated from explicit memory in amnesic patients. Crucially, the review finds that priming is not localized to a single processing stage. Instead, the locus of priming depends on the stimulus characteristics and task context. For instance, stimuli processed as whole objects yield object-based priming, while those processed as separate parts yield feature-based priming. Neurophysiological evidence shows that priming involves activity modulations at multiple sites along the visual pathway, ranging from retinotopic areas in early visual cortex to higher-level regions like the frontal eye fields. Theoretical accounts such as dimensional weighting and episodic retrieval are evaluated, with the authors concluding that priming reflects facilitated neural activity at the specific cortical levels responsible for analyzing the primed features. The significance of this work lies in its conclusion that priming occurs at multiple levels of the perceptual hierarchy, challenging theories that posit a single mechanism for attentional guidance. The authors argue that priming reflects activity modulations at the neural loci involved in the analysis of the specific stimuli, suggesting that implicit memory systems guide attention based on recent perceptual history. This implies that visual attention is not solely driven by current bottom-up salience or top-down goals, but is heavily influenced by short-term implicit memory traces. Understanding these mechanisms provides insight into the nature of cortical visual representations and the interplay between perception and memory in guiding behavior.

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Topics

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• visual search