Rehearsal in spatial working memory.
This article reports 3 experiments that tested a hypothesis regarding the nature of rehearsal in spatial working memory, one in which discrete shifts of spatial selective attention mediate the maintenance of location-specific representations. Experiment 1 demonstrated increases in visual processing efficiency for locations held in working memory, which suggested that attention was oriented toward these locations. Experiment 2 eliminated key alternative explanations for Experiment 1 by using an identical stimulus display with a nonspatial memory task, and little or no facilitation of processing at memorized locations was found under these conditions. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that spatial working memory was impaired when participants were hindered in their ability to attend to memorized locations. It is argued that these results implicate selective spatial attention as a rehearsal mechanism for spatial working memory.
Awh
E
E
Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093, USA. awh@ucsd.edu
Jonides
J
J
Reuter-Lorenz
P A
PA
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*