Visual object memory and memory-guided saccades rely on shared mental representations.
We investigated the organisation of working memory processes by examining how a secondary memory task interferes with the accuracy of memory-guided saccades. A target was flashed at a random location, followed by a Kanji character. Subjects had to remember the location of the target and the Kanji character, and then they had to make a saccade towards the remembered target location. A second Kanji character was displayed and the subject had to decide if it was same or different. The performance of seven non-Kanji reader's were compared with six fluent Kanji readers in the task. Memorisation of Kanji characters was found to interfere with the accuracy of memory-guided saccades made by non-Kanji, but not by Kanji readers. These findings directly contradict accounts of working memory function which propose that spatial and visual object memory are functionally discrete.
Akdal
Gülden
G
Department of Neurology, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, Inciralti-Izmir, Turkey. gulden.akdal@deu.edu.tr
Hodgson
Timothy L
TL
Hill
Anna C
AC
Mannan
Sabira
S
Kennard
Christopher
C
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*