title: Invalid retro-cues can eliminate the retro-cue benefit: Evidence for a hybridized account.
abstract: The contents of visual working memory (VWM) are capacity limited and require frequent updating. The retrospective cueing (retro-cueing) paradigm clarifies how directing internal attention among VWM items boosts VWM performance. In this paradigm a cue appears prior to retrieval, but after encoding and maintenance. The retro-cue effect (RCE) refers to superior VWM after valid versus neutral retro-cues. Here we investigated the effect of the invalid retro-cues' inclusion on VWM performance. We conducted 2 pairs of experiments, changing both probe type (recognition and recall) as well as presence and absence of invalid retro-cue trials. Furthermore, to fully characterize these effects over time, we used extended post-retro-cue delay durations. In the first set of experiments, probing VWM using recognition indicated that the RCE remained consistent in magnitude with or without invalid retro-cue trials. In the second set of experiments, VWM was probed with recall. Here, the RCE was eliminated when invalid retro-cues were included. This finer-grained measure of VWM fidelity showed that all items were subject to decay over time. We conclude that the invalid retro-cues impaired the protection of validly cues items, but they remain accessible, suggesting greater concordance with a prioritization account.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences.
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gözenman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences.
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Tanoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences.
authors.forename: Terina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Metoyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences.
authors.forename: Marian E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Berryhill
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult