title: Object-based attention underlies the rehearsal of feature binding in visual working memory.
abstract: Feature binding is a core concept in many research fields, including the study of working memory (WM). Over the past decade, it has been debated whether keeping the feature binding in visual WM consumes more visual attention than the constituent single features. Previous studies have only explored the contribution of domain-general attention or space-based attention in the binding process; no study so far has explored the role of object-based attention in retaining binding in visual WM. We hypothesized that object-based attention underlay the mechanism of rehearsing feature binding in visual WM. Therefore, during the maintenance phase of a visual WM task, we inserted a secondary mental rotation (Experiments 1-3), transparent motion (Experiment 4), or an object-based feature report task (Experiment 5) to consume the object-based attention available for binding. In line with the prediction of the object-based attention hypothesis, Experiments 1-5 revealed a more significant impairment for binding than for constituent single features. However, this selective binding impairment was not observed when inserting a space-based visual search task (Experiment 6). We conclude that object-based attention underlies the rehearsal of binding representation in visual WM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.
authors.forename: Mowei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.
authors.forename: Zaifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011930:Reaction Time; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult