Visual working memory (VWM) is used to retain relevant information for imminent goal-directed behavior. In the experiments reported here, we found that VWM helps to prioritize relevant information that is not yet available for conscious experience. In five experiments, we demonstrated that information matching VWM content reaches visual awareness faster than does information not matching VWM co...

Efficient visual search requires that attention is guided strategically to relevant objects, and most theories of visual search implement this function by means of a target template maintained in visual working memory (VWM). However, there is currently debate over the architecture of VWM-based attentional guidance. We contrasted a single-item-template hypothesis with a multiple-item-template hy...

The goal of this review is to introduce a theory of task-driven visual attention and working memory (TRAM). Based on a specific biased competition model, the 'theory of visual attention' (TVA) and its neural interpretation (NTVA), TRAM introduces the following assumption. First, selective visual processing over time is structured in competition episodes. Within an episode, that is, during its f...

In "hybrid search" tasks, such as finding items on a grocery list, one must search the scene for targets while also searching the list in memory. How is the representation of a visual item compared with the representations of items in the memory set? Predominant theories would propose a role for visual working memory (VWM) either as the site of the comparison or as a conduit between visual and ...

Maintaining visual working memory (VWM) representations recruits a network of brain regions, including the frontal, posterior parietal, and occipital cortices; however, it is unclear to what extent the occipital cortex is engaged in VWM after sensory encoding is completed. Noninvasive brain stimulation data show that stimulation of this region can affect working memory (WM) during the early con...

Studies of visual working memory (VWM) have reported that different features belonging to the same object (conjunctions) are better retained than the same features belonging to spatially separated objects (disjunctions). This conjunction benefit has been taken as evidence for the theory that VWM representations are object-based. However, compared to separate features, conjunctions also occupy f...

Background: Methadone maintenance has received little scientific attention regarding neurocognitive effects. This study is aimed to assess the neuropsychological performance of methadone maintenance patients (MMP) compared to those healthy controls. Methods: Thirty-five MMP and 35 healthy controls, matched for age, gender, education and employment status, examined on a battery of tests aimed at...

Unlike other aspects of language comprehension, the ability to process complex sentences develops rather late in life. Brain maturation as well as verbal working memory (vWM) expansion have been discussed as possible reasons. To determine the factors contributing to this functional development, we assessed three aspects in different age-groups (5-6 years, 7-8 years, and adults): first, function...

Previous studies on visual working memory (VWM) have primarily investigated memory for an array presented for a single moment. Here, we examined VWM for two arrays separated by a 1,100-msec interval. We focused on the allocation of VWM capacity to the two arrays as a function of dynamic events inserted between them. During the interval, irrelevant dots moved to form three types of motion: (1) c...

If we view a visual scene that contains many objects, then momentarily close our eyes, some details persist while others seem to fade. Discrete models of visual working memory (VWM) assume that only a few items can be actively maintained in memory, beyond which pure guessing will emerge. Alternatively, continuous resource models assume that all items in a visual scene can be stored with some pr...