Memory for action: a functional view of selection in visual working memory

ABSTRACT

Perception is shaped by actions, which determine the allocation of selective attention across the visual field. Here, we review evidence that maintenance in visual working memory is similarly influenced by actions (eye or hand movements), planned and executed well after encoding: Representations that are relevant for an upcoming action – because they spatially correspond to the action goal or because they are defined along action-related feature dimensions – are automatically prioritised over action-irrelevant representations and held in a stable state. We summarise what is known about specific characteristics and mechanisms of selection-for-action in working memory, such as its temporal dynamics and spatial specificity, and delineate open questions. This newly-burgeoning area of research promotes a more functional perspective on visual working memory that emphasizes its role in action control.

Keywords:

• visual working memory
• attention
• action planning
• eye movements
• hand movements

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In line with previous work, we use the term “selection-for-action” (Allport, 1987) to emphasize the primary purpose of selection in visual working memory in the reviewed studies: to ensure that any information that might be required for upcoming actions (e.g., information spatially congruent with an action goal) is readily available. The actual utilization of that information for action planning and control is thus not needed for this term to apply.

2 There is evidence from so-called ‘incidental cueing’ (Zokaei, Manohar, et al., 2014; Zokaei, Ning, et al., 2014) that seems to indicate that even non-predictive endogenous cues presented during the delay bias visual working memory. Unlike typical retrocues, however, these incidental cues required a response: Both cue and memory probe indicated one of the memorised items by its colour and required the discrimination of location (cue) or reproduction of motion direction (probe). Thus, this paradigm can be thought of as a special instance of a dual-task, and the influence of the ‘cue’ as similar to the effect of actions reviewed here (after all, the button press response required by the cue is an action).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) under grants HE8207/1-1 to A. Heuer, OH274/2-2 to S. Ohl, and RO3579/6-2, RO3579/11-1 as well as RO3579/8-1 to M. Rolfs.