Capacity & attention limits on visual short-term memory

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed studies are intended to contribute to our understanding of the processes of encoding and storing information in visual short-term memory and is concerned with four specific aims. The first aim is to investigate the nature of the information limit on visual short-term memory. Multiple methods will be employed to measure the amount of information stored per object and the maximum number of objects that can be stored in memory for several different classes of objects. If there is a limit to the total amount of information that can be stored in memory, then as the amount of information stored per object increases, the total number of objects that can be stored in memory should decrease. The second specific aim is to determine whether basic features of an object can be selectively encoded into memory. While performing a memory task for a particular target feature (e.g., color) subjects will be tested unexpectedly on an irrelevant feature (e.g., orientation). If only task-relevant features are stored, then memory performance for task-irrelevant features should be at chance. The third specific aim is to determine whether visual memory stores boundary features more efficiently than surface features. Finally, the fourth specific aim is to investigate the relationship between limits on attentional selection and memory capacity.