The Influence Of Organization, Proximity To The Representation Of Visual Working Memory

Visual working memory is a capacity limited memory system,processing and storing information temporarily.Previous research on object representation in visual working memory found that,Gestalt principles,such as proximity,similarity can contribute to the representation of visual working memory,improving visual working memory performance.But there is no systematic study on the joint role of proximity and similarity in visual working memory representation.This study explored the effect of organization,similar items' proximity and test items' similarity on the representation of visual working memory through three experiments.Experiment 1 used 2 organization(organized,disorganized)x 2 proximity of similar items(proximal similar item,not proximal similar item)x 2 similarity of test items(testing similar items,testing dissimilar items)three-factor within subjects design,examining the working mechanism of materials' organization,similar items' proximity and test items' similarity in visual working memory representations;Experiment 2 used 2 whether inserting other items(inserting other item,not inserting other item)x 2 physical distance of similar items(close physical distance,far physical distance)x 2 similarity of test items(testing similar items,testing dissimilar items)three-factor within subjects design,examining when materials were organized,it was the inserting of other item or the physical distance between similar items or both that influenced the similarity effect in visual working memory;Experiment 3 used 2 proximity of similar items(proximal similar items,not proximal similar items)x 2 attention level(concentrated attention,divided attention)x 2similarity of test items(testing similar items,testing dissimilar items)three-factor within subjects design,examining the working mechanism of similar items' proximity in the similarity effect of visual working memory.Following were main conclusions drawn:(1)Organization influenced the requirements of visual working memory similarity effects to proximity.When materials were organized,similarity effects were influenced by proximity,the advantage of similarity effects only emerged when similar items were proximal,when similar items were not proximal,the advantage disappeared;When materials were disorganized,the advantage of similarity effects were not influenced by proximity,the advantage emerged no matter the similar items were proximal or not.(2)When materials were organized,the physical distance between similar items did not influence the similarity advantage in visual working memory,but inserting dissimilar items into similar items impaired the similarity advantage.(3)In visual working memory,attention level could influence the effect of similar items' proximity on similarity advantage.Under divided attention,representations of visual working memory were better in proximal similar items condition than in not proximal similar items condition;under concentrated attention,proximity of similar items did not affect visual working memory representations.