Investigating the effects of perceptual complexity versus conceptual meaning on the object benefit in visual working memory.

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated greater visual working memory (VWM) performance for real-world objects compared with simple features. Greater amplitudes of the contralateral delay activity (CDA)-a sustained event-related potential measured during the delay period of a VWM task-have also been noted for meaningful stimuli, despite being thought of as a neural marker of a fixed working memory capacity. The current study aimed to elucidate the factors underlying improved memory performance for real-world objects by isolating the relative contributions of perceptual complexity (i.e., number of visual features) and conceptual meaning (i.e., availability of semantic, meaningful features). Participants (N = 22) performed a lateralized VWM task to test their memory of intact real-world objects, scrambled real-world objects and colours. The CDA was measured during both encoding and WM retention intervals (600-1000 ms and 1300-1700 ms poststimulus onset, respectively), and behavioural performance was estimated by using d' (memory strength in a two-alternative forced choice task). Behavioural results revealed significantly better performance within-subjects for real-world objects relative to scrambled objects and colours, with no difference between colours and scrambled objects. The amplitude of the CDA was also largest for intact real-world objects, with no difference in magnitude for scrambled objects and colours, during working memory maintenance. However, during memory encoding, both the colours and intact real-world objects had significantly greater amplitudes than scrambled objects and were comparable in magnitude. Overall, findings suggest that conceptual meaning (semantics) supports the memory benefit for real-world objects.