![]() Trials began with the presentation of a fixation cross (300 ms). A change detection VWM paradigm was used. ProcedureĪ within-subjects 2 × 3 factorial design included the factors Grouping (grouped, ungrouped) and Set Size (SS3, SS4, SS6). The viewing distance was 57 cm from the monitor. ![]() widescreen monitor with a refresh rate of 60 Hz running on a Dell Inspiron PC. The experiment was programmed using E-Prime (Psychology Software Tools, Pittsburgh, PA) and displayed on a 24-in. The locations of the grouped stimulus pairs were counterbalanced. The stimulus locations in the set size 3 (SS3) and set size 4 (SS4) conditions were counterbalanced between the six possible locations in the circular configuration, with the requirement that the stimuli must be adjacent. The stimuli at each set size were arranged in a circular configuration with each item presented at a distance of 6º from fixation. Eight color categories were used: yellow, red, blue, green, purple, magenta, orange, and cyan. The stimuli were colored circles subtending 1.7º created in Adobe Photoshop CS5. Participants gave informed consent prior to the experiment. The University of Nevada Institutional Review Board approved all experimental protocols. Ten undergraduate students participated (eight female, two male mean age = 24.8 years). ![]() As such, grouping appears to automatically facilitate visual perception. For example, perceptual discriminations remain accurate when stimulus arrays can be grouped by similarity, even during conditions of inattention (Moore & Egeth, 1997). Support for this perspective stems from perceptual judgments of grouped elements being made in the absence of attention (Driver, Davis, Russell, Turatto, & Freeman, 2001 Lamy, Segal, & Ruderman, 2006 Moore & Egeth, 1997 Russell & Driver, 2005). During this preattentive stage, the visual field is divided into discrete objects on the basis of Gestalt principles (Duncan, 1984, Neisser, 1967). ![]() First, the processing of Gestalt grouping cues is thought to occur preattentively (Duncan, 1984 Duncan & Humphreys, 1989 Kahneman & Treisman, 1984 Moore & Egeth, 1997 Neisser, 1967 but see also Ben-Av, Sagi, & Braun, 1992 Mack & Rock, 1998 Mack, Tang, Tuma, Kahn, & Rock, 1992). Several key findings are worth reviewing before returning to VWM. A large literature has documented the effects of Gestalt grouping on visual perception. Proximity refers to grouping of objects in physical space (Wertheimer, 1924/ 1950), uniform connectedness groups physically linked features into a single object (Palmer & Rock, 1994), and similarity refers to grouping based on repetition of features such as color (Wertheimer, 1924/ 1950). Among the various types of Gestalt groupings, three are particularly relevant here: proximity, uniform connectedness, and similarity. Gestalt principles make grouped objects appear to “belong together” (Rock, 1986). These apparently biological constraints on VWM capacity prompt the following question: Can the storage of visual information within VWM be optimized by grouping cues that enhance perception? One relevant observation is that Gestalt principles of grouping facilitate visual perception (Wertheimer, 1924/ 1950), and some evidence has shown that they may also benefit VWM. Thus, the Gestalt principle of similarity benefits visual perception, but it can provide benefits to VWM as well. In short, the VWM performance benefit derived from similarity was constrained by spatial proximity, such that similar items need to be near each other. Experiment 2 replicated and extended this finding by showing that similarity was only effective when the similar stimuli were proximal. Experiment 1 established the basic finding that VWM performance could benefit from grouping. Here, we investigated whether grouping by similarity benefits VWM. ![]() However, one prevalent Gestalt principle, similarity, has not been examined with regard to facilitating VWM. This introduces the question, do these perceptual benefits extend to VWM? If so, can this be an approach to enhance VWM function by optimizing the processing of information? Previous findings have demonstrated that several Gestalt principles (connectedness, common region, and spatial proximity) do facilitate VWM performance in change detection tasks (Jiang, Olson, & Chun, 2000 Woodman, Vecera, & Luck, 2003 Xu, 2002, 2006 Xu & Chun, 2007). Visual perception processing is facilitated by Gestalt principles of grouping, such as connectedness, similarity, and proximity. Visual working memory (VWM) is essential for many cognitive processes, yet it is notably limited in capacity. ![]()
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