Functional dissociation between visual and spatial temporary maintenance

The purpose of the present work was to explore the functional dissociation between visual and spatial working memory systems by the use of dual-task interference methodology. Two temporary maintenance tasks that are putatively assumed to rely on visual and spatial memory resources respectively, i.e., retention of visual items (geometric forms or Chinese ideographs) and retention of spatial items (dot locations), were simultaneously performed with active interference tasks that are assumed to load the visual and spatial resources respectively, i.e., processing visual information (color discrimination) and spatial information (movement discrimination or spatial tapping). The following double dissociation was robustly observed across a series of experiments: The visual memory task is more impaired by the visual interference task than by the spatial interference task, whereas the spatial memory task is more disrupted by the spatial interference task than by the visual interference task. Such an empirical double dissociation can be interpreted to reflect the functional dissociation between visual and spatial working memory resources.

Author dc:creator

• Zhao, Zengmei

Contributors dc:contributor

• Klauer, Karl Christoph

• double dissociation
• visual and spatial working memory
• temporary maintenance
• visuo-spatial rehearsal

Repository record source_url

https://freidok.uni-freiburg.de/data/1542

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:freidok.uni-freiburg.de:1542