Task-dependent transfer of perceptual to memory representations during delayed spatial frequency discrimination.

Full Abstract

Discrimination thresholds were obtained using a delayed spatial frequency discrimination task. In Experiment 1, we found that presentation of a mask 3 s before onset of a reference Gabor patch caused a selective, spatial frequency dependent interference in a subsequent discrimination task. However, a 10 s interval abolished this masking effect. In Experiment 2, the mask was associated with a second spatial frequency discrimination task so that a representation of the mask had to be coded into short-term perceptual memory. This experiment was performed to assess whether absence of masking in the 10 s condition of Experiment 1 might be due to decay of the mask information in the perceptual or the memory representational domain. The presence of this second discrimination task now caused similar interference effects on the primary discrimination task at both the 3 s and 10 s interstimulus intervals (ISI) conditions. Finally, to test the robustness of the masking effect, the nature of the secondary masking task was changed from a spatial frequency discrimination task to an orientation discrimination task in Experiment 3. The masking effect was now abolished in both the 3 and 10 s ISI conditions. Together, the results from these experiments are consistent with the idea of a two-level perceptual memory mechanism. The results also suggest that stimulus representations during a perceptual discrimination task are shared between the perceptual and memory representation domains in a task-dependent manner.

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Author information

Author/s: Lalonde, Jasmin (J); Chaudhuri, Avi (A);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montréal, Que., Canada H3A 1B1. jasmin(-atsign-)ego.psych.mcgill.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Vision research (Vision Res), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Jun; vol 42 (issue 14) : pp 1759-69

Dates: Created 2002/07/19; Completed 2002/09/30; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12127108, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Attention - physiology
Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology
Female
Humans
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Motion Perception - physiology

Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Perceptual Masking - physiology
Photic Stimulation - methods
Psychophysics
Sensory Thresholds
Time Factors

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