Abstract
Recent theoretical conceptualizations of visual working memory (WM) have begun to emphasize the action-oriented nature of this system. To guide behavior, information stored in WM must be selected and mapped onto task-appropriate responses. Several physiological signals associated with the selection of task-relevant WM content have been identified, but it is unclear whether these signals index unique selection mechanisms. Here, we independently tracked and compared several electrophysiological and oculomotor signals previously linked with the selection of WM content. The data reveal a rich tapestry of functionally and temporally independent signals associated with the selection of visuospatial and visual feature information, as well as the selection of task-appropriate responses. Theoretical models of internal selective attention and WM-guided behavior will need to account for interactions between processes indexed by these signals.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Support: NSF 2050833 (E.F.E.), Nevada Undergraduate Research Award (R.W.)
Data and Analytic Software: Stimulus presentation software, raw and preprocessed data, and analytic software are freely accessible via the Open Sciences Framework: https://osf.io/872tm/
Significant overhaul: addition of oculomotor data analysis, re-analysis of orientation decoding data, new framing.