Categorically Distinct Subsets Allow Flexible Memory Selection in Hybrid Search

Nurit Gronau, Makaela Nartker, Sharon Yakim, Igor Utochkin, Jeremy Wolfe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In many everyday situations, we search our visual surroundings for any one of many memorized items held in memory, a process termed hybrid search. In some cases, only a portion of the memorized mental list is relevant within a specific visual context, thus, restricting memory search to the relevant subset would be desirable. Previous research had shown that participants largely fail to "partition" memory into several distinct subsets, on a trial-by-trial basis. However, given the known role of semantic content in long-term memory organization, we hypothesized that semantically defined subset categories might serve as a more powerful means for flexible memory selection in dynamic hybrid search situations. Experiment 1 revealed that, indeed, semantic characteristics (i.e., object category), but not perceptual features (e.g., arbitrary color), can provide a firm basis for flexible memory partitioning. Experiments 2 and 3 further showed that such memory partitioning is costless and is independent of the nature of the surrounding visual distractors (i.e., a categorically homogeneous or heterogeneous display). These findings demonstrate that confining one's memory search to a currently relevant subset of items is highly effective when the different memory subsets are defined by clear semantic categories. The results underscore the importance of conceptual information in the organization of activated long-term memory and in forming the basis for a flexible trial-by-trial memory selection. Our findings further highlight the relationship between visual search and memory search, and they may shed light on the processes contributing to a successful construction of bounded episodes in long-term memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1703-1721
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition
Volume50
Issue number11
Early online date12 Sep 2024
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2024

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Attention/physiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory, Long-Term/physiology
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology
  • Semantics
  • Visual Perception/physiology
  • Young Adult
  • activated long-term memory
  • categorical processing
  • hybrid search
  • memory search
  • visual search

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language

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