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Were you paying attention to where you looked? The role of executive working memory in visual search

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Abstract

Recent evidence has indicated that performing a working memory task that loads executive working memory leads to less efficient visual search (Han & Kim, 2004). We explored the role that executive functioning plays in visual search by examining the pattern of eye movements while participants performed a search task with or without a secondary executive working memory task. Results indicate that executive functioning plays two roles in visual search: the identification of objects and the control of the disengagement of attention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., MS 3F5, Fairfax, VA, 22030

    Matthew S. Peterson, Meliss a R. Beck & Jason H. Wong

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  1. Matthew S. Peterson
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  2. Meliss a R. Beck
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  3. Jason H. Wong
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Correspondence to Matthew S. Peterson.

Additional information

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant R01 MH64505 to M.S.P.

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Peterson, M.S., Beck, M.a.R. & Wong, J.H. Were you paying attention to where you looked? The role of executive working memory in visual search. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 15, 372–377 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.15.2.372

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.15.2.372

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