To interact successfully with the local environment, people must maintain a """"""""local map' of the locations of important nearby objects. This is one of the primary functions of spatial working memory. The majority of research investigating the characteristics of spatial working memory has focused on what people represent in memory. Although this is a fundamental question, the present study examines a different, but equally important question: how do people maintain location information in memory? This question is timely because recent studies have identified several brain regions that contribute to the maintenance of location information. Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that elderly participants and patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease show deficits when the characteristics of a visual stimulus must be maintained in working memory over a delay. Evidence from a variety of studies suggests that people rely on visible reference axes -- the edges of a table, the edges of a computer screen -- to help them remember the locations of target objects. Use of such perceptual information can help stabilize memory. Nevertheless, there is a cost -- memory is systematically distorted near reference axes. Specifically, when people are asked to reproduce the location of a hidden object, they exaggerate the distance between the reference axis and the actual location of the object. These memory errors are particularly informative because they increase in magnitude as memory delays increase. Thus, errors away from reference axes may provide a window into the second-to-second processes the serve to maintain location information in working memory. Fourteen experiments will test a mathematical model of how information is maintained in spatial working memory with both child and adult participants. The first eight experiments test specific predictions of the model. The final seven experiments examine the generality of the model to situations in which a reaching response is not required and to situations that place demands on spatial selective attention. When completed, the proposed project will provide the first formal theory of spatial working memory.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01MH062480-01A2
Application #
6467619
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BBBP-4 (01))
Program Officer
Kurtzman, Howard S
Project Start
2002-03-01
Project End
2006-02-28
Budget Start
2002-03-01
Budget End
2003-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$110,250
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Iowa
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041294109
City
Iowa City
State
IA
Country
United States
Zip Code
52242
Johnson, Jeffrey S; Spencer, John P (2016) Testing a dynamic-field account of interactions between spatial attention and spatial working memory. Atten Percept Psychophys 78:1043-63
Ross-Sheehy, Shannon; Schneegans, Sebastian; Spencer, John P (2015) The Infant Orienting With Attention task: Assessing the neural basis of spatial attention in infancy. Infancy 20:467-506
Samuelson, Larissa K; Jenkins, Gavin W; Spencer, John P (2015) Grounding cognitive-level processes in behavior: the view from dynamic systems theory. Top Cogn Sci 7:191-205
Wijeakumar, Sobanawartiny; Spencer, John P; Bohache, Kevin et al. (2015) Validating a new methodology for optical probe design and image registration in fNIRS studies. Neuroimage 106:86-100
Buss, Aaron T; Spencer, John P (2014) The emergent executive: a dynamic field theory of the development of executive function. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 79:vii, 1-103
Perone, Sammy; Spencer, John P (2014) The co-development of looking dynamics and discrimination performance. Dev Psychol 50:837-52
Schneegans, Sebastian; Spencer, John P; Schöner, Gregor et al. (2014) Dynamic interactions between visual working memory and saccade target selection. J Vis 14:
Perone, Sammy; Spencer, John P (2013) Autonomy in action: linking the act of looking to memory formation in infancy via dynamic neural fields. Cogn Sci 37:1-60
Perone, Sammy; Spencer, John P (2013) Autonomous visual exploration creates developmental change in familiarity and novelty seeking behaviors. Front Psychol 4:648
Spencer, J P; Barich, K; Goldberg, J et al. (2012) Behavioral dynamics and neural grounding of a dynamic field theory of multi-object tracking. J Integr Neurosci 11:339-62

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