Benjamin J. Tamber-Rosenau¹, Paulina A. Kulesz¹, Brandon J. Carlos^1,2; ¹University of Houston, ²Ball State University

Preserving visual items in working memory entails a consolidation process that results in a distraction-resistant representation. An initial, rapid stage of consolidation, sometimes called encoding, is terminated by a mask, while a second, slow stage continues after masking. However, the second stage of consolidation can be interrupted by a decision task (T2) that follows sample presentation by up to 1 s, with memory performance reduction attenuating over sample-T2 delay. Because of the cross-representational-format nature of this interference (Nieuwenstein & Wyble, 2014, DOI: 10.1037/a0035257; Carlos et al., in revision), consolidation is thought to depend on central executive processes, and it has been argued that interference with consolidation by T2 reflects a structural limit (Carlos et al., 2023, DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02757-7). Such a central structural limit is not expected to be location specific—that is, the location in which the visual sample is presented should not relate to the degree of interruption of WM consolidation by T2. To our surprise and in contrast to numerous past studies, in two cohorts of participants (N=23, N=30), we observed no interruption of consolidation by the presentation of a number parity decision T2. The lack of consolidation interruption was observed across multiple kinds of visual memoranda and set sizes. It does not reflect a failure of sensitivity, as we still observed the typical visual masking (first stage of consolidation) effect. What can explain the missing interference? In past studies, both the sample and T2 were presented centrally. Here, T2 was presented centrally, but the sample was presented at 10° eccentricity, in peripheral vision. Thus, we suggest that the interruption of working memory consolidation from vision by a decision task is surprisingly location specific.

Acknowledgements: This material was supported by the United States National Science Foundation under grant number 2127822.