Massive visual long-term memory is largely dependent on meaning.

Previous research demonstrated a massive capacity of visual long-term memory (VLTM) for meaningful images. However, the capacity and limits of a "pure" VLTM that is independent of conceptual information still need to be determined. In the encoding phase of three experiments, participants viewed hundreds of images depicting real-world objects, along with visually similar images that were stripped of their semantic meaning.

Meaningful stimuli inflate the role of proactive interference in visual working memory.

The use of meaningful daily objects in visual working memory (VWM) tasks revealed two uncharacteristic findings: enlarged memory capacity, and strong proactive interference (PI), which was previously believed to play only a modest role in VWM. To disassociate the roles of meaning and visual complexity in these effects, a set of stimuli composed of meaningful daily objects was compared to visually similar meaningless sets. These sets were included in a Repeated (PI-prone) condition in which stimuli were repeatedly drawn from a limited set of items, and in a Unique (PI-free) condition in which each stimulus appeared only once.

The locus of proactive interference in visual working memory.

Recent studies showed that proactive interference (PI) impairs visual working memory (WM), as performance is better when the memory items are unique rather than repeated throughout the experiment. To scrutinize the mechanisms driving this effect, we tested how it affects the stages of encoding, retention, and testing. Experiment 1 instructed participants to make speeded responses and found that reaction time was slower in the repeated than in the unique condition, suggesting memory source confusion during testing.

Bridging the gap between visual temporary memory and working memory: The role of stimuli distinctiveness.

Visual working memory (VWM) is traditionally assumed to be immune to proactive interference (PI). However, in a recent study (Endress & Potter, 2014), performance in a visual memory task was superior when all items were unique and hence interference from previous trials was impossible, compared to a standard condition in which a limited set of repeating items was used and stimuli from previous trials could interfere with the current trial. Furthermore, when all the items were unique, the estimated memory capacity far exceeded typical capacity estimates.

Seeing without knowing: task relevance dissociates between visual awareness and recognition.

We demonstrate that task relevance dissociates between visual awareness and knowledge activation to create a state of seeing without knowing-visual awareness of familiar stimuli without recognizing them. We rely on the fact that in order to experience a Kanizsa illusion, participants must be aware of its inducers. While people can indicate the orientation of the illusory rectangle with great ease (signifying that they have consciously experienced the illusion's inducers), almost 30% of them could not report the inducers' color.

Are task irrelevant faces unintentionally processed? Implicit learning as a test case.

Faces are one of the most important signals for reading people's mental states. In sync with their apparent "chronic" (cross-situational) relevance, faces have been argued to be processed independently of the task one is currently performing. Many of these demonstrations have involved "capture of attention" or increased interference by faces functioning as distractors.

Relevance-based selectivity: the case of implicit learning.

Learning the structure of the environment (e.g., what usually follows what) enables animals to behave in an effective manner and prepare for future events.