Principal Investigator: mgr Zuzanna Skóra

Objectives and hypotheses In the area of studies regarding the structure of conscious representation there is an ongoing debateon whether the representation is rich in visual detail or perhaps this richness is only an illusion. Proponentsof the richness hypothesis base their claims on studies in which directing attention to the visualrepresentation, soon enough, improves the subsequent recall of the details of this representation. On the basisof this observation, they say that attention can bring out the original visual representation. On the other hand,proponents of the hypothesis that the perceived richness of visual representation is only an illusion,differently interpret these data. They argue that the visual representation may be incomplete and directing theattention to it can strengthen it enough for the observer to be able to correctly identify the image.The aim of the project is to verify the assumptions regarding the influence of attention on thecharacteristics of the memory representation. For this purpose, we will use knowledge and tools from thefield of research on the effects of attention on visual working memory.Methodology We plan to carry out, at least, three experiments and one pilot study. The first experiments wereplanned to determine the relationship between the accessibility and precision of the memory representationin the paradigm of the partial report (reporting elements which attention have been directed to) in the task ofdetecting changes and continuous estimation. In the simplest form of the change detection task, participantsare shown two arrays (with letters or pictures) separated by a mask, e.g. in a form of a black screen. Thearray presented during the second presentation differs (on 50% of the trials) from the previous one withregard to one detail. The task is to determine whether the item indicated during the mask changed betweenpresentations. The task of continuous recall differs from the change detection in a way that the image ispresented once, and the task of the person examined is to estimate her or his memory using a wide range ofpossible answers. Subsequent experiments were planned to investigate the relationship between precisionand accessibility of the memory representation when this representation has not been additionally reinforcedby attending to it. In addition, each experiment will be accompanied by the introspective scale, throughwhich it will be possible to obtain information about perceived accessibility of the memory representation.Data obtained from both experiments will be analysed using a model capable of extracting,among other values, the precision with which the items are stored. More details about the methods ofdata analysis can be found in the full description of the project.The importance of the project The planned studies will primarily contribute to the debate on the structure of consciousrepresentation. More importantly, the arguments provided will be of an empirical nature and, therefore,relatively easy to verify by other scientists. So far, studies concerned with the structure of visual representation of the memory did not use themethods of estimating the precision of the memory trace in connection with the introspective scales. Thecombination of the two research traditions, the studies concentrated on the visual working memory and thestudies on consciousness, enables the development of objective methods in studies on the structure ofconsciousness. On the other hand, the results will enrich the existing theories of the working memorywith the characteristics of the memory as a function of the level of accessibility to the memoryrepresentation.