Abstract
Previous research measuring visual short-term memory (VSTM) suggests that the capacity for representing the layout of objects is fairly high. In four experiments, we further explored the capacity of VSTM for layout of objects, using the change detection method. In Experiment 1, participants retained most of the elements in displays of 4 to 8 elements. In Experiments 2 and 3, with up to 20 elements, participants retained many of them, reaching a capacity of 13.4 stimulus elements. In Experiment 4, participants retained much of a complex naturalistic scene. In most cases, increasing display size caused only modest reductions in performance, consistent with the idea of configural, variable-resolution grouping. The results indicate that participants can retain a substantial amount of scene layout information (objects and locations) in short-term memory. We propose that this is a case of remote visual understanding, where observers’ ability to integrate information from a scene is paramount.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aginsky, V., & Tarr, M. J. (2000). How are different properties of a scene encoded in visual memory? Visual Cognition, 7, 147–162.
Alvarez, G. A., & Cavanagh, P. (2004). The capacity of visual shortterm memory is set both by visual information load and by number of objects. Psychological Science, 15, 106–111.
Alvarez, G. [A.], & Oliva, A. (2007). The role of global layout in visual short-term memory. Visual Cognition, 15, 70–73.
Awh, E., Barton, B., & Vogel, E. K. (2007). Visual working memory represents a fixed number of items regardless of complexity. Psychological Science, 18, 622–628.
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47–89). New York: Academic Press.
Brockmole, J. R., Wang, R. F., & Irwin, D. E. (2002). Temporal integration between visual images and visual percepts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 28, 315–334.
Eng, H. Y., Chen, D., & Jiang, Y. (2005). Visual working memory for simple and complex visual stimuli. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 1127–1133.
Enns, J. T. (1987). A developmental look at pattern symmetry in perception and memory. Developmental Psychology, 23, 839–850.
Franconeri, S. L., Alvarez, G. A., & Enns, J. T. (2007). How many locations can be selected at once? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 33, 1003–1012.
Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Goodale, M. A., Gonzalez, C. L. R., & Króliczak, G. (2008). Action rules: Why the visual control of reaching and grasping is not always influenced by perceptual illusions. Perception, 37, 355–366.
Grimes, J. (1996). On the failure to detect changes in scenes across saccades. In K. Akins (Ed.), Perception (Vancouver Studies in Cognitive Science, Vol. 5, pp. 89–110). New York: Oxford University Press.
He, Z. J., Wu, B., Ooi, T. L., Yarbrough, G., & Wu, J. (2004). Judging egocentric distance on the ground: Occlusion and surface integration. Perception, 33, 789–806.
Hollingworth, A. (2004). Constructing visual representations of natural scenes: The roles of short- and long-term visual memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 30, 519–537.
Hollingworth, A. (2005). The relationship between online visual representation of a scene and long-term scene memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 31, 396–411.
Hollingworth, A. (2006). Scene and position specificity in visual memory for objects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 32, 58–69.
Hollingworth, A. (2007). Object-position binding in visual memory for natural scenes and object arrays. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 33, 31–47.
Hollingworth, A., Hyun, J.-S., & Zhang, W. (2005). The role of visual short-term memory in empty cell localization. Perception & Psychophysics, 67, 1332–1343.
Intraub, H. (1997). The representation of visual scenes. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 1, 217–222.
Irwin, D. E. (1991). Information integration across saccadic eye movements. Cognitive Psychology, 23, 420–456.
Irwin, D. E., & Zelinsky, G. J. (2002). Eye movements and scene perception: Memory for things observed. Perception & Psychophysics, 64, 882–895.
Jiang, Y., Olson, I. R., & Chun, M. M. (2000). Organization of visual short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 26, 683–702.
Lasaga, M. I., & Garner, W. R. (1983). Effect of line orientation on various information-processing tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 9, 215–225.
Liu, K., & Jiang, Y. (2005). Visual working memory for briefly presented scenes. Journal of Vision, 5, 650–658.
Logie, R. H. (1995). Visuo-spatial working memory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Luck, S. J. (2008). Visual short-term memory. In S. J. Luck & A. Hollingworth (Eds.), Visual memory (pp. 43–85). New York: Oxford University Press.
Melcher, D. (2001). Persistence of visual memory for scenes. Nature, 412, 401.
Melcher, D. (2006). Accumulation and persistence of memory for natural scenes. Journal of Vision, 6, 8–17.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81–97.
Ni, R., Braunstein, M. L., & Andersen, G. J. (2005). Distance perception from motion parallax and ground contact. Visual Cognition, 12, 1235–1254.
Olson, I. R., & Marshuetz, C. (2005). Remembering “what” brings along “where” in visual working memory. Perception & Psychophysics, 67, 185–194.
O’Regan, J. K. (1992). Solving the “real” mysteries of visual perception: The world as an outside memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 46, 461–488.
Palmer, S. E. (1975). Visual perception and world knowledge: Notes on a model of sensory-cognitive interaction. In D. A. Norman, D. E. Rumelhart, & LNR Research Group (Eds.), Explorations in cognition (pp. 279–307). San Francisco: Freeman.
Pashler, H. (1988). Familiarity and visual change detection. Perception & Psychophysics, 44, 369–378.
Phillips, W. A. (1974). On the distinction between sensory storage and short-term visual memory. Perception & Psychophysics, 16, 283–290.
Rensink, R. A. (2000a). The dynamic representation of scenes. Visual Cognition, 7, 17–42.
Rensink, R. A. (2000b). Visual search for change: A probe into the nature of attentional processing. Visual Cognition, 7, 345–376.
Sanocki, T. (1999). Constructing structural descriptions. Visual Cognition, 6, 299–318.
Sanocki, T. (2003). Representation and perception of scenic layout. Cognitive Psychology, 47, 43–86.
Sanocki, T., Michelet, K., Sellers, E., & Reynolds, J. (2006). Representations of scene layout can consist of independent, functional pieces. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 415–427.
Sanocki, T., & Sulman, N. (2009). Priming of simple and complex scene layout: Rapid function from the intermediate level. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 35, 735–749.
Sebrechts, M. M., & Garner, W. R. (1981). Stimulus-specific processing consequences of pattern goodness. Memory & Cognition, 9, 41–49.
Simons, D. J. (1996). In sight, out of mind: When object representations fail. Psychological Science, 7, 301–305.
Torralba, A. (2003). Contextual priming for object detection. International Journal of Computer Vision, 53, 169–191.
Tsal, Y., Meiran, N., & Lamy, D. (1995). Towards a resolution theory of visual attention. Visual Cognition, 2, 313–330.
Vecera, S. P., & Palmer, S. E. (2006). Grounding the figure: Surface attachment influences figure-ground organization. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 563–569.
Vidal, J. R., Gauchou, H. L., Tallon-Baudry, C., & O’Regan, J. K. (2005). Relational information in visual short-term memory: The structural gist. Journal of Vision, 5, 244–256.
Vogel, E. K., Woodman, G. F., & Luck, S. J. (2001). Storage of features, conjunctions, and objects in visual working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 27, 92–114.
White, L. E., Coppola, D. M., & Fitzpatrick, D. (2001). The contribution of sensory experience to the maturation of orientation selectivity in ferret visual cortex. Nature, 411, 1049–1052.
Wolfe, J. M., Klempen, N., & Dahlen, K. (2000). Postattentive vision. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 26, 693–705.
Wurm, L. H., Legge, G. E., Isenberg, L. M., & Luebker, A. (1993). Color improves object recognition in normal and low vision. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 19, 899–911.
Zhang, W., & Luck, S. J. (2008). Discrete fixed-resolution representations in visual working memory. Nature, 453, 233–235.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Portions of the present results were presented at the First Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, May 2001, and the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, November 2001.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sanocki, T., Sellers, E., Mittelstadt, J. et al. How high is visual short-term memory capacity for object layout?. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 72, 1097–1109 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/APP.72.4.1097
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/APP.72.4.1097