Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Journal Article 5.1: Orhan, A. E., Sims, C. R., Jacobs, R. A., & Knill, D. C. (2014). The adaptive nature of visual working memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(3), 164-170.

Abstract: A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that visual working memory and statistical learning are intrinsically linked. Although visual working memory is severely resource limited, in many cases, it makes efficient use of its available resources by adapting to statistical regularities in the visual environment. However, experimental evidence also suggests that there are clear limits and biases in statistical learning. This raises the intriguing possibility that performance limitations observed in visual working memory tasks can to some degree be explained in terms of limits and biases in statistical-learning ability, rather than limits in memory capacity.

Journal Article 5.2: Alvarez, G. A., & Cavanagh, P. (2004). The capacity of visual short-term memory is set both by visual information load and by number of objects. Psychological Science, 15(2), 106-111.

Abstract: Previous research has suggested that visual short-term memory has a fixed capacity of about four objects. However, we found that capacity varied substantially across the five stimulus classes we examined, ranging from 1.6 for shaded cubes to 4.4 for colors (estimated using a change detection task). We also estimated the information load per item in each class, using visual search rate. The changes we measured in memory capacity across classes were almost exactly mirrored by changes in the opposite direction in visual search rate (r² = .992 between search rate and the reciprocal of memory capacity). The greater the information load of each item in a stimulus class (as indicated by a slower search rate), the fewer items from that class one can hold in memory. Extrapolating this linear relationship reveals that there is also an upper bound on capacity of approximately four or five objects. Thus, both the visual information load and number of objects impose capacity limits on visual short-term memory.

Journal Article 5.3: Loft, S. (2014). Applying psychological science to examine prospective memory in simulated air traffic control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(5), 326-331.

Abstract: Failures to remember to perform deferred task actions in work settings such as air traffic control can have serious consequences. Most research examining the cognitive mechanisms underlying prospective memory has used simple, static tasks, which may make it difficult to generalize results to work settings. I describe a body of research that has applied theory and methods from the basic prospective-memory and attention-capture literatures to simulations of air traffic control. These theories and methods can be used to anticipate many findings, such as the finding that prospective-memory demands incur performance costs in ongoing air traffic control tasks, and that prospective-memory error and costs to ongoing air traffic control tasks can be reduced by the use of spatial context or prospective-memory aids. Research in laboratory settings that simulates work contexts such as air traffic control can both establish the utility of psychological theory and produce application-relevant information.