Abstract
Attentional templates are representations of target features in Visual Working Memory (VWM). Previous research has established that simultaneous guidance of visual search by two attentional templates is possible, but the determinants of each template's efficiency are poorly understood. Recently, Berggren, Nako, and Eimer (2019) compared the latencies of RTs and N2pc components to transient and sustained templates. Two target colors were cued before the search display onset. In blocked trials with transient targets, both colors changed on every trial. In blocked trials with sustained targets, both colors were fixed throughout. In the mixed condition, one color was fixed while the other changed from trial to trial. Using a similar design, we replicated faster RTs to transient than sustained targets in the mixed condition and no difference in the blocked conditions. In a second experiment, subjects reproduced one of the two target colors on a color wheel after each search episode. The concomitant memory task reduced the difference between sustained and transient targets in the mixed condition, indicating that keeping both targets in memory for later recall decreased competitive interactions between them. Further, analysis of color judgments showed that random guesses of sustained targets increased in the mixed compared to the blocked condition, whereas random guesses for transient targets did not differ. These findings suggest that the transfer of the sustained template from long-term memory to VWM exposes it to competitive interactions with transient search goals. Moreover, manipulations of the time interval between the cue and search display did not modulate the difference between sustained and transient targets in the mixed condition, corroborating the idea that the phenomenon depends on the retrieval of the sustained template at search onset. Accordingly, when advancing retrieval with a retro-cue, sustained and transient templates became equally efficient in the mixed condition.