Abstract
Retro-cues improve visual working memory (VWM) performance by focusing attention on relevant information during maintenance. Furthermore, a cueing effect (Valid > Neutral) is reported even when the retention interval of a change detection task includes a visual search task, suggesting that sustained attention is not necessary for the retro-cue effect (Hollingworth & Maxcey-Richard, 2015). The goal of the current study was to further test the role of sustained attention on the retro-cue effect and how stimulus presentation (sequential or simultaneous) and cue type impact the effect. In Experiments 1 and 2, three colored squares were presented sequentially in the center of the screen. In Experiment 3, all three pre-change squares were presented simultaneously. During the retention interval of the change detection task, a valid retro-cue indicated which item would be tested (Experiment 1 – sequential position cue; Experiment 2 – color cue; Experiment 3 – location cue). Half of the trials included a visual search task (dual-task condition) between the cue and the post-change display. Consistent with previous literature, there was a significant cueing effect in the dual-task condition for all three experiments. However, only Experiment 3 also had a significant cueing effect in the memory-only condition, and cueing effects overall were larger in Experiment 3 than in Experiments 1 and 2. Therefore, when sequential presentation (Experiments 1 and 2) was used, the valid cue was more likely to be utilized when maintaining attention on the encoded items during the retention interval was more difficult (dual-task condition). When simultaneous presentation allowed for a location retro-cue (Experiment 3), the valid cue was utilized even when attention during retention was not disrupted. These results replicate previous findings showing that sustained attention is not necessary for retro-cue effectiveness and suggest that retro-cues effectiveness can be impacted by stimulus presentation and cue type.