Spatial layout of letters in nonwords affects visual short-term memory load: evidence from human electrophysiology

Psychophysiology
David J PrimePierre Jolicoeur

Abstract

The sustained posterior contralateral negativity (SPCN) was used to investigate the effect of spatial layout on the maintenance of letters in VSTM. SPCN amplitude was measured for words, nonwords, and scrambled nonwords. We reexamined the effects of spatial layout of letters on SPCN amplitude in a design that equated the mean frequency of use of each position. Scrambled letters that did not form words elicited a larger SPCN than either words or nonwords, indicating lower VSTM load for nonwords presented in a typical horizontal array than the load observed for the same letters presented in spatially scrambled locations. In contrast, prior research has shown that the spatial extent of arrays of simple stimuli did not influence the amplitude of the SPCN. Thus, the present results indicate the existence of encoding and VSTM maintenance mechanisms specific to letter and word processing.

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Citations

Oct 1, 2011·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Maria KtoriStéphane Dufau
Aug 5, 2011·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Marcin LeszczyńskiAnna Schubö
Feb 28, 2013·Brain Structure & Function·Sven HoffmannChristian Beste
Dec 18, 2010·Neuropsychologia·Simone CutiniRoberto Dell'Acqua
Sep 25, 2018·Psychophysiology·Jason RajsicGeoffrey F Woodman

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