Feature bindings endure without attention: evidence from an explicit recall task.

Abstract

Are integrated objects the unit of capacity of visual working memory, or is continued attention needed to maintain bindings between independently stored features? In a delayed recall task, participants reported the color and shape of a probed item from a memory array. During the delay, attention was manipulated with an exogenous cue. Recall was elevated at validly cued positions, indicating that the cue affected item memory. On invalid trials, participants most frequently recalled either both features (perfect object memory) or neither of the two features (no object memory); the frequency with which only one feature was recalled was significantly lower than predicted by feature independence as determined in a single-feature recall task. These data do not support the view that features are remembered independently when attention is withdrawn. Instead, integrated objects are stored in visual working memory without need for continued attention.