Change detection and repetition detection reflect functionally distinct forms of visual working memory.

To examine the roles of change detection and repetition detection in visual working memory, we analyzed three working memory tests expected to rely differentially on these processes. Subjects studied an array of colored squares and then completed three tests. In the complex-probe test, subjects indi...

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Published in:Memory & Cognition Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 258 - 273
Main Authors: Norris, Stephanie, Yonelinas, Andrew P.
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Jan2026
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2026
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      pub: Springer Nature
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        10.3758/s13421-025-01749-2
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        atl: Change detection and repetition detection reflect functionally distinct forms of visual working memory.
      aug:
        au:
          Norris, Stephanie
          Yonelinas, Andrew P.
        affil: https://ror.org/05rrcem69 Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
      su:
        Task performance
        Undergraduates
        Confidence
        Attention
        Analysis of variance
        Repeated measures design
        Statistical power analysis
        Cognitive testing
        Receiver operating characteristic curves
        T-test (Statistics)
        Data analysis
        Research funding
        Descriptive statistics
        Experimental design
        Neuropsychological tests
        Statistics
        Short-term memory
        Visual perception
        Data analysis software
      sug:
        subj:
          Task performance
          Undergraduates
          Confidence
          Attention
          Analysis of variance
          Repeated measures design
          Statistical power analysis
          Cognitive testing
          Receiver operating characteristic curves
          T-test (Statistics)
          Data analysis
          Research funding
          Descriptive statistics
          Experimental design
          Neuropsychological tests
          Statistics
          Short-term memory
          Visual perception
          Data analysis software
      keyword:
        Change detection
        Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology
        Receiver operating characteristics
        Recollection
        Repetition detection
        Visual working memory
        Change detection
        Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology
        Receiver operating characteristics
        Recollection
        Repetition detection
        Visual working memory
      ab: To examine the roles of change detection and repetition detection in visual working memory, we analyzed three working memory tests expected to rely differentially on these processes. Subjects studied an array of colored squares and then completed three tests. In the complex-probe test, subjects indicated whether a test array matched the study array or if an item's color changed. In the single-probe test, they judged whether a single item's color matched the study color, and in the item recognition test, they identified whether a centrally presented color was studied. We collected same/different confidence responses and analyzed receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) to evaluate memory strength distributions for changed and repeated trials, using a mixture signal detection model to estimate each process. As expected, the complex-probe test showed more high-confidence memory for changed trials, while the item recognition test showed more high-confidence memory for repetitions. The single-probe test showed similar or lower-confidence memory for both trials. Moreover, model estimates indicated that the probability of recollecting a change was higher in the complex-probe than in the item recognition tests, and the probability of recollecting a repetition was higher in the item recognition than the complex-probe tests. The single-probe test showed moderate recollection for both. These results show that change detection and repetition detection are functionally dissociable, with test-type affecting their contributions to working memory. These findings have implications for studying populations, such as aging, that may exhibit impairments in one or the other and raise the question of whether different neural systems underlie these processes.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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