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| Paper IPM / Cognitive / 9591 |
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The capacity of human visual working memory is extremely restricted. This limitation requires efficient mechanisms to choose the most relevant features from the environment to be represented in the working memory (Vogel et al, 2005 Nature 438 500 - 503). Psychological studies in humans have revealed the relevance of red, maybe because this colour is the sign of hazard in nature (Hill and Barton, 2005 Nature 435 293). Here, we aimed to examine the hypothesis that red might be retained more efficiently compared to other colours in visual working memory. On each trail, a sample array consisted of 3, 5, 7, or 9 coloured squares (with the same luminance) was presented for 500 ms. This was followed by a 900 ms blank interval and then 2000 ms presentation of test array consisted of two coloured squares. Observers were asked to select the square with the colour presented in the sample array. The performance of observers for all colours was high for arrays with 3 and 5 items. However, observers showed significantly higher performance for retaining red compared to other colours for arrays with 7 and 9 items. Current study suggests that various colours are retained differentially in working memory, based on their relevance in real world.
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