Figure 7. Interpretation.

(A) Initially, attentional weights allocated to each feature dimension when forming a representation are roughly balanced. (B) Cued retrieval to a specific feature dimension may disrupt this equal weighting by inducing competition between dimensions for representation in short-term memory. This competition may be resolved via the selection of the object’s value on the cued dimension and inhibition of values from uncued dimensions. Crucially, the consequences of this selective internal attention are not restricted to short-term memory, but extend to how various feature dimensions of an object are prioritized in long-term memory. (C) If the same feature is retrieved again from short-term memory in a subsequent encounter with that object, the competition among dimensions may be less fierce because this feature is already more strongly represented. As a result, the representation of the uncued dimensions may be further suppressed only slightly. (D) If a different feature is cued upon a subsequent encounter, accurate retrieval of this cued dimension from short-term memory may be more difficult due to the stronger status of the previously retrieved feature and prior inhibition of the newly cued feature. Moreover, given the weaker status of the cued feature, other previously uncued features may compete more, resulting in the further marginalization of still uncued feature dimensions in long-term memory.