Figure 6.

Experiment 3 task paradigm, stimulus configurations, and behavioral results. A) Participants first viewed a fixation cross (300 ms) and then were given an arrow cue (200 ms) indicating the side of the screen to which they should covertly attend during the trial. A variable interval (300–400 ms) preceded a memory array (100 ms) containing one of the four conditions displayed above: Three items (3-UG), three items in which two of the items were the same color (3-SSP), three items in which two of the items were connected (3-C), or three items in which two of the items were connected and shared the same color (3-SSP&C). After a delay-period (900 ms), a probed item appeared that was either the same color (“old” trials) as presented originally or was a different color (“new” trials). Participants were given 3 seconds to respond. Note that stimuli are depicted for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the exact dimensions and visual angles of the stimuli displayed during the actual experiment. B) VWM performance in Experiment 3. The abscissa depicts the conditions being compared. Accuracy (proportion correct) is plotted along the ordinate. C) Accuracy (proportion correct) as a function of probe type in the three grouped conditions is plotted along the ordinate. In panels B & C, asterisks symbolize an observed significant difference between various conditions; α = p < 0.05. In panel C, the “+” sign indicates a borderline, non-significant effect (p = 0.06). Error bars represent the standard error of the mean in each condition.