Open Science Tools / Pavlovia
5 minutes
Change Detection Reveals the Limits of Visual Working Memory
In a change detection task an array of objects is shown briefly, removed, and shown again with one item possibly changed. Accuracy falls as array size grows, and the estimated number of items retained levels off around three or four, a capacity limit of visual working memory. Whether this limit reflects discrete slots or a shared resource remains debated, but the capacity estimate predicts other cognitive abilities.