Strategically choosing between resetting and updating processes in visual working memory.

Visual working memory (VWM) can hold representations of the objects in the world and modify them When they change. When such a change occurs, VWM can either update or reset its representation by relying on a pointer system associating each representation with the corresponding object in the environment. This study investigated the adaptability of the pointer system to different task contexts. Experiment 1 investigated whether VWM can adapt to a "resetting-mode", by performing resetting in a situation that previously triggered updating. We used the contralateral delay activity (CDA; an electrophysiological marker of VWM) as a marker of updating and resetting. Participants performed a shape change-detection task with polygons. In the One Polygon-Half condition, a single polygon-half appeared for 500ms, followed by a 50ms blank interval, and then the same polygon-half reappeared. In the Add condition, the original polygon-half reappeared together with a second polygon-half. In the Switch condition, the original polygon-half was abruptly replaced by an integrated polygon. Switch condition has been shown to trigger resetting in previous research. Importantly, 70% of the trials in the current experiment were Switch trials, encouraging resetting. The results indicated that VWM used resetting in the Switch condition (replication) but also in the Add condition, which suggests that VWM performed resetting in a condition that was known from a previous study to trigger updating. Experiment 2 used a similar design but now the Add condition appeared in 70% of the trials, to investigate whether VWM can adapt to an "updating-mode". The results showed evidence for resetting only in the Switch condition. This result indicated that VWM can't adapt to an updating mode. In conclusion, these results indicated that VWM can adapt to a resetting mode, but once the pointer is lost, a resetting process is triggered regardless of the context.