EXPLORING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN VISUAL WORKING MEMORY: SHARED COGNITIVE MECHANISMS ACROSS CHANGE DETECTION AND DELAYED ESTIMATION TASKS

Understanding individual differences in visual working memory performance is critical for uncovering the cognitive mechanisms underlying memory formation and retrieval.In this study, we investigated how performance varies across two widely used tasks: the delayed estimation (DE) task and the change detection (CD) task.Across three experiments, we interspersed DE and CD trials with identical displays while manipulating task expectations to explore their influence on memory encoding and performance.Individual differences analysis revealed strong correlations in performance across tasks and expectations, indicating that both tasks rely on a shared underlying factor that varies between individuals.Additionally, participants who performed better in memory tasks also reported higher confidence, with significant correlations observed across all experimental conditions.These findings demonstrate that despite task-specific encoding differences, DE and CD tasks are underpinned by common cognitive mechanisms that drive individual differences in performance.This work highlights the importance of considering individual variability in visual working memory research and the influence of task type on memory strategies.