Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Inter-Item Competition in Visual Working Memory: The Role of Internal Attention

Internal attention can increase the priority of task-relevant items in visual working memory; however, it remains unclear whether this effect is limited to improving target reports or also alters how inter-item influences evolve over time across different spatial distances. The present study employed a retro-cue color recall task to examine whether internal attention changes the distance-dependent temporal dynamics of inter-item influences in visual working memory. Valid retro-cues significantly reduced target report errors and shifted responses closer to the target relative to the non-target. Under neutral-cue conditions, inter-item influences exhibited distance-dependent temporal differentiation: the relative attraction index decreased significantly with increasing cue–probe interval (CPI) in D1 but increased significantly in D3, and the temporal slopes differed significantly between D1 and D3. In the valid-cue condition, none of the CPI slopes reached significance. However, direct cross-cue comparisons showed a significant difference in CPI slope only for D1, not for D2 or D3. These findings suggest that internal attention modulates the distance-dependent temporal pattern of inter-item influences as expressed in behavioral reports.