Implicit short-term memory and uncertainty in visuomotor integration and temporal information processing

Abstract

The context in which we perform an action influences how we perceive and act on a particular stimulus. One known effect of how context affects behavior is the serial dependence, in which behaviour in previous trials affects performance in current trials, for instance in visuomotor integration and temporal processing tasks. The underlying mechanism that makes this influence possible is not fully understood. In the present project, we intend to test the hypothesis that the serial dependence depends on a implicit short-term memory mechanism in visuomotor integration and temporal information processing tasks. To this end, we will conduct a series of three experiments in which we aim to verify: 1) what is the nature of the information stored from the previous trial into the current trial; 2) if uncertainty about previous trial information affects the quality of short-term memory information and if it changes how previous and current trial are combined; 3) what are the neural correlates, as measured through Electroencephalography (EEG), of the implicitly stored information in short-term memory and how this information affects the neural signal for current stimuli. The results of each experiment will advance our current knowledge on how our central nervous system deals with contextual contingencies in visuomotor integration and temporal processing tasks, and, more generally, how and which information is automatically stored in implicit short-term memory. (AU)