David Fencsik - Demos

David Fencsik


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Demos

This page contains some demonstrations illustrating some of the phenomena I study. Further details can be found on the RESEARCH and PUBLICATIONS links above.

The demos are saved as QuickTime movies. A free player can be found here.

Visual Working Memory

I use a change-detection task to study visual working memory. In this task, you see a display containing a group of objects—for example, a red square. The display is presented briefly, then disappears for about a second, and then a second display appears. All the objects in the second display are the same as in the first, except that some will have changed in some way—say, two squares may have changed colors.

This movie illustrates a trial from the change-detection procedure: CD-Same.mov. You won't be able to detect a change because there isn't one.

This movie illustrates a substitute trial: CD-Substitute.mov. In this type of trial, two objects change to two new colors, so all you have to remember is which colors were present in the first display.

This movie illustrates an interchange trial: CD-Interchange.mov. In this type of trial, the colors of two objects switch, so you have to remember where each color was—that is, you have to remember bound color-location information for each object.

Which was harder: the substitute or interchange trial? Both had the same number of objects, and in both cases two objects changed colors. However, interchange trials tend to be more difficult than substitute trials. This demonstrates that you keep track of bound color-location information (which helps to detect changes on both interchange and substitute trials) as well as some unbound color features (which help you only on substitute trials).


Last Modified: October 20, 2005