Categorical judgments do not modify sensory representations in working memory.

ABSTRACT: Categorical judgments can systematically bias the perceptual interpretation of stimulus features. However, it remained unclear whether categorical judgments directly modify working memory representations or, alternatively, generate these biases via an inference process down-stream from working memory. To address this question we ran two novel psychophysical experiments in which human subjects had to reverse their categorical judgments about a stimulus feature, if incorrect, before providing an estimate of the feature. If categorical judgments indeed directly altered sensory representations in working memory, subjects' estimates should reflect some aspects of their initial (incorrect) categorical judgment in those trials. We found no traces of the initial categorical judgment. Rather, subje

SUBMITTER: Luu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8195411 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature