Visual long-term memory for spatial information was assessed by measuring discrimination thresholds for the spatial frequency of sinusoidal gratings in a delayed discrimination task, with various time intervals separating test and reference stimuli The results demonstrate perfect preservation of information across 1-s to 50-hr retention intervals in the sense that the spatial frequency discrimination thresholds remained at the level defined by the spatial resolution of the sensory analysis This high-fidelity spatial long-term memory may represent an elementary memory mechanism for precategoncal storage of visual features
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CaveCBSquireLR (1992) Intact and long-lasting repetition priming in amnesiaJournal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition18, 509–520.
2.
DamasioAR (1989) Tune-locked multiregional retroactivation A systems-level proposal for the neural substrates of recall and recognitionCognition, 33, 25–62.
3.
GoldsteinA G.ChanceJ (1974) Some factors in picture recognition memoryJournal of General Psychology90, 69–85.
4.
GreenleeM W.GeorgesonM AMagnussenS.HamsJ P (1991) The tune course of adaptation to spatial contrastVision Research31223–236.
5.
GreenleeM. W.MagnussenSThomasJ P (1991) Different neural codes for spatial frequency and contrastInValbergALeeABB (Eds). From pigments to perception Advances in understanding visual processes (pp351–354) NewPlenum Press.
6.
HarveyL OJr (1986) Visual memory What n remembered-'InKhxFHageodorfH, (Eds), Human memory and cognitive capabilities (pp173–187) AmiterdamElsevier.
7.
HurahJ. A.HyltonR (1982) Limits for spatial frequency discrimination as evidence for neural interpolationJournal of the Optical Society of America, 72, 1367–1374.
8.
InuiT (1988) Properties of human visual memory for block patternsBiological Cybernetics59179–187.
9.
KulikowskiJJ (1975) Apparent fineness of briefly presented gratings Balance between move-ment and pattern channelsVision Research15673–680.
10.
MagnussenSGreenleeM W (1992a) Retention and disruption of Moton information in visual short-term memoryJournal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition18151–156.
11.
MagnussenS.GreenleeMW (1992b) Visual short-term memory for simple, complex and duplex gratingsPerception21(Suppl 2) 71.
12.
MagnussenSGreenleeM W.AsplundRDyrnesS (1990) Perfect visual short-term memory for periodic patternsEuropean Journal of Cognitive Psychology2, 245–262.
13.
MagnussenSGreenleeM WAsplundRDymesS (1991) Stimulus-speek mechanisms of visual short-term memoryVision Research311213–1219.
14.
PhilipsWA (1983) Short-term visual memoryPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society302B295–309.
15.
ReganD (1985) Storage of spatial-frequency information and spatial-frequency discriminationJournal of the Optical Society of America2A1619–1621.
16.
SquireLR (1987) Memory and the brainLondonOxford University Press.
StandingLConeznJ AHeberR N (1970) Perception and memory for pictures Sulfletnal learning of 1500 visual stimuliPsychonomic Science1973–74.
19.
TulvingE (1991) Concepts of human memoryInSquireL RWeinbergerN MLynchGMcGaughJ L, (Eds), Memory Organization and locus of change (pp3–23) OxfordOxford University Press.
20.
WestheunerGMcKeeS P (1977) Spatial co figurations for visual hyperacuityVision Research77, 941–947.
21.
WilsonH (1986) Responses of spatial mechanisms can explain hyperacuityVision Research26, 453–469.
