Skip to main content
Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Perceptual Contaminants to Assessments of Visuospatial Working Memory: The Influences of Path Clutterness and Endpoint Crowding Cover

Perceptual Contaminants to Assessments of Visuospatial Working Memory: The Influences of Path Clutterness and Endpoint Crowding

Open Access
|Aug 2026

References

  1. Adam, K. C., Rademaker, R. L., & Serences, J. T. (2022). Evidence for, and challenges to, sensory recruitment models of visual working memory. Visual memory, 525. 10.4324/9781003158134-2
  2. Alvarez, G. A., & Cavanagh, P. (2004). The capacity of visual short term memory is set both by visual information load and by number of objects. Psychol. Sci. 15(2), 106111. 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01502006.x
  3. Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working Memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), Recent Advances in Learning and Motivation, pp. 4789. Academic Press. 10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60452-1
  4. Bays, P. M., & Husain, M. (2008). Dynamic shifts of limited working memory resources in human vision. Science, 321(5890), 851854. 10.1126/science.1158023
  5. Berch, D. B., Krikorian, R., & Huha, E. M. (1998). The Corsi block-tapping task: Methodological and theoretical considerations. Brain and cognition, 38(3), 317338. 10.1006/brcg.1998.1039
  6. Bizzaro, M., Giofrè, D., Girelli, L., & Cornoldi, C. (2018). Arithmetic, working memory, and visuospatial imagery abilities in children with poor geometric learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 62, 7988. 10.1016/j.lindif.2018.01.013
  7. Brunetti, R., Del Gatto, C., & Delogu, F. (2014). eCorsi: implementation and testing of the Corsi block-tapping task for digital tablets. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 939. 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00939
  8. Christophel, T. B., Klink, P. C., Spitzer, B., Roelfsema, P. R., & Haynes, J. D. (2017). The distributed nature of working memory. Trends in cognitive sciences, 21(2), 111124. 10.1016/j.tics.2016.12.007
  9. Cochrane, A., & Green, C. S. (2021). Trajectories of performance change indicate multiple dissociable links between working memory and fluid intelligence. npj Sci. Learn., 6(33). 10.1038/s41539-021-00111-w
  10. Conway, A. R., Kane, M. J., Bunting, M. F., Hambrick, D. Z., Wilhelm, O., & Engle, R. W. (2005). Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 12(5), 769786. 10.3758/BF03196772
  11. Corsi, P. M. (1972). Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain. Dissertation Abstracts International, 34, 819B. (University Microfilms No. AA105–77717).
  12. Gayet, S., Guggenmos, M., Christophel, T. B., Haynes, J. D., Paffen, C. L., Van der Stigchel, S., & Sterzer, P. (2017). Visual working memory enhances the neural response to matching visual input. Journal of Neuroscience, 37(28), 66386647. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3418-16.2017
  13. Ginsberg, E. S., Rinehart, N., & Fielding, J. (2017). Measures of task demand and error analysis in the Corsi Block-Tapping Test. Psychology & Neuroscience, 10(4), 404. 10.1037/pne0000106
  14. Gonthier, C. (2021). Charting the diversity of strategic processes in visuospatial short-term memory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(2), 294318. 10.1177/1745691620950697
  15. Jeffreys H. (1961). Theory of Probability. Clarendon Press.
  16. Joessel, F., Cunningham, E. G., & Green, C. S. (2025). No expectancy effect on visual attention performance after a single session of playing Sudoku: A Failed replication of Tiraboschi et al.(2019). Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 9(1), 92107. 10.1007/s41465-025-00316-6
  17. Kessels, R. P., Van Zandvoort, M. J., Postma, A., Kappelle, L. J., & De Haan, E. H. (2000). The Corsi block-tapping task: standardization and normative data. Applied neuropsychology, 7(4), 252258. 10.1207/S15324826AN0704_8
  18. Kewan-Khalayly, B., & Yashar, A. (2022). The role of spatial attention in crowding and feature binding. Journal of Vision, 22(13), 6. 10.1167/jov.22.13.6
  19. Lev, M., Yehezkel, O., & Polat, U. (2014). Uncovering foveal crowding? Scientific reports, 4(1), 4067. 10.1038/srep04067
  20. Levi, D. M. (2008). Crowding—An essential bottleneck for object recognition: A mini-review. Vision research, 48(5), 635654. 10.1016/j.visres.2007.12.009
  21. Levi, D. M., & Carney, T. (2009). Crowding in peripheral vision: Why bigger is better. Current biology, 19(23), 19881993. 10.1016/j.cub.2009.09.056
  22. Ma, W. J., Husain, M., & Bays, P. M. (2014). Changing concepts of working memory. Nature neuroscience, 17(3), 347356. 10.1038/nn.3655
  23. Milner, B. (1971). Interhemispheric differences in the localization of psychological processes in man. British Medical Bulletin, 27, 272277. 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070866
  24. Nori, R., Piccardi, L., Migliori, M., Guidazzoli, A., Frasca, F., De Luca, D., & Giusberti, F. (2015). The virtual reality walking corsi test. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 7277. 10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.035
  25. Oberauer, K. (2019). Working Memory and Attention – A Conceptual Analysis and Review. Journal of Cognition, 2(1), 36. 10.5334/joc.58
  26. Orsini, A., Pasquadibisceglie, M., Picone, L., & Tortora, R. (2001). Factors which influence the difficulty of the spatial path in Corsi’s block-tapping test. Perceptual and Motor skills, 92(3), 732738. 10.2466/pms.2001.92.3.732
  27. Orsini, A., Simonetta, S., & Marmorato, M. S. (2004). Corsi’s block-tapping test: some characteristics of the spatial path which influence memory. Perceptual and motor skills, 98(2), 382388. 10.2466/pms.98.2.382-388
  28. Patt, V. M., Thomas, M. L., Minassian, A., Geyer, M. A., Brown, G. G., & Perry, W. (2014). Disentangling working memory processes during spatial span assessment: A modeling analysis of preferred eye movement strategies. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 36, 186204. 10.1080/13803395.2013.877123
  29. Parmentier, F. B., Elford, G., & Maybery, M. (2005). Transitional information in spatial serial memory: path characteristics affect recall performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31(3), 412. 10.1037/0278-7393.31.3.412
  30. Peirce, J. W., Gray, J. R., Simpson, S., MacAskill, M., Höchenberger, R., Sogo, H., Kastman, E., & Lindeløv, J. K. (2019). PsychoPy (Version 2025.1.1) [Computer software]. https://www.psychopy.org
  31. Piccardi, L., Iaria, G., Ricci, M., Bianchini, F., Zompant, L., & Guariglia, C. (2008). Walking in the Corsi test: which type of memory do you need? Neurosci Lett, 432, 127131. 10.1016/j.neulet.2007.12.044
  32. Polat, U., Ma-Naim, T., Belkin, M., & Sagi, D. (2004). Improving vision in adult amblyopia by perceptual learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(17), 66926697. 10.1073/pnas.0401200101
  33. Röser, A., Hardiess, G., & Mallot, H. A. (2016). Modality dependence and intermodal transfer in the Corsi Spatial Sequence Task: Screen vs. Floor. Experimental brain research, 234(7), 18491862. 10.1007/s00221-016-4582-z
  34. Rouder, J. N. (2014). Optional stopping: No problem for Bayesians. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 21(2), 301308. 10.3758/s13423-014-0595-4
  35. Ruggiero, G., & Iachini, T. (2010). The role of vision in the Corsi Block-Tapping task: Evidence from blind and sighted people. Neuropsychology, 24(5), 674679. 10.1037/a0019594
  36. Schönbrodt, F. D., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2018). Bayes factor design analysis: Planning for compelling evidence. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 25(1), 128142. 10.3758/s13423-017-1230-y
  37. Serences, J. T. (2016). Neural mechanisms of information storage in visual short-term memory. Vision research, 128, 5367. 10.1016/j.visres.2016.09.010
  38. Siddi, S., Preti, A., Lara, E., Brébion, G., Vila, R., Iglesias, M., … & Haro, J. M. (2020). Comparison of the touch-screen and traditional versions of the Corsi block-tapping test in patients with psychosis and healthy controls. BMC psychiatry, 20(1), 329. 10.1186/s12888-020-02716-8
  39. Souza, A. S., Rerko, L., Lin, H. Y., & Oberauer, K. (2014). Focused attention improves working memory: implications for flexible-resource and discrete-capacity models. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 76(7), 20802102. 10.3758/s13414-014-0687-2
  40. van de Ven, V., Jacobs, C., & Sack, A. T. (2012). Topographic contribution of early visual cortex to short-term memory consolidation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(1), 411. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3261-11.2012
  41. van Lamsweerde, A. E., & Johnson, J. S. (2017). Assessing the effect of early visual cortex transcranial magnetic stimulation on working memory consolidation. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 29(7), 12261238. 10.1162/jocn_a_01113
  42. Wagenmakers, E. J., Gronau, Q. F., & Vandekerckhove, J. (2019). Five Bayesian intuitions for the stopping rule principle. 10.31234/osf.io/5ntkd
  43. Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler memory scale–third edition (WMS-III). The Psychological Corporation.
  44. Whitney, D., & Levi, D. M. (2011). Visual crowding: A fundamental limit on conscious perception and object recognition. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(4), 160168. 10.1016/j.tics.2011.02.005
  45. Wolfe, J. M., Hulleman, J., Mitra, A., & Si, W. (2024). In simple but challenging search tasks, most errors are stochastic. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 86(7), 22892300. 10.3758/s13414-024-02938-y
  46. Yörük, H., & Tamber-Rosenau, B. J. (2022). Simultaneously and sequentially presented arrays evoke similar visual working memory crowding. Visual Cognition, 30(7), 490505. 10.1080/13506285.2022.2099497
  47. Zhang, X., Shi, Z., Yang, Q., & An, X. (2024). Impacts of visuo-spatial working memory on the dynamic performance and safety of car-following behavior. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 637, 129579. 10.1016/j.physa.2024.129579
  48. Zsebi, S., Szabó, P., Filotás, P., Sik-Lónyi, C., & Cserjési, R. (2023, October). Enhancing neuropsychological assesment through virtual reality: a pilot study of the corsi-block tapping task. In 2023 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Cognitive Aspects of Virtual Reality (CVR) (pp. 000115000118). IEEE. 10.1109/CVR58941.2023.10395734
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.517 | Journal eISSN: 2514-4820
Language: English
Page range: 44 - 44
Submitted on: Mar 23, 2026
Accepted on: Aug 13, 2026
Published on: Aug 25, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2026 Zechun Zhao, Freya Joessel, C. Shawn Green, Susanne M. Jaeggi, Aaron R. Seitz, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.