We examined the influence of expansion and contraction on visual short-term memory (VSTM) using a change-detection task. In each trial, several expanding/contracting line segments with various orientations were presented in two successive displays. The orientation of objects in the second display was either identical to, or different from, that of the first display. Observers were asked to judge the presence or absence of an orientation change in successive displays. Results showed that memory performance for expanding objects was higher than for contracting objects (expansion benefit: Experiments 1A and 1B). Further experiments focused on VSTM processing (encoding, storage, and retrieval). Regarding the retrieval stage, an expansion benefit was replicated only when the direction of motion was consistent between two successive displays (Experiment 2A). A cueing stimulus enhanced the memory performance for both expanding and contracting motions and eliminated the expansion benefit (Experiment 2B). Regarding the storage stage, we found the expansion benefit occurred only for shorter blank intervals between the two displays (Experiment 3). Regarding the encoding stage, the expansion benefit was observed regardless of presentation times (Experiment 4). These results indicate the possibility that expanding and contracting motions modulate VSTM.

中文翻译：

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扩张和收缩调节视觉短期记忆

我们使用变化检测任务检查了扩张和收缩对视觉短期记忆 (VSTM) 的影响。在每次试验中，几个具有不同方向的扩展/收缩线段在两个连续的显示器中呈现。第二个显示器中对象的方向与第一个显示器的方向相同或不同。观察者被要求判断连续显示中是否存在方向变化。结果表明，扩展对象的内存性能高于收缩对象（扩展收益：实验 1A 和 1B）。进一步的实验侧重于 VSTM 处理（编码、存储和检索）。关于检索阶段，只有当两个连续显示器之间的运动方向一致时，才能复制扩展优势（实验 2A）。提示刺激增强了扩张和收缩运动的记忆性能，并消除了扩张益处（实验 2B）。关于存储阶段，我们发现扩展优势仅在两个显示器之间的空白间隔较短时才出现（实验 3）。关于编码阶段，无论演示时间如何，都可以观察到扩展优势（实验 4）。这些结果表明扩张和收缩运动调节 VSTM 的可能性。我们发现只有在两个显示器之间的空白间隔较短时才会产生扩展优势（实验 3）。关于编码阶段，无论演示时间如何，都可以观察到扩展优势（实验 4）。这些结果表明扩张和收缩运动调节 VSTM 的可能性。我们发现只有在两个显示器之间的空白间隔较短时才会产生扩展优势（实验 3）。关于编码阶段，无论演示时间如何，都可以观察到扩展优势（实验 4）。这些结果表明扩张和收缩运动调节 VSTM 的可能性。