Mechanisms of Distractor Filtering in Visual Working Memory Space: Evidence From Attention Capture

Visual working memory (VWM) is a cognitive system responsible for the active maintenance of visual representations to support ongoing processing. Given its limited capacity, the filtering of task-irrelevant distractors is critical for optimal performance. Traditional accounts propose that such filtering primarily occurs prior to the formation of distractor representations in VWM. However, emerging evidence suggests that filtering may also operate within VWM itself. The present study investigated the mechanisms of distractor filtering in VWM space. Through two experiments, we employed a dual-task paradigm combining attention capture and working memory tasks to examine whether distractors enter VWM and how their representations evolve over time. The results showed that distractors captured attention immediately after the disappearance of the memory array, but not at later stages, suggesting that filtering occurs after distractors have already entered VWM in the task. Notably, a relatively high rate of identity misjudgment in the working memory task further indicated that these distractors were not fully eliminated from VWM.