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Postle, B. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Postle, B. R..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
bioRxiv2026

Prioritization in working memory reduces interference via a beta-linked transformation of the not-selected item

We studied the effects of prioritization in a two-step retrocuing task in which male and female humans hold two items in working memory, and the item not cued by the first cue cannot be dropped because it may be prioritized by the second cue. In Experiment 1, using a dense sampling procedure, recall performance oscillated at 15 Hz ("low-beta") in the prioritization task, in comparison to 20 Hz ("higher-beta") in a matched neutral-cue task. Furthermore, the prioritized item was shielded from bias exerted by the uncued item, as well as by items from the previous trial. In Experiment 2, we sought EEG correlates of these effects while participants performed variants of the two tasks. The prioritization cue uniquely triggered a phase reset at 15 Hz and an increase in oscillatory peaks at the "low-beta" frequency. Burst analysis ruled out bursting as a possible underlying factor. Self-correlation analysis of the EEG time series revealed that the prioritization cue triggered greater reorganization of the whole-topography EEG pattern than the neutral cue, and for the uncued item than for the cued item. These results provide evidence that the shielding effects of prioritization may arise from the transformation of the not-prioritized item into an "unprioritized" state that is implemented and maintained by a mechanism that cycles in the "low-beta" frequency range (centered on roughly 15 Hz). Significance statementWhen multiple items are held in working memory, the brain must prioritize the subset of information needed to guide impending action while also retaining the other information that remains potentially relevant for future actions. Through behavior and electroencephalography, we show that prioritizing one item in working memory shields it from interference from the not-prioritized item and that this shielding may be implemented by transforming the representational state of the unprioritized item. Behavioral signatures of prioritization and the underlying neural dynamics both cycle at a frequency in the low-beta band ([~]15 Hz). These findings suggest that the brain uses an oscillatory mechanism--distinct from previously described beta-bursting inhibitory control--to organize and protect the contents of working memory from inter-item competition.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2025

Effects of TMS on the decoding, electrophysiology, and representational geometry of priority in working memory

The flexible control of working memory (WM) requires prioritizing immediately task-relevant information while maintaining information with potential future relevance in a deprioritized state. Using double-serial retrocuing (DSR) with simultaneous EEG recording, we investigated how single pulses of transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS) to right intraparietal sulcus impacts neural representations of unprioritized memory items (UMI), relative to irrelevant memory items (IMI) that are no longer needed for the trial. Twelve human participants (8 female) performed DSR plus a single-retrocue task, while spTMS was delivered during delay periods. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed that spTMS restored decodability of the UMI concurrent with stimulation, and that of the IMI several timesteps later, after the evoked effects of spTMS were no longer present in the EEG signal. This effect was carried by the alpha (8-13 Hz) and low-beta (13-20 Hz) frequency bands. Analyses of the raw EEG signal showed two effects selective to the epoch containing the UMI: the retrocue and spTMS each produced phase shifts in the low-beta band. These findings demonstrate that deprioritization involves active neural mechanisms distinct from the processing of the IMI, and that these are supported by low-beta oscillatory dynamics in parietal cortex. We hypothesize that the mechanism underlying spTMS-triggered involuntary retrieval of the UMI is the disruption of the encoding of priority status, which may depend on oscillatory dynamics in the low-beta band. Significance StatementThis study provides key insights into how the brain maintains information at different levels of priority in working memory. Importantly, it shows how deprioritizing information in working memory is different from simply "dropping" it. By combining transcranial magnetic stimulation with high temporal resolution measurement of neural signals (with EEG), we replicate previous findings that spTMS triggers the involuntary retrieval of previously unprioritized information and provide new insight into how it does this. Specifically, at the level of EEG dynamics, spTMS is shown to uniquely alter oscillatory dynamics in the low-beta band.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2025

EEG correlates of active removal from working memory

The removal of no-longer-relevant information from visual working memory (WM) is important for the functioning of WM, given its severe capacity limitation. Previously, with an "ABC-retrocuing" WM task, we have shown that removing information can be accomplished in different ways: by simply withdrawing attention from the newly irrelevant memory item (IMI; i.e., via "passive removal"); or by or "actively" removing the IMI from WM (Shan and Postle, 2022). Here, to investigate the neural mechanisms behind active removal, we recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from human subjects (both sexes) performing the ABC-retrocuing task. Specifically, we tested the hijacked adaptation model, which posits that active removal is accomplished by a top-down-triggered down-modulation of the gain of perceptual circuits, such that sensory channels tuned to the to-be-removed information become less sensitive. Behaviorally, analyses revealed that, relative to passive removal, active removal produced a decline in the familiarity landscape centered on the IMI. Neurally, we focused on two epochs of the task, corresponding to the triggering, and to the consequence, of active removal. With regard to triggering, we observed a stronger anterior-to-posterior traveling wave for active versus passive removal. With regard to the consequence(s) of removal, the response to a task-irrelevant "ping" was reduced for active removal, as assessed with ERP and with posterior-to-anterior traveling waves, suggesting that active removal led to decreased excitability in perceptual circuits centered on the IMI. Significance StatementThe removal of no-longer-relevant information from working memory is critical for the flexible control of behavior. However, to our knowledge, the only explicit accounts of this operation describe the simple withdrawal of attention from that information (i.e., "passive removal"). Here, with measurements of behavior and electroencephalography (EEG), we provide evidence for a specific mechanism for the active removal of information from WM-hijacked adaptation-via the top-down triggering of an adaptation-like down-regulation of gain of the perceptual circuits tuned to the to-be-removed information. These results may have implications for disorders of mental health, including rumination, intrusion of negative thoughts, and hallucination.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2023

Temporal dynamics and representational consequences of the control of processing conflict between visual working memory and visual perception

Visual working memory (WM) extensively interacts with visual perception. When information between the two processes is in conflict, cognitive control can be recruited to effectively mitigate the resultant interference. The current study investigated the neural bases of the control of conflict between visual WM and visual perception. We recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) from 25 human subjects (13 male) performing a dual task combining visual WM and tilt discrimination, the latter occurring during the WM delay. The congruity in orientation between the memorandum and the discriminandum was manipulated. Behavioral data were fitted to a reinforcement-learning model of cognitive control to derive trial-wise estimates of demand for proactive and reactive control, which were then used for EEG analyses. The level of proactive control was associated with sustained frontal-midline theta activity preceding trial onset, as well as with the strength of the neural representation of the memorandum. Subsequently, discriminandum onset triggered a control prediction error signal that was reflected in a left frontal positivity. On trials when an incongruent discriminandum was not expected, reactive control that scaled with the prediction error acted to suppress the neural representation of the discriminandum, producing below-baseline decoding of the discriminandum that, in turn, exerted a repulsive serial bias on WM recall on the subsequent trial. These results illustrate the flexible recruitment of two modes of control and how their dynamic interplay acts to mitigate interference between simultaneously processed perceptual and mnemonic representations. Significance StatementOne hallmark of human cognition is the context dependent, flexible control of behavior. Here we studied the "mental juggling" required when, while holding information in mind, we have to respond to something that "pops up in front of us" before returning to the interrupted task. Using parameter estimates from a reinforcement-learning model, we analyzed EEG data to identify neural correlates of two discrete modes of cognitive control that act to minimize interference between perception and WM. Proactive control, indexed by frontal midline theta power, increased prior to trial onset when a high level of conflict was expected. Reactive control acted to suppress the representation of items likely to interfere with performance, a processing step with consequences for the subsequent trial.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2023

Representing context and priority in working memory

The ability to prioritize among contents in working memory (WM) is critical for successful control of thought and behavior. Recent work has demonstrated that prioritization in WM can be implemented by representing different states of priority in different representational formats. Here, we explored the mechanisms underlying WM prioritization by simulating the double serial retrocuing (DSR) task with recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Visualization of stimulus representational dynamics using principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the network represented trial context (order of presentation) and priority via different mechanisms. Ordinal context, a stable property lasting the duration of the trial, was accomplished by segregating representations into orthogonal subspaces. Priority, which changed multiple times during a trial, was accomplished by separating representations into different manifolds within each subspace. We assessed the generality of these mechanism by applying dimensionality reduction and multiclass decoding to fMRI and EEG datasets and found that priority and context are represented differently along the dorsal visual stream, and that behavioral performance is sensitive to trial-by-trial efficacy of priority coding, but not context coding.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2023

Neural signatures of competition between voluntary and involuntary influences over the focus of attention in visual working memory

Adaptive behaviour relies on the selection and prioritisation of relevant sensory inputs from the external environment as well as from among internal sensory representations held in working memory. Recent behavioural evidence suggests that the classic distinction between voluntary (goal-driven) and involuntary (stimulus-driven) influences over attentional allocation also applies to the selection of internal representations held in working memory. In the current EEG study, we set out to investigate the neural dynamics associated with the competition between voluntary and involuntary control over the focus of attention in visual working memory. We show that when voluntary and involuntary factors compete for the internal focus of attention, prioritisation of the appropriate item is delayed - as reflected both in delayed gaze biases that track internal selection and in delayed neural beta (15-25 Hz) dynamics that track the planning for the upcoming memory-guided manual action. We further show how this competition is paralleled - possibly resolved - by an increase in frontal midline theta (4-8 Hz) activity that, moreover, predicts the speed of ensuing memory-guided behaviour. Finally, because theta increased following retrocues that effectively reduced working-memory load, our data unveil how frontal theta activity during internal attentional focusing tracks demands on cognitive control over and above working-memory load. Together, these data yield new insight into the neural dynamics that govern the focus of attention in visual working memory, and disentangles the contributions of frontal midline theta activity to the processes of control versus retention in working memory.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2022

Strategic control of location and ordinal context in visual working memory

Working memory (WM) requires encoding stimulus identity and context (e.g., where or when stimuli were encountered). To explore the neural bases of the strategic control of context binding in WM, we acquired fMRI while subjects performed delayed recognition of three orientation patches presented serially and at different locations. The recognition probe was an orientation patch with a superimposed digit, and pretrial instructions directed subjects to respond according to its location (location-relevant), to the ordinal position corresponding to its digit (order-relevant), or to just its orientation (relative to all three samples; context-irrelevant). Delay-period signal in PPC was greater for context-relevant than for context-irrelevant trials, and multivariate decoding revealed strong sensitivity to context binding requirements (relevant vs. irrelevant) and to context domain (location- vs. order-relevant) in both occipital cortex and PPC. At recognition, multivariate inverted encoding modeling revealed markedly different patterns in these two regions, suggesting different context-processing functions. In occipital cortex, an active representation of the location of each of the three samples was reinstated, regardless of trial type. The pattern in PPC, in contrast, suggested a trial type-dependent filtering of sample information. These results indicate that PPC exerts strategic control over the representation of stimulus context in visual WM.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2021

Spectral distribution dynamics across different attentional priority states

Anticipatory covert spatial attention improves performance on tests of visual detection and discrimination, and shifts are accompanied by decreases and increases of alpha-band power at EEG electrodes corresponding to the attended and unattended location, respectively. Although the increase at the unattended location is often interpreted as an active mechanism (e.g., inhibiting processing at the unattended location), most experiments cannot rule out the alternative possibility that it is a secondary consequence of selection elsewhere. To adjudicate between these accounts, we designed a Posner-style cuing task in which male and female human participants made orientation judgments of targets appearing at one of four locations: up, down, right, or left. Critically, trials were blocked such that within a block the locations along one meridian alternated in status between attended and unattended, and targets never appeared at the other two, making them irrelevant. Analyses of the concurrently measured EEG signal were carried out on traditional narrowband alpha (8-14 Hz), as well as on two components resulting from the decomposition of this signal: periodic alpha; and the slope of the aperiodic 1/f-like component. Although data from right-left blocks replicated the familiar pattern of lateralized asymmetry in narrowband alpha power, with neither alpha signal could we find evidence for any difference in the time course at unattended versus irrelevant locations, an outcome consistent with the secondary-consequence interpretation of attention-related dynamics in the alpha band. Additionally, 1/f slope was lower at attended and unattended locations, relative to irrelevant, suggesting a tonic adjustment of physiological state.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2021

Rotational remapping between differently prioritized representations in visual working memory

How does the brain prioritize among the contents of working memory (WM) to appropriately guide behavior? Using inverted encoding modeling (IEM), previous work (Wan et al., 2020) showed that unprioritized memory items (UMI) are actively represented in the brain but in a "flipped", or opposite, format compared to prioritized memory items (PMI). To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying the UMI-to-PMI representational transformation, we trained recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with an LSTM (long short-term memory) architecture to perform a 2-back working memory task. Although visualization of LSTM hidden layer activity using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) suggested that stimulus representations undergo a smooth rotational transformation across the trial, demixed (d)PCA of the same data decomposed this pattern into a cascade of multiple trajectories, each with a different time course, unfolding within UMI and PMI subspaces. The application of the same analyses to the EEG dataset of Wan et al. (2020) indicated that an items trajectory through the UMI subspace closely mirrored that of the RNN, but that its trajectory through the PMI subspace differed markedly from the RNN. It may be a general principle that, at the level of the representational code, information held in WM undergoes priority-based transformations that allow for its retention while preventing it from interfering with concurrent behavior. Implementational details of this process may vary across model systems. Author SummaryHow is information held in working memory (WM) but outside the current focus of attention? Motivated by previous neuroimaging studies, we trained recurrent neural networks (RNNs) to perform a 2-back WM task that entails shifts of an items priority status. Dimensionality reduction of the resultant activity in the hidden layer of the RNN allowed us to characterize how a stimulus items representation follows a transformational trajectory through high-dimensional representational space as its priority status changes from memory probe to unprioritized to prioritized. This work illustrates the value of artificial neural networks for assessing and refining hypotheses about mechanisms for information processing in the brain.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2020

Gender (im)balance in citation practices in cognitive neuroscience

In the field of neuroscience, despite the fact that the proportion of peer-reviewed publications authored by women has increased in recent decades, the proportion of citations of women-led publications has not seen a commensurate increase: In five broad-scope journals, citations of papers first- and/or last-authored by women have been shown to be fewer than would be expected if gender was not a factor in citation decisions (Dworkin et al., 2020). Given the important implications that such underrepresentation may have on the careers of women researchers, it is important to determine whether this same trend is true in subdisciplines of the field, where interventions might be more effective. Here, we report the results of an extension of the analyses carried out by Dworkin et al. (2020) to citation patterns in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (JoCN). The results indicate that the underrepresentation of women-led publications in reference sections is also characteristic of papers published in JoCN over the past decade. Furthermore, this pattern of citation imbalances is present for all gender classes of authors, implicating systemic factors. These results contribute to the growing body of evidence that intentional action is needed to address inequities in the way that we carry out and communicate our science.

scientific communication and education↗
bioRxiv2020

Spontaneous alpha-band amplitude predicts subjective visibility but not discrimination accuracy during high-level perception

Near-threshold perception is a paradigm case of perceptual reports diverging from reality - perception of an unchanging stimulus can vacillate from undetected to clearly perceived. Among the many factors that predict whether a stimulus will reach awareness, the amplitude of low-frequency brain oscillations - particularly in the alpha frequency band (8-13 Hz) - has emerged as a reliable predictor of trial-to-trial variability in perceptual decisions. Analysis grounded in signal detection theory suggest that strong prestimulus alpha oscillations diminish subjective perception without affecting the accuracy or sensitivity (d) of perceptual decisions. These results, coupled with recent studies on sensory responses, point to an inhibitory influence of alpha-band amplitude on early visuocortical activity. The findings to date have been based on simple, low-level visual stimuli, which warrant a focus on early visual processing. However, the physiology of alpha in higher-level visual areas is known to be distinct from early visual cortex, with evidence indicating that alpha amplitude in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex is excitatory (rather than inhibitory, as in early visual cortex). Here, we addressed the question of how spontaneous oscillatory amplitude impacts subjective and objective aspects of perception using a high-level perceptual decision task. Human observers completed a near-threshold face/house discrimination task with subjective visibility ratings while electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded. Using a single-trial multiple regression analysis, we found that spontaneous fluctuations in pre-stimulus alpha-band amplitude were negatively related to visibility ratings but did not predict trial-by-trial accuracy. These results suggest that the inhibitory influence of prestimulus alpha activity in early visual cortex, rather than the excitatory influence of alpha in IT, comes to bias high-level perceptual reports. Our findings provide further evidence that ongoing alpha amplitude dissociates subjective and objective measures of visual perception.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2020

Delay-period activity in frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex tracks different attractor dynamics in visual working memory

One important neural hallmark of working memory is persistent elevated delay-period activity in frontal and parietal cortex. In human fMRI, delay-period BOLD activity in frontal and parietal cortex increases monotonically with memory load and asymptotes at an individuals capacity. Previous work has demonstrated that frontal and parietal delay-period activity correlates with the decline in behavioral memory precision observed with increasing memory load. However, because memory precision can be influenced by a variety of factors, it remains unclear what cognitive processes underlie persistent activity in frontal and parietal cortex. Recent psychophysical work has shown that attractor dynamics bias memory representations toward a few stable representations and reduce the effects of internal noise. From this perspective, imprecision in memory results from both drift towards stable attractor states and random diffusion. Here we asked whether delay-period BOLD activity in frontal and parietal cortex might be explained, in part, by these attractor dynamics. We analyzed data from an existing experiment in which subjects performed delayed recall for line orientation, at different loads, during fMRI scanning. We modeled subjects behavior using a discrete attractor model, and calculated within-subject correlation between frontal and parietal delay-period activity and estimated sources of memory error (drift and diffusion). We found that although increases in frontal and parietal activity were associated with increases in both diffusion and drift, diffusion explained the most variance in frontal and parietal delay-period activity. In comparison, a subsequent whole-brain regression analysis showed that drift rather than diffusion explained the most variance in delay-period activity in lateral occipital cortex. These results provide a new interpretation for the function of frontal, parietal, and occipital delay-period activity in working memory.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2019

Perceptual metacognition of human faces is causally supported by function of the lateral prefrontal cortex

Metacognitive visual awareness--the ability to know that one is having a particular visual experience--is thought to optimally guide behavior and help us accurately navigate our complex social environments. Yet the neural underpinnings of visual metacognition continue to be the subject of vigorous debate: While prior work identified correlations between perceptual metacognitive ability and the structure and function of lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), evidence for a causal role of this region in promoting metacognition is controversial--in fact, some question whether the prefrontal cortex plays any role in supporting conscious visual experiences. Moreover, whether LPFC function promotes metacognitive awareness of perceptual and emotional features of complex, yet ubiquitous socio-emotional face stimuli is unknown. Using model-based analyses following a causal intervention to LPFC in humans, we demonstrate that LPFC promotes metacognitive awareness of the orientation of emotional faces--although not of their emotional expressions. Effects were specific to metacognition, as LPFC perturbation did not alter stimulus discrimination performance. Collectively, these data support the causal involvement of the prefrontal cortex in metacognitive awareness, and indicate that the role of LPFC function in metacognition encompasses perceptual experiences of naturalistic social stimuli.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2019

The Neural Consequences of Attentional Prioritization of Internal Representations in Visual Working Memory

Although humans can hold multiple items in mind simultaneously, the contents of working memory (WM) can be selectively prioritized to effectively guide behavior in response to rapidly changing exigencies in the environment. Neural evidence for this is seen in studies of dual serial retrocuing of two items held concurrently in visual WM, in which evidence in occipital cortex for the active neural representation of the cued item increases, and evidence for the uncued item decreases, often to levels indistinguishable from empirical baseline. Although this pattern is reminiscent of the effects of selective attention on visual perception, the extent to which more subtle principles of visual attention may also apply to visual working memory remains uncertain. In the present study we explored whether the well-characterized \"same-object\" benefit in visual target detection, attributed to object-based attention (e.g., Duncan, 1984; Egly, Driver, & Rafal, 1994), may also be observed for information held in visual WM. fMRI data were collected while human subjects (male and female) performed a multi-step serial retrocuing task in which they first viewed two two-dimensional sample stimuli comprised of colored moving dots. After stimulus offset, an initial relevance cue then indicated whether both dimensions of only the first or only the second object, or only the color or only the direction-of-motion of both objects, would be relevant for the remainder of the trial, which then proceeded with the standard dual serial retrocuing procedure. Thus, on \"object-relevant\" trials, the ensuing priority cues prompted the selection of one from among two features (\"color\" or \"direction\") bound to the same object, whereas on \"feature-relevant\" trials the priority cues prompted the selection of one from among two features each belonging to a different object. Results of analyses with multivariate inverted encoding models (IEM) revealed a same-object benefit on object-relevant trials: Whereas, on feature-relevant trials, the first priority cue triggered a strengthening of the neural representation of the cued feature and a concomitant weakening-to-baseline of the uncued feature; on object-relevant trials the cued item remained active but did not increase in strength, and the uncued item weakened, but remained significantly elevated throughout the delay period. Of additional interest, on both types of trials the second priority cue prompted an active recoding of the uncued item into a different neural representation, perhaps to minimize its ability to interfere with recall of the cued item. Finally, although stimulus-specific representation in parietal and frontal cortex was weak and uneven, these regions closely tracked the higher-order information of which stimulus category was relevant for behavior at all points during the trial, indicating an important role in controlling the prioritization of information in visual working memory.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2018

Confidence boosts serial dependence in orientation estimation

In the absence of external feedback, a decision maker must rely on a subjective estimate of their decision accuracy in order to appropriately guide behavior. Normative models of perceptual decision making relate subjective estimates of internal signal quality (e.g. confidence) directly to the internal signal quality itself, thereby making it unknowable whether the subjective estimate or the underlying signal is what drives behavior. We constructed stimuli that dissociated human observers performance on a visual estimation task from their subjective estimates of confidence in their performance, thus violating normative principles. To understand whether confidence influences future decision making, we examined serial dependence in observers responses, a phenomenon whereby the estimate of a stimulus on the current trial can be biased towards the stimulus from the previous trial. We found that when decisions were made with high confidence, they conferred stronger biases upon the following trial, suggesting that confidence may enhance serial dependence. Critically, this finding was true also when confidence was experimentally dissociated from task performance, indicating that subjective confidence, independent of signal quality, can amplify serial dependence. These findings demonstrate an effect of confidence on future behavior, independent of task performance, and suggest that perceptual decisions incorporate recent history in an uncertainty-weighted manner, but where the uncertainty carried forward is a subjectively estimated and possibly suboptimal readout of objective sensory uncertainty.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2018

Different states of priority recruit different neural codes in visual working memory

We tracked the neural representation of the orientation and the location of stimuli held in working memory at different levels of priority (\"attended\" and \"unattended\" memory items -- AMI and UMI), using multivariate inverted encoding models of human fMRI. Although representation of the orientation of the AMI and of the UMI could be reconstructed in several brain regions, including in early visual and parietal regions, the identity of the UMI was actively represented in early visual cortex in a distinct \"reversed\" code, suggesting this region as a site of the focus of attention to nonspatial stimulus information. The location of stimuli was also broadly represented, although only in parietal cortex was the location of the UMI represented in a reversed code. Our results suggest that a common recoding operation may be engaged, across stimulus dimensions and brain areas, to retain information in working memory while outside the focus of attention.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2017

Correlated Individual Differences Suggest A Common Mechanism Underlying Metacognition In Visual Perception And Visual Short-Term Memory

Adaptive behavior depends on the ability to accurately introspect about ones own performance. Whether this metacognitive ability is supported by the same mechanisms across different tasks has thus far been investigated with a focus on correlating metacognitive accuracy between perception and long-term memory paradigms. Here, we investigated the relationship between metacognition of visual perception and metacognition of visual short-term memory (VSTM), a cognitive function thought to be more intimately related to visual processing. Experiments 1 and 2 required subjects to estimate the perceived or remembered orientation of a grating stimulus and rate their confidence. We observed strong positive correlations between individual differences in metacognitive accuracy between the two tasks. This relationship was not accounted for by individual differences in task performance or average confidence, and was present across two different metrics of metacognition and in both experiments. A model-based analysis of data from a third experiment showed that a cross-domain correlation only emerged when both tasks shared the same task-relevant stimulus feature. That is, metacognition for perception and VSTM were correlated when both tasks required orientation judgments, but not when the perceptual task was switched to require contrast judgments. In contrast to previous results comparing perception and long-term memory, which have largely provided evidence for domain-specific metacognitive processes, the current findings suggest that metacognition of visual perception and VSTM is supported by a domain-general metacognitive architecture, but only when both domains share the same task-relevant stimulus feature.

neuroscience↗