Effect of verbal working memory load during the oculomotor activity in visual search

The structure of working memory has components responsible for the storage of verbal and visualspatial information; despite the fairly detailed study of the functions and mechanisms of their work, the question of their mutual influence is still open. Studies on the verbal working memory load influence on visual search performance (a task requiring the use of visual-spatial working memory resources) it was found that the load on the verbal working memory leads to increased efficiency of target detection. The results of the analysis of oculomotor activity during visual search also point out that the implementation of such tasks under verbal working memory load is accompanied by an increase in cognitive tension and of the degree of search automaticity. The results may indicate the interaction of verbal and visual-spatial working memory components that share non-specific cognitive resources.

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