The dependence (or independence) of object features in VLTM is a continuous, not a binary problem: The role of conceptual vs. perceptual features

People can remember the precise perceptual appearance of hundreds of objects, implying a massive LTM capacity for visual detail (Brady et al., 2008). Ample research showed that conceptual information plays an important role in VLTM (e.g., Konkle et al., 2010; Shoval et al., 2022), however, the precise relations between conceptually meaningful and ‘pure’ visual properties in memory are largely unknown. Can a meaningful object-feature affect memory for an arbitrary, meaningless visual feature of the same object? The present study examined the interactive relations between object color (for which conceptual significance was manipulated) and object location (determined arbitrarily). First, to manipulate the conceptual value of an object’s color, participants (N=40) rated the extent to which an item’s color was meaningful (e.g., red vs. white wine) or meaningless (red vs. white balloon). Then, memory for color-meaningful vs. color-meaningless objects was compared, within an independent group of participants (N=60). As expected, a 2-AFC recognition test showed higher memory rates for meaningful than for meaningless colored objects. Next, we tested the potential influence of a meaningful/meaningless color on memory for an object’s (random) location. Participants (N=35) encoded single-colored objects appearing in an arbitrary screen location, and were then tested in a 4-AFC recognition test that included both color and location dimensions. Results showed a strong linkage between the two dimensions, that was further enhanced in the color-meaningful objects, suggesting that conceptual information may serve as a ”glue” to perceptual/surface information in memory (in accord with resource-based accounts). Notably, our findings have important implications for the dispute concerning the dependence/independence of object-features in memory (Balaban et al., 2020; Utochkin & Brady, 2020). Rather than viewing this subject as a binary problem, we offer a more gradual approach, according to which the relationship between features in memory largely depends on their linkage to conceptually-significant information.