What is it like to do a visuo-spatial working memory task: A qualitative phenomenological study of the visual span task.
Consciousness and cognition February 1, 2024 Aleš Oblak, Oskar Dragan, Anka Slana Ozimič et al. 8 citations
Working memory is usually measured with psychological tasks that focus on the reliability of outcomes rather than how participants experience the tasks. This study replicated protocols for investigating the lived experience of working memory using a visual span task. Eighteen healthy participants aged 21 to 35 provided subjective reports. Working memory was phenomenologically characterized at three time scales: background feelings, strategies, and tactics. At the level of tactics, transmodality—the transformation of one modality of lived experience into another—was identified as the central dynamic during task performance.