Categories, language, and visual working memory: how verbal labels change capacity limitations

The limited capacity of visual working memory constrains the quantity and quality of the information we can store in mind for ongoing processing. Research from our lab has demonstrated that verbal labeling/categorization of visual inputs increases its retention and fidelity in visual working memory. In this talk, I will outline the hypotheses that explain the interaction between visual and verbal inputs in working memory, leading to the boosts we observed. I will further show how manipulations of the categorical distinctiveness of the labels, the timing of their occurrence, to which item labels are applied, as well as their validity modulate the benefits one can draw from combining visual and verbal inputs to alleviate capacity limitations. Finally, I will discuss the implications of these results to our understanding of working memory and its interaction with prior knowledge.