Aging and feature binding in visual working memory

Older adults have reduced performance in visual working memory tasks in comparison to young adults, but the precipitators of the age-related impairment are not fully understood. The most common interpretation of this difference is that older adults are incapable of maintaining the same amount of object representations as young adults over short intervals (in line with the fixed-slot model of working memory). However, it has remained largely unexplored whether the age-related decline is only due to the number of representations that older individuals can retain in visual working memory, or whether the content of the representation(s) may have an effect as well (in line with the flexible-resource model of working memory). Feature binding studies represent an interesting research line to examine the content of older adults' representations. In this mini-review, we present the main results across feature binding studies in aging, as well as highlight the importance of manipulating both the representation content and number to have a stress test of the various models of working memory and their contribution to aging. Overall, feature binding studies, together with the simultaneous manipulation of set size, will allow us to better understand the nature of the age-related decline of visual working memory.

Automated summary

Older adults perform worse in visual working memory tasks compared to young adults, and the cause of this age-related decline is not fully understood. It is unclear whether the decline is solely due to a decrease in the number of representations older individuals can retain, or if the content of the representations also plays a role. Feature binding studies can provide insights into the content of older adults' representations. Manipulating both the content and number of representations in working memory can help test various models and their contribution to the age-related decline.