AudiTact: Testing a Novel Cross-Modal Model of Tactile and Auditory Short-Term Memory

Duration: April 2021 - Sept 2024

Funding: FWF-standalone (project PI: Ulrich Ansorge, Psychology Faculty, University of Vienna)

Objective:

The project aims to complement existing models of tactile Short-Term Memory (STM) and explain effects of tactile on auditory perception. To this end, we draw on the Retrieved Context Theory for a novel cross-modal STM model and assume information of successive items (e.g., tactile vs. auditory perceived frequencies) to blend into one evolving context signal: The bindings formed between items and their contexts are used for later retrieval of item information, e.g., to compare frequencies from memory. Core characteristics of the novel STM model are (1) an integration of different sources of memory interference; and (2) a mechanistic explanation of statistically optimal decisions based on different modality-specific item layers and one shared context layer.